The Amazing Transparent Man (1960 film)

***The Amazing Transparent Man*** is a 1960 American science fiction film starring Marguerite Chapman. It is a B-movie which follows the story of 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 by director Edgar G. Ulmer (the other being *Beyond the Time Barrier*, also released in 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*.

## Plot

Former U.S. Army major Paul Krenner (James Griffith) 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 (Red Morgan), Krenner forces Dr. Peter Ulof (Ivan Trisault) to perfect the invisibility machine Ulof invented. He keeps Ulof's daughter, Maria (Carmel Daniel), imprisoned to keep Ulof in line.

The nuclear materials Ulof needs to better his invisibility machine are extremely rare and kept under guard in government facilities. Krenner arranges the prison break of a notorious safecracker, Joey Faust (Douglas Kennedy), to steal the materials he needs. Of course 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 sing like a canary 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 (Marguerite Chapman), 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 dies and, during the second time 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.

## Production and Development

The film was made by Miller Consolidated Pictures, which gave it a brief release in 1960. It was then picked up by American International Pictures.

## Release

The film was originally released in the United States on1960 by American International Pictures.

## Mystery Science Theater 3000 Episode

*The Amazing Transparent Man* was featured in episode #623 of *Mystery Science Theater 3000*, along with "The Days of Our Years," a workplace safety short film. The episode debuted March 18, 1995, on Comedy Central. The episode is not a fan favorite; it did not make the Top 100 list of episodes as voted upon by MST3K Season 11 Kickstarter 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 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 in November 21, 2017. The other episodes in the four-disc set include *Girls Town* (episode #601) and *Diabolik* (episode #1013). The fourth disc, titled "Satellite Dishes", collected non-movie segments from MST3K episodes that are unlikely to be collected on DVD.

## References

This is a list of references for **The Amazing Transparent Man (1960 film)**. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]

1. ↑ Smith, Gary A. (2009). [None The American International Pictures Video Guide]. McFarland.

**Japanese**
**Invisible Man Appears* (1949) · *The Invisible Man vs. The Human Fly* · *The Invisible Avenger* (1954) · *Invisible Man: Rape!* · Oh! Invisible Man · *Oh! Invisible Man – Invisible Girl Appears!?* · *Invisible Demon* · *The Invisible Swordsman* ·*
**Other**
*Invisible Avenger* · *Invisible Invader* · *Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare* · *Yokai Monsters: Along With Ghosts* · *Kujira Gami* · *Memoirs of an Invisible Man* · *The Invisible Man* (1984) · *The Invisible Man* (1977) · *Dr. Jekyll Meets the Invisible Man* (1977) · *The Human Vapor* · *The Secret of the Telegian* · *The H-Man* · *The Fly* (1958) · *The Invisible Woman* (1969) · ***The Amazing Transparent Man*** · *Fear the Invisible Man* · *The Invisible Witness* · *The Invisible Man* (2016) · *The Invisible Maniac* · *The Invisible Man* (2017) · *The Invisible Man* (2018) · *Invisible Man* (2018) · *Mad Monster Party* (1967) · *Strangler of the Swamp* · *The Invisible Man Attacks* · *The Incredible Shrinking Man* · *The Astral Factor* · *Attack of the 50 Foot Woman*