The Invisible Man (1933)

• Year: 1933
• Released: 13 Nov 1933
• Country: United States
• Adwords: 4 wins & 2 nominations
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024184/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_invisible_man
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-invisible-man
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: Approved
• Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi
• Runtime: 71 min
• Writer: H.G. Wells, R.C. Sherriff, Preston Sturges
• Director: James Whale
• Cast: Claude Rains, Gloria Stuart, William Harrigan
• Keywords: based on novel or book, murder, scientist, snow, mad scientist,

	7.6/10
	87/100

The Invisible Man Storyline

A mysterious man, whose head is completely covered in bandages, wants a room. The proprietors of the pub aren’t used to making their house an inn during the winter months, but the man insists. They soon come to regret their decision. The man quickly runs out of money, and he has a violent temper besides. Worse still, he seems to be some kind of chemist and has filled his room with messy chemicals, test tubes, beakers and the like. When they try to throw him out, they make a ghastly discovery. Meanwhile, Flora Cranley appeals to her father to do something about the mysterious disappearance of Dr. Griffin, his assistant and her sweetheart. Her father’s other assistant, the cowardly Dr. Kemp, is no help. He wants her for himself. Little does Flora guess that the wild tales, from newspapers and radio broadcasts, of an invisible homicidal maniac are stories of Dr. Griffin himself, who has discovered the secret of invisibility and gone mad in the process.

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The Invisible Man Movie Reviews

To make the world grovel at his feet.

Spoiler ahead – a well known one though.

It was his first major film role, and he only appeared at the tale end of the movie for a minute – as a corpse! But Claude Rains was made as of that moment, though it would be awhile before he actually ceased being a villain in all of his films.

James Whale’s THE INVISIBLE MAN is possibly the best of the early Universal horror series of the 1930s. FRANKENSTEIN and Dracula (both English and Spanish versions) are great films too, but the threat of Jack Griffin’s discovery of invisibility makes the other two seem quaint as threats. One can run from Frankenstein, and one can stay indoors at night with a handy cross or garlic available. But how does one fully protect oneself against someone who is physically strong, mentally smart, and totally determined to kill you if you cannot see him? It’s not easy, especially if the goal of this monster is to rule over others. As he puts it, he wishes to have the world grovel at his feet.

In the novel, Griffin’s personality is shown to be so selfish from the start that one can tell that no matter what discovery he would have made he would have misused it for power. He has no redeeming features at all. However, his omnipotence is sort of curbed in one way that is not the case in the film. A character is invented by Wells (who is not in the movie) that Griffin frightens into serving as a slave or servant. The character manages to run off with Griffin’s chemistry lab and chemicals, as well as Griffin’s notebooks. As a result he is trapped in his invisibility, and can’t get out of this situation until the novel ends.

The film does have some classic moments of humor (Whale liked to add black humor to his films). When a woman runs screaming down the lane at night followed by an empty pair of pants skipping along reciting “here we go gathering nuts in May” is one. So (more darkly) is during a massive search for Griffin, after he causes a train disaster. One of the volunteers, slightly apart from the others, is grabbed and thrown down and choked. Rains/Griffin, in speaking, says, “Here I am…AREN’T YOU GLAD YOU FOUND ME?!!” It is a chilling moment.

A wonderful blend of thrills and comedy, surrounding a science fiction tale of constant interest, this film never disappoints. I give it a 10 for entertainment value. For helping awaken viewers to reading the works of Herbert George Wells, I’d give it a 12.

It alters you, changes you.

There’s a snow storm blowing ferociously, a man trundles towards a signpost that reads Iping. He enters a hostelry called The Lions Head, the patrons of the bar fall silent for the man is bound in bandages. He tells, not asks, the landlady; “I want a room with a fire”. This man is Dr. Jack Griffin, soon to wreak havoc and be known as The Invisible Man.

One of the leading lights of the Universal Monster collection of films that terrified and enthralled audiences back in the day. Directed by genre master James Whale, The Invisible Man is a slick fusion of dark humour, berserker science and genuine evil. Quite a feat for a film released in 1933, even more so when one samples the effects used in the piece. Effects that are still today holding up so well they put to shame some of the toy like expensive tricks used by the modern wave of film makers. John P. Fulton take a bow sir.

After Boris Karloff had turned down the chance to play the good doctor gone crazy, on account of the role calling for voice work throughout the film only, except a snippet at the finale, so Whale turned to Claude Rains. Small in stature but silky in voice, Rains clearly sensed an opportunity to launch himself into Hollywood. It may well be, with Whale’s expert guidance of course, that he owes his whole career to that 30 second appearance of his face at the end of the film? As was his want, Whale filled out the support cast with odd ball eccentrics that are acted adroitly by the British & Irish thespians. Una O’Connor, Forrester Harvey, Edward E. Clive and Henry Travers are memorable. While American Gloria Stuart as the power insane Griffin’s love interest is radiant with what little she has to do.

Based on the now famous story written by H.G. Wells, Whale and R. C. Sheriff’s (writer) version remains the definitive Invisible Man adaptation. There’s some changes such as the time it is set, and Griffin is not the lunatic he is in the film, which is something that Wells was not too pleased about in spite of liking the film as a whole, but it’s still very tight to the source. Sequels, TV series and other modern day adaptations would follow it, but none are as shrewd or as chilling as Whale’s daddy is. 9/10

One of the absolute greatest Universal horror films

Apart from Bride of Frankenstein, this is probably my favorite Universal horror movie. It has been overshadowed by Dracula, the Wolfman, Frankenstein and the Mummy, but it’s every bit as good as the best of these. That’s because unlike these other films where you have real monsters, you have a “normal” man who becomes invisible and then slowly begins to act in an incredibly psychopathic way. At first, he kills with some hesitation. Later, he laughs maniacally as he kills with great style and panache–laughing diabolically after he ties a guy up and pushes the car with the man inside it off a cliff! It becomes an exploration of the inner evil within us all and so the sense of connection to the “monster” is greater than with traditional monsters because he’s just like you and me–it’s just that accursed formula that brings out the madness.

Claude Rains, though invisible for much of the movie, does a great job–his voice is one of the greatest in movie history. And the special effects, with one silly exception, are unbelievable for the 1930s–in fact, by today’s standards most of them are terrific (especially for the scene where he slowly becomes visible). As I mentioned, there was one silly exception. Late in the movie, the invisible man removes his clothes to try to escape. However, his footprints clearly are those of a person wearing shoes! Oops.

Also, while it is a great way and gave it a 10 because it is such a marvelous film, there is one problem with the film (not the footprints–that was more of a funny mistake). Una O’Connor made parts of the film VERY difficult to watch due to her horrible over-acting (you’ll see more of this in “The Bride of Frankenstein”). Her shrieking and histrionics were way overboard–and quite annoying. Subtle, it ain’t!! And this is a shame, as the rest of the movie is so wonderful.