Now You See Him, Now You Don't

College dean Higgins (Joe Flynn) is trying to cut the chemistry department budget. He dismisses all the science being done by the students. A lightning strike hits the lab. The next day, Dexter Riley (Kurt Russell) checks the damaged experiments and discovers an invisibility liquid. He shows his friends Richard Schuyler and Debbie Dawson. Crooked investor A.J. Arno (Cesar Romero) has bought up the college's mortgage. The Dean is clueless but the three friends suspect Arno has nefarious motives.

This is the second of the Dexter Riley movies from Disney. It is charming family fun. There is an endearing innocence about these movies. Baby-faced Kurt Russell is great. I also love the pre-CGI special effects. As a kid, I was engrossed by them. As an adult, I am enchanted by them. The story is silly but that's also part of the charm.

The second of the "Dexter Riley" Disney feature film vehicles for Kurt Russell, this is good, amiable, goofy fun. Sure, it's not exactly "great cinema", but it sure as Hell isn't trying to be. It follows its formula to a tee while serving up a respectable amount of decent invisibility effects and engaging laughs.

This time, Kurts' Dexter Riley is in a science class, and by accident he manages to perfect an invisibility spray. The problem is, of course, that master criminal A.J. Arno (Cesar Romero) finds out all about it, and figures to exploit the spray for his own ends. Dexter and his friends (chief among them, Michael McGreevey as Richard Schuyler and Joyce Menges as Debbie Dawson) must work overtime to both give their grumpy dean (Joe Flynn, who's in very fine form) an assist, and ultimately foil bad guy Arno.

"Now You See Him, Now You Don't" is great fun for anybody looking for a lively campus comedy. As said before, the special effects are pretty decent, and director Robert Butler maintains a reasonable pace. (Things go along kind of deliberately until the typical, manic Disney finale where the studio pulls out all the stops.) Kurt is a joy in this recurring role of Dexter, who may not be a top student, but has the personality of a hero and a definite charisma. Romero is fun as usual as the bad guy; other reliable and familiar actors in supporting roles include Jim Backus, William Windom, Richard Bakalyan, Alan Hewitt, Kelly Thordsen, Kurt's dad Bing in the small role of Alfred, George O'Hanlon, John Myhers, Edward Andrews, and Ed Begley, Jr. Legendary and extremely prolific voice-over artist Frank Welker has one of his early career, on-screen roles as one of Dexters' many associates.

If you're a fan of Kurt, or any live-action Disney from this period, this is guaranteed to deliver some agreeable entertainment.

Followed by "The Strongest Man in the World".

Seven out of 10.

In this underrated sequel to the 1969 film The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, we find Dexter Riley inventing again. This time, he's working on a theory of invisibility. And yet again, Dean Higgins is in need of money. Makes you wonder what happened with all the money Medfield was awarded in the first film.

This film wasn't always readily available from the Disney library, not until they were releasing the Dexter Riley trilogy on dvd. Therefore, that made the film somewhat obscure and almost unknown. One of the downfalls of this installment is that Professor Quigley (William Schallert) wasn't involved in the production. He was replaced without explanation, but does reappear in The Strongest Man in the World. Richard Bakalyan returns but as a nephew to A.J. Arno.

However, the film is funny and the special effects were great for the time period. It's a very family friendly film.

This comical tale is an example of what Saturday matinee movies used to be like. Don't be dismayed if you think this is for science fiction lovers only, it's got some great laughs, fine acting, surprisingly good special effects and a hugely enjoyable story. Great performances from the late Cesar Romero and Joe Flynn. Also notable to see a young Kurt Russell in action. Second feature in a trilogy with the same cast.

Kurt Russell and his gang of college buddies return three years later in Now You See Him, Now You Don't. Just as The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes was deliciously '60s, this one is deliciously '70s. The haircuts, the clothes, the music are all different in just three years - but that's college life for you! This time at Medford College, the science department is still underfunded and Dean Higgins (Joe Flynn) is still incompetent. Kurt and his pals invent an invisibility spray solution, and they hope to impress Jim Backus, the head of the science contest, into giving them the grant money.

Even though he's supposed to be safely locked in jail from the end of the first movie, A. J. Arno (Cesar Romero) is back and ready to thwart Kurt's plans. But when you're trying to steal things you can't see from people you can't see, it's pretty tough. It's also pretty funny. It's a Disney movie with nothing bad happening from start to finish, so it's safe and fun for the whole family. It's also less dated than the original, since invisibility still hasn't been invented (even though computers have been) yet.