''The Amazing Transparent Man'' is a 1960 American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

thriller

B-movie A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...

starring

Marguerite Chapman Marguerite Chapman (March 9, 1918 – August 31, 1999) was an American film and television actress. Biography Born in Chatham, New York, Chapman was working as a telephone switchboard operator in White Plains, New York when her good looks br ...

in her final

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

. The plot follows an insane ex–U.S. Army major who uses an escaped criminal to steal materials to improve the invisibility machine his scientist prisoner made. It was one of two sci-fi films shot back-to-back in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

by director Edgar G. Ulmer (the other was ''

Beyond the Time Barrier ''Beyond the Time Barrier'' is a 1960 American science fiction film. It was released in September 1960 on a double bill with ''The Angry Red Planet''.Warren, Bill (1986). "Keep Watching The Skies Volume 2". McFarland & Co., Inc. . Page 730 It sta ...

'', also released that same year). The combined filming schedule for both films was only two weeks. The film was later featured in an episode of ''

Mystery Science Theater 3000 ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (abbreviated as ''MST3K'') is an American science fiction comedy film review television series created by Joel Hodgson. The show premiered on KTMA-TV (now WUCW) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 24, 1988. ...

''.

Plot

Former U.S. Army major Paul Krenner plans to conquer the world with an army of invisible soldiers and will do anything to achieve that goal. With the help of his hired muscle Julian, Krenner forces Dr. Peter Ulof to perfect the invisibility machine that Ulof invented. He imprisons Ulof's daughter Maria to keep Ulof in line. The nuclear materials that Ulof needs to improve his invisibility machine are extremely rare and kept under guard in government facilities. Krenner arranges the prison break of notorious safecracker Joey Faust to steal the materials that he needs. Faust will do the jobs while invisible. Krenner offers Faust money for the jobs and Faust expresses his grievances against working for him. Faust tells him that he will snitch if he is returned to prison, but Krenner informs Faust that he is wanted dead or alive, so Faust reluctantly complies. However, when he meets Krenner's woman, Laura Matson, he slowly charms her into a double cross. Faust continues attempting to escape and tries to get one over on Krenner. It looks as if he may have the edge on Krenner when Faust attacks Krenner while invisible. However, Dr. Ulof's

guinea pig The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy (), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus ''Cavia'' in the family Caviidae. Breeders tend to use the word ''cavy'' to describe the ani ...

dies and, during the second time that he is invisible, Faust uncontrollably reverts from invisible to visible and back again. Despite these drawbacks, Faust forges ahead, intent on breaking free from Krenner's control. Dr. Ulof reveals to Faust that both of them are dying from radiation poisoning as a side effect of the invisibility machine. He then convinces Faust to stop Krenner. Faust and Krenner fight in the lab until an accidental nuclear explosion kills them both and puts an end to Krenner's plans for world conquest.

Cast

Production and release

The film was produced by Miller-Consolidated Pictures, which provided it a brief release in 1960. After the bankruptcy of Miller-Consolidated, ''The Amazing Transparent Man'' and ''Beyond the Time Barrier'' were picked up by

American International Pictures American International Pictures (AIP) is an American motion picture production label of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing fi ...

for the lab costs and released again later in the year as a

double feature The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown. Opera use Opera ho ...

''Mystery Science Theater 3000''

''The Amazing Transparent Man'' was featured in episode #623 of ''

'' along with ''The Days of Our Years'', a workplace safety

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

. The episode debuted March 18, 1995 on

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...

. The episode did not make the Top 100 list of episodes as voted upon by MST3K Season 11

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

backers. Writer Jim Vorel concurred with the fans' opinion, ranking the episode #140 (out of 191 total MST3K episodes). Vorel calls ''The Amazing Transparent Man'' "instantly forgettable" and claims that the short "completely steals the show". The MST3K version of ''The Amazing Transparent Man'' was included as part of the ''Mystery Science Theater 3000, Volume XXXIX'' DVD collection released by

Shout! Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...

on November 21, 2017. The other episodes in the four-disc set include '' Girls Town'' (episode #601) and ''

Diabolik ''Diabolik'' ( or ) is an Italian comic series created by sisters Angela and Luciana Giussani. One of the most popular series in the history of Italian comics, ''Diabolik'' was created in 1962 and consists of more than 900 volumes, and has led ...

'' (episode #1013). The fourth disc, titled "Satellite Dishes," collects non-movie segments from MST3K episodes that are unlikely to be collected on DVD.MST3K: Volume XXXIX
Shout! Factory. Retrieved on 2018-07-10.

References

External links

* *
Online Trailer
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

The Amazing Transparent Man
at

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Amazing Transparent Man, The 1960 films 1960s English-language films 1960s science fiction films American independent films American black-and-white films American International Pictures films Films shot in Dallas Films about invisibility Films directed by Edgar G. Ulmer Films based on The Invisible Man 1960s American films