cast :
crew :
release date :
The film opens in the cover of darkness. A very typical prison break occurs. The criminal makes for the woods, hunted by guards, dogs and an ever-present search light. The criminal eventually comes across a lady, Laura Matson (Marguerite Chapman), driving through the area. She drives him to safety, and before the rapid, tense, and repetitive music has a chance to crackle out, the first scene is complete.
‘The Amazing Transparent Man’ (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1960) is far from amazing by any standard. Received poorly by critics in the 1960s, this film safely secured its position in the short and cheap B-movie market. I for one found the film, clocking in at just under sixty minutes, was too short to give the characters and genuinely interesting science fiction device any real time to develop.
The main character, Joey Faust (Douglas Kennedy) is the before mentioned criminal on the run. Jailed due to theft, he is highly skilled in lock picking and safe cracking. He soon discovers that an ex-Military Major, Paul Krenner (James Griffith) has busted him out on the basis that he helps Krenner get more radium (needless to say, something under lock and key) to further his experiments. This is when he introduces Joey to the Scientist, Doctor Peter Ulof (Ivan Triesault). Ulof is building a machine that will turn anything invisible, but only for a short period of time. Krenner plans to turn Joey invisible in order to make it easier to steal more radium. The greater goal is to use the machine to create an invisible army. Joey is reluctant at first, even angered when his wife and daughter are brought into the equation.
That night, Joey is guarded by Krenner’s henchman, in the form of a local Police officer with a shotgun. He soon knocks the police officer out and goes to see Dr Ulof to find out more about his part in Krenner’s scheme. Ulof has been forced to do this, with the threat of his daughter (locked in the room next door) being killed if he refuses. Joey is then caught by Laura (Marguerite Chapman), but he soon turns her by promising to split any money he steals whilst invisible. Joey steals the radium, but soon turns to robbing a bank. Later, he discovers that the new radium has caused permanent damage. Joey double crosses Krenner and is incredibly ruthless with his new abilities. However, just when we think he has left Laura for dead, he goes back to save her. She is killed by Krenner, forcing a fight between Krenner and Joey, resulting in a massive explosion which kills them both.
A summary of ‘The Amazing Transparent Man’ could be worded as a: condensed narrative with minimal characters, locations, and production value. However, one could debate the quality of this film in this respect all day. What should be considered above this are the themes of science fiction and political analogy. One thing consistently found when analysing the genre of science fiction, is that it tends to reflect current real-life society more than it does some fantastic or cinematic future depiction. If you break through the thin surface, the analogy is clear. A possible interpretation at least, is that this film acts like most other science fictions; by creating a narrative that represents current affairs of the time. In this case; The Cold War.
American media was understandably obsessed with this topic during the 60s. Leading up to its peak in 1963, tension between the two superpowers was high to say the least. Escalation therefore is a key element in this film’s narrative. It adheres to many well-known components of science fiction. Bernardi once suggested that “The genre has been more reactionary and paranoid than it has progressive” (1998:81), and this film is no exception.
For some, Joey Faust might initially induce thoughts of a Humphrey Bogart type character. With his swarve, careless and effortless macho demeanour; he gun tots, fist fights, cigar chomps and womanisers his way through the fifty-seven minutes of science fiction meets political thriller meets film noir (at least in a cinematography sense). But this man has an extra edge; he is a criminal after all, and by the time the classic style bank heist comes around (swag bag and all), you know he’s enjoying the mission he was originally ‘forced into’.
This film can easily be considered a little cliché, perhaps not at the time, but certainly by today’s standards. The opening credits are like any black and white American 1950/60s thriller. The flashlight, ‘searching’ for the titles, is not just a foreshadowing of the proceeding prison break, but a nudge and wink at the very transparent theme of the film. The cinematography is particularly dark and filled with shadow throughout. One cannot help but feel this was designed to hide cheap sets. The opening sequence is especially dark; perhaps a conscious choice of tone, or a side effect of filming during the day and attempting (rather badly) to mimic nightfall.
Despite these clichés, the film has become part of a winning formula, invisibility. Quintessentially science fiction at its best, rivalled only by aliens and time travelling, this film could be said to have inspired many Sci-Fi’s that followed it. One that immediately springs to mind is the Paul Verhoeven film, ‘Hollow Man’ (2000). Similarly, Dr. Peter Ulof can’t help but conjure up images of Frankenstein. His demeanour, lab-talk, crazy hair, and eastern European accent are similarities that cannot be denied. Just as Frankenstein asked questions about an emerging technology, electricity; ‘The Amazing Transparent Man’ used a nuclear based invisibility machine to ask even bigger questions about the fears surrounding nuclear missiles and their extremely devastating abilities. Some might even link this style and execution of technology, complete with flashing consoles and futuristic noises to having influenced a certain sci-fi series created by a man called Gene Rodenberry a little over half a decade later.
On the special effects side of things, there are some clever uses of strings and other tricks to suggest objects are being moved by an invisible Joey; not to mention some convincing moves by actors pretending to have their clocks cleaned by Joey. A surprisingly little amount of time however is actually spent with him being invisible, but then considering the length of this film, that is understandable.
A noticeable element in this film is its inherent marginalisation of women; like most science fictions of this era, especially that of pre-Star Trek times, women would serve a psychodynamic prescribed role of ‘to-be-looked-at-ness’. Taking the only two females in ‘The Amazing Transparent Man’; Laura, the main love interest is easily manipulated by the powerful central male Joey. She is eventually killed for disobeying her master, Krenner. The other female, Ulof’s daughter Maria (Carmel Daniel), spends the majority of the film locked away and in need of a good old-fashioned rescuing. If this attitude towards women holds any relevance in this essay, it is that the portrayals supply good evidence that this film does conform to a classic science fiction structure.
A more subtle but none the less poignant theme of morals and family values is more clearly conveyed by the character of Dr Ulof. Despite his technological devotion, he ultimately turns his back on it in order to save his daughter. In addition to this, he rants to Joey that their lives are not important, and that they must focus on saving their families. This can be seen to go hand in hand with the nuclear war analogies, for the importance in continuing the family line into the next generation was of unrivalled proportions at this time.
Krenner, the Bond type villain in this story, has ideals that have been misguided by an intense sense of patriotism. He now uses his power to manipulate and threaten people to do as he says. Whether this is a reflection of Russian leaders or American leaders, it doesn’t really matter when considering different perspectives. The moral attitude remains the same; one-upmanship will lead to M.A.D (Mutually… assured… destruction).
The ending of this film is a direct reflection of the possible outcomes when fighting with nuclear power. Both Krenner and Joey die whilst they fight in the lab. The outcome: most of the surrounding county is destroyed. Clearly showing what the build-up of tension could result in. When the police officers arrive on the case, they question the Doctor, asking him if this technology could somehow be saved and used again. The doctor quickly urges that this should be considered a warning to everyone and that this unspeakable power should die with Joey and Krenner. The Ending line: ‘what would you do?’ is clearly aimed at the world leaders sitting with their fingers on the button.
This film is a like a cake. On top, the icing; a short, cliché, poorly received, cheap B-movie. But the more substantial layer underneath suggests greater value. It is an interesting contribution to science fiction with political undertones. This element however is pretty much the only thing to have stood any real test of time. As a whole, its value is measured only by the viewer’s preference to which layer of cake they most enjoy and appreciate.
Country: USA
Budget: £
Length: 57mins
Filmography:
Hollow Man, 2000, Paul Verhoeven, Columbia Pictures
Star Trek 1966, Gene Roddenberry, Paramount Pictures
Bibliography:
Bernardi, D (1998) Star Trek and History: Race-Ing Toward a White Future, Rutgers University Press: New Jersey, USA.
Pub/2009
More like this:
'The Fly', 1986, directed by David Cronenberg
'Delicatessen', 1991, directed by Marc Caro, Jean-Pierre Jeunet
'Hollow Man', 2000, directed by Paul Verhoeven