The Amazing Transparent Man (1960)
“See it... before it sees you!”
Streamed free from the Internet Archive · no signup, no cost — this film is in the public domain.
Synopsis
Shot in Dallas in a frantic two-week schedule alongside Beyond the Time Barrier, this lean B-thriller from cult auteur Edgar G. Ulmer fuses invisible-man science fiction with a crime caper. The invisibility comes at a lethal price, as radiation poisoning eats away at both the crook and the scientist forced to enable him.
Cast
About the Director
Edgar G. Ulmer — Edgar G. Ulmer, the legendary "Cinema's Exile" behind Detour, wrings atmosphere from almost nothing here, his trademark on Poverty Row. Even within a rushed, threadbare production he stages the invisibility heists with crisp, economical noir style.
Why It’s Free: The Public-Domain Story
Public domain in the United States: produced by Miller Consolidated Pictures, the film was released without a proper copyright registration and was never validly copyrighted, placing it in the public domain. A later videocassette registration did not restore protection to the underlying film.
Behind the Scenes
Miller Consolidated Pictures went bankrupt shortly after production, and American International Pictures picked up this film and Beyond the Time Barrier for little more than the lab costs, releasing them as a double feature.
Did You Know?
- It was shot back-to-back with Beyond the Time Barrier in a combined two-week schedule in Dallas, Texas.
- It marked the final feature film of 1940s leading lady Marguerite Chapman.
- The film ends with a fourth-wall-breaking address asking the audience what they would do with invisibility.
Reception & Legacy
Contemporary critics found it cheap and uninspired, and it is among Ulmer's lesser-regarded efforts. Today it is valued chiefly as a curiosity from a revered low-budget stylist and as a brisk, watchable slice of atomic-age intrigue.
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