The Bloody Pit #49 - MR SUPERINVISIBLE (1970)

We return to the films of Antonio Margheriti and the decade of the 1970's to see what an Italian made Disney film would look like. You might remember the kind of film we're talking about if you are of a certain age -THAT DARN CAT, GUS, THE APPLE DUMPLING GANG, THE COMPUTER WORE TENNIS SHOES and certainly THE LOVE BUG which turned a cheap German made car into a fun loving childhood hero. Somehow. And when European producers wish to capitalize on the big budget hits of Hollywood they do the easiest thing possible to create a movie that the public will mistake for American fodder - they hire an American star! In this case, Dean Jones, lead actor in several Disney kiddie features was lured to Italy to make a film just as cute and stupid as the pabulum being force-fed to the little bastards by Uncle Walt's fantasy machine. How well it succeeds will be a test of your own nostalgia or, perhaps, your lack of patience with resolutely silly stories. 

John Hudson joins me to dig into this ridiculous science fiction comedy and as difficult a watch as it was for grown men, there are joys amide the pain. Not a lot of joys, but enough to keep us from losing our minds. We talk about the good cast, the odd choice of aspect ratio, the fantastic music, the Italian Peter Lorre, pointless animal testing and bizarre tropes that get trotted put in this genre of Saturday afternoon kiddie matinee.

Of course, we also spend a sad amount of time lamenting the extremely short time the mythical Invisible Chimp is a part of the story. Clearly he was a highly paid ape and they could only afford him for a couple of days! As a bonus (?), I also take a minute to complain loudly about one of the dumbest turns of phrase/jokes/sad bits of non-humor from the past that is present in this film in the very first seconds. Sometimes I just have to get things off my chest even if it might make me sound like an old man screaming at clouds. Sorry.

Thank you for downloading and listening to the show. Mr. Hudson and I plan to step up production of these Margheriti episodes this year and we even go so far as to announce the next two films we'll cover. We love going through these films and it is a blast see that there are others out there interested enough in his work to listen to us praise him. Join us over on The Bloody Pit Facebook page (which I forgot to mention in this show) or write us a review in iTunes or wherever you find our show. See you next time!