“Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein” was a huge hit for Universal, so comedians Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were fast-tracked to make more films like it (six more in total), including their meet-up with the Invisible Man. Of all the Universal Monsters, the Invisible Man is the one that feels tailor-made for comedic hijinks, proven by how many films in this oddly specific subgenre are comedies and not monster movies. The duo play a pair of amateur private investigators who are approached by a boxer named Tommy Nelson, who claims he is being framed. Through some random bits of happenstance, they get their hands on the invisibility formula of Jack Griffin (the original Invisible Man), and although Nelson is warned the serum may make him go mad, he takes it anyway to be invisible in an attempt to clear his name.
Clearing his name also includes Costello going undercover as a boxer, with the invisible Nelson actually doing the boxing for him. Hilarity ensues! No, seriously, it’s one of the best Invisible gags in the entire canon. Admittedly the film feels like a bunch of sketches sewn together, but it’s still a lot of fun and plays into the comedy legends’ strengths. Unfortunately, the film does go where many, many invisible stories go with what we now can recognize as non-consensual sexual touching, but at this point, it feels like these types of scenes are the rule and not the exception with invisibility films.