Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man, part of their movie meetings with the Universal Studios’ classic monsters, was and still is a fun romp for the comedic duo. While it takes elements from the many Invisible Man movies before it, interestingly enough, Bud and Lou seem to forget they met the invisible man (well, at least one of them) at the end of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. It would have been fun if the studio had followed up on that, but it got lost by doing Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff instead. During this time, the duo had finally settled with the IRS regarding back taxes, but their partnership was breaking up. They held it together during filming, but when it came time for Lou to slap Bud around in their scenes, the jabs were harder than usual. If you are new to Abbott and Costello, watch The Time of Their Lives (1946) first. The fantasy, the comedy, and the romantic pull are all just wonderful.
By the way, the third film in the invisible man series is The Invisible Woman (1940). Directed and scripted like a screwball comedy, sort of, it falls short on both the comedy and the sci fi/horror aspects. It’s worth a look due to its special effects and actor John Barrymore, along with the lively Virginia Bruce. For some reason, the risqué element of her being nude, albeit invisible, caused a bit of concern. Of course, none of the nude invisible men faced that problem for some reason.
