Each of the Dexter Riley movies basically asks “What if the lead character got X superpower?” In the first film, “The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes,” the power is super-intelligence. In the 1972 sequel, “Now You See Him, Now You Don’t,” it’s (obviously) invisibility. But even the details beyond that set-up question are very much the same in this sequel as they are in the 1969 original film. Once again, the film is set in and around Medfield College; once again, the college is on the brink of collapse; and once again, Dexter and his antics will be what saves the college to live for another year in spite of more machinations from the gangster played by Cesar Romero. That films such as “Now You See Him, Now You Don’t” are irretrievably silly is baked in; still, it’s difficult to watch these films and not wonder if the people making them are the same as dismissive critics who assume that Disney movies are always for kids, and thus are not worth thinking about for too long. “Now You See Him, Now You Don’t” was also the first Disney film that would eventually air in full on television over a two-hour timeslot; previous movies (including some animated films) had been split into two hour-long chunks over two weeks. That’s worth noting because these titles feel like they were only ever made for small-screen half-life, in spite of Russell’s undeniable charm as the lead. You can see why and how he would parlay these films into a longer and more fruitful future, but you can also see why people like Quentin Tarantino would denigrate such films decades down the line.


