Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)

the audience applauded

Absolutely Fantastic

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

The great special effects regarding the "Invisible Man" "gags" are outstanding and almost over-power the entire movie. Costello is quite a bit thinner here than he is was in 1948, in their "Frankenstein" monster classic. Typical A&C routines abound. As usual, almost everyone thinks Costello is "seeing things" and is imagining an invisible man. As always, Lou is taken advantage of by the "pretty woman" and Bud gets ignored completely. The film is so well-cast that it is superior to many Bud and Lou movies. Supporting actors include: William Frawley, Sheldon Leonard, and Arthur Franz. A lot of fun for all. Cute ending, as Lou disappears for a short time and re-appears with his feet on backwards.(Note: no playback problems in this 2015 four movie re-issue.)

I would place this film in the top five of Abbott and Costello's films and the best film they made in the 1950s. It gets very good marks for excellent special effect as well as a clever story. It's one of several "monster films" Bud and Lou made for Universal Studios--having also done movies with Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolf-Man, Dr. Jekyll and the Mummy. All of these films were among their better films--great fun and a nice break from the usual Abbott and Costello formula. And speaking of formula, since this was made later in their careers, the original formula (including lots of song and dance numbers and a side romantic plot) was abandoned and the film was pure comedy.The film begins with the boys graduating from detective college. When Lou wonders how he managed to graduate, Bud says that he "slipped them a few bucks"! Their first case involves a desperate man that comes for help. Tommy is a boxer who is accused of murder. He's on the run from the police and hopes Bud and Lou can help. Bud is only concerned with turning him in for a reward and Lou is his usual nice but wimpy self--he just wants to stay out of trouble. Just before the police nab Tommy, he injects himself with an invisibility formula. Now it's a matter of the doctor coming up with an antidote before the formula drives him made. It's also a matter of proving his innocence so he's able to once again show his face! The movie has a lot of excellent invisibility special effects and these are done very well. About the only thing that is rather cheesy are the effects at the very end as well as the plot involving Lou posing as a pro boxer (with invisible Tommy taking pokes at his opponent). They didn't even try to do these scenes well and Lou obviously wasn't doing much of the punching. People said "wow he punches fast" but I just thought that looked a bit dopey. Still, considering how well made the rest of the film is, I can't complain. It's yet another one of the team's excellent Universal monster films and one any fan must see. Others probably will have a few laughs as well.

Our intrepid bumbling duo deliver the goods in one of the better offerings on their considerable CV. Here they are freshly qualified Private Investigators thrust into a murder investigation with an invisible man. That alone should tell you that the fun flows at a very decent clip, so with that I just need to say that some of the sequences here are comedy gold. Like a scene at a restaurant that is excellent, or Costello pretending to work the ball in the gym, and a final reel of a boxing match that really gets the laughter flowing. Watching these guys act as if with a real invisible man is wonderful, and of course the effects team also deserve praise for doing such a damn fine job with the invisible man of the piece.Not quite as good as...Meet Frankenstein, but it's darn near close. 8/10

Very funny in spots ("How did I ever graduate?" - "I slipped that guy 20 bucks!"), slow-going in others (despite the complete and welcome absence of any musical numbers), "Abbott and Costello Meet The Invisible Man" is probably not one of the duo's best films from a purely comedic standpoint, but it is nevertheless fascinating, if only for its amazing special effects. Clever, elaborate photographic, editing and other tricks are employed to achieve such effects as the invisible man removing his bandages from his head which is completely transparent while the rest of his body is not ("There is no reason to lose your head over this", observes Lou) - effects that in our digital age would probably be achieved by pressing some buttons in a computer. That's why you have to appreciate the effort and creativity that went into making such things happen. (**1/2)