{"id":21597,"date":"2011-12-29T14:13:47","date_gmt":"2011-12-29T21:13:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=21597"},"modified":"2020-12-17T12:43:41","modified_gmt":"2020-12-17T19:43:41","slug":"invisible-boy-the-1957","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=21597","title":{"rendered":"Invisible Boy, The (1957)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Don&#8217;t make such a fuss; he&#8217;s probably doing this just to get attention.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Poster-193x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"193\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-21598\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Poster-193x300.jpg 193w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Poster-82x128.jpg 82w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Poster.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 193px) 100vw, 193px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA young boy (Richard Eyer) whose scientist father (Philip Abbott) is obsessed with building a Super Computer befriends a time-traveling robot named Robby, who becomes brainwashed by the Computer into attempting to dominate the Earth.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Father and Child<\/li>\n<li>Mind Control and Hypnosis<\/li>\n<li>Robots<\/li>\n<li>Science Fiction<\/li>\n<li>World Domination<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nForever known as the film that was made simply to get more mileage out of the expensive robot built for <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=35424\"><em>Forbidden Planet<\/em> (1956)<\/a>, <em>The Invisible Boy<\/em> remains an odd little curio in its own right. Clearly a B-level production on many counts, much about the film comes across as simply laughable &#8212; such as the special effects used when the title character becomes invisible: i.e., his clothes simply sit there in the same spot as he contemplates his new status (wouldn&#8217;t he wriggle around at least a LITTLE bit?):<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Clothes.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Clothes-1024x619.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"387\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-58270\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Clothes-1024x619.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Clothes-300x181.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Clothes-128x77.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Clothes-768x465.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Clothes-1536x929.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Clothes-446x270.png 446w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Clothes.png 1711w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>And if Robby the Robot dictates that everything within Eyer&#8217;s nearby &#8220;electromagnetic field&#8221; becomes invisible, too, why doesn&#8217;t the spoon he uses to noisily slurp soup in front of his parents disappear? However, many other elements about the film&#8217;s preposterous and convoluted storyline &#8212; which at first glance make one nearly guffaw from hysterics &#8212; turn out to have a &#8220;deeper&#8221; meaning, if you&#8217;re looking for it. <\/p>\n<p>In essence, this entire film could be viewed as Eyer&#8217;s dream, given that he falls asleep not too far into the storyline:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Sleeping.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Sleeping-1024x572.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"358\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-58265\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Sleeping-1024x572.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Sleeping-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Sleeping-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Sleeping-768x429.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Sleeping-1536x858.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Sleeping-483x270.png 483w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Sleeping.png 1821w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; and such is the convention that we&#8217;ve learned to expect in movies &#8212; except&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><strong>(sorry for the spoiler; it&#8217;s relatively important to my argument here)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; he never &#8220;wakes up&#8221; at the end, thus leaving the situation intentionally (?) vague. As argued by one user on IMDb, Timmie (Eyer) not only becomes literally invisible; he starts off as &#8220;invisible&#8221; to his overworking father, who &#8212; as clearly established during the film&#8217;s opening sequences &#8212; views his non-mathematically-minded son as a huge disappointment. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Teaching-Math.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Teaching-Math-1024x571.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"357\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-58233\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Teaching-Math-1024x571.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Teaching-Math-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Teaching-Math-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Teaching-Math-768x429.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Teaching-Math-1536x857.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Teaching-Math-484x270.png 484w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Teaching-Math.png 1833w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Thus, everything that happens after Timmie falls asleep in front of the Super Computer (where his father has placed him for some extra tutoring) could be seen as simply a manifestation of Timmie&#8217;s fantasies. He&#8217;s finally able to beat his father at chess:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Chess.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Chess-1024x574.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-58266\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Chess-1024x574.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Chess-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Chess-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Chess-768x431.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Chess-1536x861.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Chess-482x270.png 482w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Chess.png 1825w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; he manipulates a robot &#8212; his new best friend &#8212; into doing his bidding (sending him up in a kite), even when this goes against the robot&#8217;s prime directive to not place any human in harm&#8217;s way:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Kite2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Kite2-1024x620.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"388\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-58271\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Kite2-1024x620.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Kite2-300x182.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Kite2-128x78.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Kite2-768x465.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Kite2-1536x931.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Kite2-446x270.png 446w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Kite2.png 1695w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n&#8230; and his parents&#8217; reactions to his invisibility are ridiculously ho hum: &#8220;Well, honey, these things all pass away in time&#8221;, says his father to his stereotypically demure &#8217;50s wife (Diane Brewster). !!! <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Parents.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Parents-1024x568.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"355\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-58268\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Parents-1024x568.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Parents-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Parents-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Parents-768x426.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Parents-1536x853.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Parents-486x270.png 486w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Parents-1038x576.png 1038w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Parents.png 1825w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Indeed, everything about Timmie&#8217;s invisibility and the subsequent drama that ensues &#8212; involving a fairly serious amount of threat to Timmie&#8217;s very existence, not to mention the state of the Free World &#8212; occurs on a level that one soon realizes is not merely laughably implausible, but very much from a child&#8217;s perspective. I won&#8217;t say more here, since I&#8217;ve already spoiled enough, but suffice it to say that if you watch the film from this point of view, you may find yourself &#8220;appreciating&#8221; it on an entirely different level. In fact, it&#8217;s enough of a unique approach to the material that I found myself shifting my vote to &#8220;must see&#8221; for this reason alone; otherwise I would simply relegate it to a movie of minor historical interest for science fiction fans. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A curiously clever, albeit undeniably low-budget, twist on a classic &#8217;50s sci-fi tale<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Super-Computer.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Super-Computer-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-21599\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Super-Computer-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Super-Computer-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Super-Computer-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Invisible-Boy-Super-Computer.png 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as an unusual sci fi curio. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Historically Relevant<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0050546\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=4106&#038;aff=13\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.scifilm.org\/index.php?id=2293\">SciFilm Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/moria.co.nz\/sciencefiction\/invisibleboy.htm\">Moria Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/230\/the-invisible-boy#articles-reviews?articleId=78608\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t make such a fuss; he&#8217;s probably doing this just to get attention.&#8221; Synopsis: A young boy (Richard Eyer) whose scientist father (Philip Abbott) is obsessed with building a Super Computer befriends a time-traveling robot named Robby, who becomes brainwashed by the Computer into attempting to dominate the Earth. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Father and Child Mind Control and Hypnosis Robots Science Fiction World Domination Review: Forever known as the film that was made simply to get more mileage&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=21597\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21597"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21597\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58272,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21597\/revisions\/58272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}