| The Invisible Boy | |
|---|---|
Theatrical poster to The Invisible Boy (1958) |
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| Directed by | Herman Hoffman |
| Produced by | Nicholas Nayfack |
| Written by | Edmund Cooper (story) Cyril Hume |
| Starring | Richard Eyer Philip Abbott Diane Brewster Harold J. Stone |
| Music by | Les Baxter |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn Mayer |
| Release date(s) | October 1957 January 1, 1958 November 24, 1958 June 1, 1959 |
| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
The Invisible Boy (1957) is a science fiction film, directed by Herman Hoffman, and starring Richard Eyer and Philip Abbott. It is the second film appearance of Robby the Robot, a famous science fiction character, who first appeared in Forbidden Planet (1956), which is set in the 23rd century. Released by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer, this film's earlier title was S.O.S Spaceship. According to a subtle backstory, the robot in The Invisible Boy is the same character as that in Forbidden Planet, brought back to the era of the film through time travel. However, that fact appears to play no other role in The Invisible Boy.
The Invisible Boy is a curious mixture of lighthearted playfulness and menacing evil. As it begins, ten-year-old Timmie Merinoe (Eyer) seems only to want a playmate. After he is mysteriously invested with superior intelligence, he reassembles a robot that his father and other scientists have been ready to discard as unrepairable junk. No one pays much attention to the robot after Timmie gets it going, until Timmie's mother becomes angry when Timmie is taken aloft by a huge kite that the robot builds.
When Timmie expresses a wish to be able to play without being observed by his parents, the robot – with the aid of an evil supercomputer – makes him invisible. At first Timmie uses his invisibility to play simple pranks on his parents and others, but the mood of the film soon changes, when it becomes clear that the super computer intends to take over the world through a military satellite.
The entire feature film appears as an extra on the Forbidden Planet 50th Anniversary DVD released in 2006 and on the Blu-ray released in 2010.