The Invisible Man (1933 film)
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| The Invisible Man | |
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 The Invisible Man movie poster |
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| Directed by | James Whale |
| Produced by | Carl Laemmle Jr. |
| Written by | H.G. Wells (novel} R. C. Sherriff (screenplay) |
| Starring | Claude Rains Gloria Stuart |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | November 13, 1933 U.S. release |
| Running time | 71 min |
| Followed by | The Invisible Man Returns (1940) |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Invisible Man is a film produced by Universal Pictures in 1933 and directed by James Whale. The movie was based on H.G. Wells' science fiction novel The Invisible Man.
It is considered one of the great Universal horror films of the 1930s, and spawned a number of sequels, plus many spinoffs using the idea of an "invisible man" that were largely unrelated to Wells' original story. In his first screen appearance, Claude Rains was the voice of the Invisible Man (Dr. Jack Griffin) — though the actor is only seen briefly at the end of the film. The film also starred Gloria Stuart.
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[edit] Characters
The main characters include:
- The Invisible Man AKA Jack Griffin AKA the Invisible One (Claude Rains) - a scientist who creates a formula to turn his body invisible.
- Flora Cranley (Gloria Stuart) - the Invisible Man's fiancee.
- Dr. Arthur Kemp (William Harrigan) - The Invisible Man's partner before he became invisible.
- Several notable character actors appear in minor roles, including Dwight Frye as a reporter, Walter Brennan as a man whose bicycle is stolen, and John Carradine, acting at that time under the name Peter Richmond.
[edit] Plot
The film opens with a mysterious stranger, his face swathed in bandages and his eyes obscured by dark spectacles, taking a room at an inn at the English village of Iping (in Sussex). Never leaving his quarters, the stranger demands that the staff leave him completely alone. However, his dark secret is slowly revealed to his suspicious landlady and the villagers: he is an invisible man! When the innkeeper and his semi-hysterical wife tell him to leave after he makes a huge mess in the parlor and drives away the other patrons, he tears off the bandages, laughing maniacally, and throws the innkeeper down the stairs, nearly killing him. He takes off the rest of his clothes, rendering himself completely invisible, and tries to strangle a police officer.
The invisible stranger is revealed as Dr Jack Griffin, a scientist, who has discovered the secret of invisibility while conducting a series of tests with a strange new drug called monocane. He returns to the laboratory of his mentor, Dr. Cranley (Henry Travers), where he reveals his secret to onetime partner Dr. Kemp (William Harrigan) and fiancee Flora Cranley (Gloria Stuart). Monocaine has rendered Griffin's entire body undetectable to the human eye. Alas, it also has the side effect of driving Griffin insane. Cranley has investigated and discovered the monocane among Griffin's papers, so he realizes that Griffin has recently used it. On the evening of his escape from the inn, Griffin turns up in Kemp's living room and imprisons him in his own house. He forces Kemp to be his partner, and together they go back to the inn where Griffin stayed and retrieve his books on the invisibility process. Kemp calls Cranley, asking for help, and then secretly calls the police. Flora comes to him and they talk for only a minute, until the police show up. Their conversation forces Flora to realize that Griffin is totally insane. When he sees the police through the window, Griffin realizes that Kemp has betrayed him. After promising Kemp that at 10:00 the next day he will murder him, Griffin escapes again and a reign of terror ensues, the Invisible Man running down the streets killing, robbing, and reciting nursery rhymes in a spooky voice. The police offer a monetary award for anyone who can think of a way to catch the Invisible Man.
They disguise Kemp as a police officer and lead him away from his house to protect him, but Griffin has been following them all along. He forces Kemp into the front seat with his hands tied and releases the emergency brake. The car rolls down a steep hill and over a cliff - and explodes, killing Kemp.
Finally, after derailing a train and throwing two construction workers off of a cliff, Griffin rests in a barn. The police set fire to the barn. Griffin comes out, and when the police sight his footprints in the snow, they open fire. Griffin is mortally wounded. On his deathbed, Griffin admits to Flora, that he has tampered with a type of science that was meant to be left alone. The effects of the monocaine wear off the moment he dies. He is visible once again.
[edit] Differences between novel and film
Although the film is sometimes hailed for its fidelity to H.G. Wells' novel, it changes many aspects. The story is updated to 1933, rather than taking place in the 1890's. Griffin does not have a fiancee in the novel, there is no Dr. Cranley, and Griffin does not kill Kemp. (In fact, in the book, it is Kemp who pronounces Griffin dead at the end.) Kemp is neither an old friend nor an old partner of Griffin's in the novel, just an acquaintance. Most important, Griffin does not use monocaine to make himself invisible in the book, but instead another unnamed formula, and it is strongly hinted in the novel that Griffin was already mad long before he ever made himself invisible. The film portrays Griffin much more sympathetically than the novel, in which Kemp describes Griffin as "inhuman" to the police. In the film, he is shown regretting what he has done to Flora; Griffin shows no such regrets in the novel.
[edit] Special Effects
The film is known for its groundbreaking and clever use of visual effects. When the Invisible Man had no clothes on, the effect was achieved through wires and the like, but when he had some of his clothes on or was taking his clothes off, the effect was achieved by shooting Claude Rains in a completely black velvet suit against a black velvet background and then combining this shot with another shot of the location the scene took place in using a matte process. Claude Rains was claustrophobic and it was hard to breathe through the suit. Consequently, the role was especially difficult for him.[1]
[edit] The Universal Legacy Collection
A few years ago, Universal released six legacy collections that included some of their best horror films. Here is a list of the films included in The Invisible Man Legacy Collection.
- The Invisible Man (1933)
- The Invisible Man Returns (1940)
- The Invisible Woman (1940)
- Invisible Agent (1942)
- The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944)
The Legacy Collection also included bonus features.
- Now You See Him: The Invisible Man Revealed: A detailed look at the making of the classic horror film and its sequels by film historian Rudy Behlmer.
- Film Historian Rudy Behlmer provides insightful commentary to the film on an alternate audio track
- Invisible Agent Original Theatrical Trailer
- Production Photographs
[edit] References
- ^ Now You See Him: The Invisible Man Revealed! Dir. David J. Skal. With Rudy Behlmer, Bill Condon, Curtis Harrington, and Paul M. Jensen. Universal Home Entertainment, 2000.
[edit] External links
- The Invisible Man at the Internet Movie Database
- The Invisible Man at the All Movie Guide
- The Invisible Man at The Terror Trap
