Day The World Ended (1955)

Starring Richard Denning, Lori Nelson, Adele Jergens, Touch Connors, Paul Birch
Directed by Roger Corman
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

Atomic fallout brings seven lone survivors together in a shielded house, but with limited food and the threat of rain that will irradiate them, they face an uncertain future.

This early Roger Corman production has a screenplay that borrows character types and tropes from numerous past films, but it still has some worthwhile ideas and is fronted by a good cast, particularly Denning and Birch, whose serious performances make the more fantastic elements believable.  Birch in particular as a former military captain who prepared his home for the end of the world but not for all the strangers that ended coming his way, anchors the picture, asserting his control with a stentorian tone and manner.  Connors' violent thug who provides the chief conflict among the characters is little more than a stereotype, as is Jergens as his boozy moll, who could have both stepped right out of Key Largo, but Paul Dubov's irradiated victim who mysteriously survives his apparent death is an intriguing addition, setting up the story's logical development of men mutated into monsters.  Ronald Stein provides an effective score, and Paul Blaisdell's creature suit is cheap but still has a fearsome countenance.  I enjoyed the picture for what it was, an early attempt by Corman to mine thrills on a low budget, and think it works on that level.    

Bud Abbott & Lou Costello Meet The Invisible Man (1951)

Starring Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Nancy Guild, Arthur Franz, Adele Jergens
Directed by Charles Lamont
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A prizefighter on the run from a murder charge is able to inject himself with an invisibility formula, and recruits Bud & Lou, fresh out of detective school, to help prove his innocence.

The final film in the long run of "Invisible Man" pictures from Universal, and it makes sense that Universal would bring funnymen Abbott & Costello to this property as there were plenty of comic possibilities in the previous films.  It's also one of the duo's better pictures in the 1950s, in my opinion, and really the last to directly connect to past Universal horror films.  Plenty of physical humor accompanies the jokes, and although some routines seem a little old hat, there are still some great moments, particularly when Costello is forced to fight another boxer in the ring, with some invisible help.  Most of all it's a fun picture, and although John P. Fulton's not involved this time, the special effects are excellent, with some good acting from Bud & Lou and those that unknowingly come in contact with the invisible man.  Franz, playing that invisible man this time around, doesn't give a great vocal characterization, but it's good enough for the film, and there's plenty of old pros in the supporting cast, including Sheldon Leonard's gangster, William Frawley's flustered police detective, and Gavin Muir's distinguished scientist.