The Invisible Thief (1909)
*** (out of 4)
This French film has a man buying H.G. Wells' The Invisible Man book and getting the idea of turning himself invisible so that he can commit crimes. Apparently the book itself gives the chemical to turn yourself invisible so the would-be thief has no problems doing it. THE INVISIBLE THIEF is in no way, shape or form a masterpiece but it's an interesting little movie and especially when you consider the era that it was made. If you're expecting something like James Whale's THE INVISIBLE MAN then you can forget it. With that said, fans of that film are going to enjoy this because it shares some of the same story including the man living in a boarding house with a landlady as well as another scene where he beats up some cops. The special effects are very obvious today because when he's invisible you can still see the outline of the actor. But again, this was 1909 we're talking about so you can't be too hard. Some of the other effects like the moving furniture is something Georges Melies was doing better even a decade earlier.