“Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man” (1951) / Z-View

Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)

Director:  Charles Lamont

Screenplay:  Robert Lees, Frederic I. Rinaldo, John Grant from a story by Hugh Wedlock Jr., Howard Snyder based on 1897 novel The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells

Stars: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Arthur Franz, Sheldon Leonard, William Frawley, Sam Balter, John Daheim and Milt Bronson

Tagline: You’ll shiver… You’ll shudder… You’ll shout with laughter!

The Plot…

Bud (Abbott) and Lou (Costello) are setting up shop after graduating from Private Detective school.  In comes middleweight prize fighter Tommy Nelson (Franz).  He’s on the lam.  Nelson escaped jail after being accused of killing his manager.  Nelson wants Bud and Lou to convince his fiancée’s scientist uncle to inject him with a formula to make him invisible.  Nelson thinks this will get him into places where he can find the true killers!

Bud and Lou reluctantly agree.  Soon they’re in over their heads. The cops and the crooks are after them.  If they don’t find the real killer, they may end up next to Nelson’s manager in the morgue!

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Laughs come from Bud not knowing when the Invisible Man is in the room and Lou being mistaken for a prizefighter with a punch so fast you can’t see it!  Of course you can’t see the punch when it’s thrown by the invisible man.  The funniest scenes involve Lou in a boxing match with the invisible man doing the heavy lifting, er, punching.  This isn’t Bud and Lou’s best, but is still fun.

Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951) earns 3 of 5 stars.