Review of The Invisible Boy

A young boy (Richard Eyer) befriends a robot (Robbie from "Forbidden Planet', 1956; again voiced by Martin Miller) not knowing that a malevolent super-computer has taken control of his metal friend as part of its plan to conquer Earth. The film was primarily an excuse for MGM to get more use out of the expensive (and popular) "Robbie the Robot" costume but, other than a cursory mention of a 'time machine' bringing the robot back from the future, no attempt is made no connect the two stories. The film effectively takes a child's perspective of events, especially the apparently irrational behaviour of adults. There is one scene when Timmy walks into a room full of 'busy' scientists who essentially ignore him, despite the fact that the boy has successfully resurrected a huge robot from the future. The boy also compares Robbie's 'basic directive' against allowing a human to come to harm (essentially Asimov's 1st law) to his mother's fun-killing concerns for his safety. Most of the film is light-hearted, with Timmy bonding with the dead-pan robot or, when rendered invisible, pranking people, but there are some odd adult moments, especially when the megalomaniac supercomputer (who has disabled Robbie's 'basic directive') describes how Robbie could slowly and painfully kill the boy (now a hostage) and later forces the parents to watch after telling Robbie to 'start with the eyes' (needless-to-say, there is no torture (on- or off-screen)). The film's background geopolitics is typical of the decade: the American goal to surreptitiously launch the first orbiting space-station (apparently armed with strontium warheads). When asked what their "friends across the pole" would do if they learned of the project, the super-computer predicts a 91.6% chance of attack if learnt before the launch compared to an 87.3% chance of peaceful negotiations if learnt after. The 'peace through (our) strength' message was typical of the era - as the general states: the world will be able to "rest easy" after the launch. The story (based on the eponymous short story (sans robot) by Edmund Cooper) is entertaining and Eyer is quite good as the young boy, more or less a 'normal kid' until he's hypnotised by the malignant A.I. and given an enhanced I.Q. Philip Abbott and Diane Brewster are also fine as (from Timmy's perspective) his workaholic boffin of a father and fretful, overly-protective mother. As a kid's film, 'The Invisible Boy' likely has more appeal to a 'kids then' audience than to a 'kids now' audience, but is certainly worth watching by fans of the genre of any age.