1951
What’s this about?
Bud and Lou graduate from private eye school and you just know silliness and nothing good will come from that. Tommy Nelson a boxer accused of killing his manager shows up trying to hire the boys, they agree and they don’t yet know who he is. Nelson was hired to take a dive in a fight, he and his manager doubled crossed the guy ( who has gang ties) and Tommy knocked out Rocky Hanlin. The baddies killed Tommy’s manager and left him as the number on suspect. Wait that plot sounds too normal. Okay how’s this- Tommy’s girlfriend’s uncle is messing with an invisibility formula and of course Tommy takes it despite being told not too. Won’t these guys ever learn? Okay, Tommy takes it. Bud and Low know who Tommy is now and Bud decides to call the cops. Tommy takes the syrum, he’s gone and when the cops show up they think Bud and Lou are a couple of liars. The cops keep tabs on Bud and Lou. So don’t do anything nasty, boys. Tommy tells Bud and Lou they are helping him whether they like it or not and since he’s a boxer, has a temper and is invisible they should listen to him. Tommy comes up with the idea that Lou should pretend to be a boxer with Bud as his manager. They go into a gym and Lou pretends to box a bag while Tommy does the hitting. They then draw Rocky Hanlin into throwing a punch at Lou and Tommy knocks Rocky down thus setting up a fight between big, ugly Rocky and little fat Lou. Oh did I mention that the invisibility syrum has a side effect of causing mental instability? They may have caused Tommy’s plan here. Anyways his hope is Lou gets in the ring and they beat Rocky draw out the other baddies, catch them and prove his innocence. Unfortunately with Bud and Lou in the thick of this we know it won’t be that easy. The cops still think that Bud and Lou know where Tommy Nelson is. The bad guys send a woman after Lou to persuade him to take a dive against Rocky and he’d get paid for it. So eventually we get to the main attraction-the fight. Lou gets in the ring with Tommy behind him but of course he’s still invisible but getting a little crazier. Bud tells Lou that he needs to take the dive or that the bad dudes will kill them. Bud is such a spineless wuss. The fight starts and Tommy uses his invisible fists to knock Rocky around, but Lou almost screws it up when he accidentally knocks Tommy out and almost gets his rear end handed to him. The Tommy gets back up and knocks Rocky out. The baddies are snarling to get Bud and Lou, but Tommy has their back and a fight happens in the locker room. The mean jerky types are stopped, the cops grab them and Tommy needs a blood transfusion. Lou gives him some blood in the hospital. So Tommy becomes visible again. In the process Lou gets some invisible blood and he vanishes for a while, but is seen again for a humorous final scene. Roll the credits.
The negatives-Not so much. The invisibility lab scenes are a little stiff perhaps, but okay.
The positives-A good combination of horror and humor. The boys make the best of the situations. Bud is his classic straight man self while Lou gives some great slapstick moments including the fight. The special effects are actually quite decent for the time. The supporting cast is relatively strong.
Lasers, monsters and barbarians oh, my! 