''The Invisible Boy'' (aka ''S.O.S Spaceship'') is a 1957 black and white American

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstellar ...

from

Metro-Goldwyn Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

, produced by

Nicholas Nayfack Nicholas Nayfack (January 27, 1909 – March 31, 1958) was an American movie producer whose notable works include ''Forbidden Planet'' and ''The Invisible Boy''. He was the nephew of MGM studio chief Nicholas Schenck and United Artists studio ...

, directed by Herman Hoffman, and starring

Richard Eyer Richard Ross Eyer (born May 6, 1945) is an American former child actor who worked during the 1950s and 1960s. He then became a teacher and taught at elementary schools in Bishop, California until he retired in 2006. He is the older brother of Rob ...

and

Philip Abbott Philip Abbott (March 20, 1924 – February 23, 1998) was an American character actor. He appeared in several films and numerous television series, including a lead role as Arthur Ward in the crime series ''The F.B.I.'' Abbott was also the founder ...

. It is the second film appearance of

Robby the Robot Robby the Robot is a fictional character and science fiction icon who first appeared in the 1956 film ''Forbidden Planet''. He made a number of subsequent appearances in science fiction films and television programs, which has given him the d ...

, the science fiction character who "stole the show" in ''

Forbidden Planet ''Forbidden Planet'' is a 1956 American science fiction film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, produced by Nicholas Nayfack, and directed by Fred M. Wilcox (director), Fred M. Wilcox from a script by Cyril Hume that was based on an original film story ...

'' (1956), Primarily a review of ''Forbidden Planet'', Chaw has little use for ''The Invisible Boy''. also released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. According to an implied, subtle back story in ''The Invisible Boy'', the robot is the same character as that in ''Forbidden Planet,'' which is set in the 23rd century; Robby is brought back to the film's mid-20th century era by time travel.

Plot

In 1957, ten-year-old Timmie Merrinoe (

) only wants a playmate. After a peculiar encounter with a

supercomputer A supercomputer is a computer with a high level of performance as compared to a general-purpose computer. The performance of a supercomputer is commonly measured in floating-point operations per second ( FLOPS) instead of million instructions ...

operated by his father's research lab, he is mysteriously invested with superior intelligence, and reassembles a robot that his father and other scientists had been ready to discard as irreparable junk. (It is explained that a vanished scientist claimed to have developed a time machine and retrieved the robot from the future—a photograph on the wall depicts the return to Earth of the space cruiser from "Forbidden Planet," and the arrival of "Robby the Robot.") No one pays much attention to the robot after Timmie gets it operating again, until Timmie's mother becomes angry when her son is taken aloft by a huge powered kite that Robby has built at Timmie's urging (once Timmie, prompted by the supercomputer, has disabled Robby's programming to never endanger a human). When Timmie expresses a wish to be able to play without being observed by his parents, Robby, with the aid of the supercomputer, makes him invisible. At first Timmie uses his invisibility to play simple pranks on his parents and others, but the mood soon changes when it becomes clear that the supercomputer is independent, ingenious, and evil. The supercomputer had manipulated Timmie into altering Robby's programming and, over many years, manipulated its creators into augmenting its intelligence. It can control Robby electronically, and later uses hypnosis and electronic implants to control human beings, along with intending to take over the world using a military weapons satellite. (It later declares its intent to destroy all life on Earth and then conquer the entire galaxy and exterminate any life that it contains, even bacteria.) The supercomputer takes Timmie captive aboard the rocket; the army tries to stop Robby, but all of their artillery and weapons have no effect on him. Robby boards the ship, which promptly takes off. The supercomputer commands him to kill Timmie by slow surgical torture to coerce his parents. But Robby frees Timmie rather than listen to the supercomputer. Dr. Merrinoe tells Timmie and Robby to remain on board the ship as it has enough supplies for him to last a year. Instead, Timmie and Robby return to Earth. Timmie and Dr. Merrinoe return to the lab to shut down the supercomputer, but it stops them. Robby then shows up and turns against the supercomputer, destroying its power source. Everything is back to normal we find the Merrinoes having a peaceful evening, Dr. Merrinoe is about to spank Timmie as punishment for ignoring him. He is however stopped by Robby (whose protective programming has been restored), and the film ends with a shot of the Merrinoes and Robby all having a peaceful evening together.

Cast

as Timmie Merrinoe *

as Dr. Tom Merrinoe *

Diane Brewster Diane Brewster (March 11, 1931 – November 12, 1991) was an American television actress most noted for playing three distinctively different roles in television series of the 1950s and 1960s: confidence trickster Samantha Crawford in the Weste ...

as Mary Merrinoe * Harold J. Stone as Gen. Swayne *

Robert H. Harris Robert H. Harris (born Robert H. Hurwitz; July 15, 1911 – November 30, 1981) was an American character actor. Stage A veteran of the Yiddish Art Theater from his teens, Harris made his first Broadway appearance in 1937 in ''Schoolhouse on the ...

as Prof. Frank Allerton * Dennis McCarthy as Col. Macklin *

Alexander Lockwood Alexander Lockwood (May 5, 1902 – January 25, 1990) was an American actor. He appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout the 1930s to the 1980s. Biography Lockwood was born in Slezská Ostrava, now Czech Republic, in 190 ...

as Arthur Kelvaney * John O'Malley as Prof. Baine *

as Robby *

Gage Clarke Gage Clarke (also credited as Gage Clark; March 3, 1900 – October 23, 1964) was an American stage, television, and film character actor."Gage Clarke, Actor, Dies", obituary, ''Los Angeles Times'', October 24, 1964, part 1, p. 16. ProQuest His ...

as Dr. Bannerman *

Than Wyenn Than Wyenn (May 2, 1919January 30, 2015) was an American character actor. His acting career spanned more than forty years with more than 150 credits in film and television. He may be best known for his role in the 1960 '' Twilight Zone'' episode ...

as Prof. Zeller * Jefferson Searles as Prof. Foster (as Jefferson Dudley Searles) * Alfred Linder as Martin / Computer *

Ralph Votrian Ralph Votrian (May 16, 1934 – April 13, 2017) was an American film, television and voice actor. Votrian was born in Chicago, Illinois. As a child, Votrian performed on old-time radio programs. He graduated from John Burroughs High School in ...

as 1st Gate Sergeant * Michael Miller as 2nd Gate Sergeant *

Marvin Miller Marvin Julian Miller (April 14, 1917 – November 27, 2012) was an American baseball executive who served as the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) from 1966 to 1982. Under Miller's direction, the players ...

as Robby the Robot (voice) (uncredited)

Reception

According to MGM records, the film earned $390,000 in the US and Canada and $450,000 elsewhere, for a total of $840,000. With a budget of $384,000 this resulted in a profit of $456,000.

Home media

The entire feature film appears as an extra on the ''

'' 50th Anniversary DVD released in 2006 and on the Blu-ray released in 2010. Even on the

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

, the film is in standard definition.

References

External links