The Invisible Man
by James Whale
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Claude Rains, Gloria Stuart, Henry Travers, Una O'Connor, William HarriganDirector: James Whale
Brand: UNI DIST CORP. (MCA)
Cinematographer: Arthur Edeson
Editor: Ted J. Kent
Producer: Carl Laemmle Jr.
Writer: H.G. Wells
Writer: Philip Wylie
Writer: Preston Sturges
Writer: R.C. Sherriff
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: Academy Ratio, 1.33:1
Running Time: 71 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-08-29
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Universal Studios
Movie Reviews of The Invisible Man
Movie Review: Seeing Is Believing in this Claude Rains' Debut!
Summary: 5 Stars
The Universal Pictures horror film that put Universal Pictures back in black during the worse years of the Great Depression.
The comedy was fun without being slapstick silly (as in later sequels); the characters actors were great in conveying mood; and the megalomaniac vocal abilities of Claude Rains was fantastic. I picked up the Classic Monster Collection (1990) and it kept much of the original film's dusty, poppy stuff that you usually see in old Black & White films.
The DVD goes over the whole effects process of making a man invisible, expertly done by James Fulton.
James Whale, the man who directed Frankenstein and Dracula, took the H.G. Wells novel and its adaptation was near perfect, even approved by Wells himself.
The opening scene at the bar, the mad scientist who has achieved invisibility needs to find a place of quiet, working on an antidote. And as he works on it, he gets the idea that the chemicals have cleared his brain to where he can cause panic in the streets, kill a few people, great or small, cause a train wreck or so, and have the world grovel at his feet. Ya Ha Ha Ha Ha!! Oops!
As in Frankenstein, Whale has the worried fiance, the secluded mad scientist, the "other guy" who wants the fiance for himself and a desire to be famous.
After much police hyjinx, a bit of it slapstick and silly, the burning of a barn and a well-placed bullet puts an end to the mad scientist's invisibility and his formula.
John Carradine makes a brief appearance talking to police on a telephone. Henry Travers as the father of the fiance, who was later seen as Clarence the Angel in Its' a Wonderful Life. Gloria Stuart is the well-made-up fiance, Flora. Interestingly she gave up acting only to pick it up again in the 1980s. She was the old woman who was the last survivor in Cameron's Titanic.
So many facts and figures, great "making of" and a bit of a drawn-out commentary track by film historian Rudy Behlmer.
Great DVD, though I'm sure the newest Universal Legacy edition recently out is much better.
Summary of The Invisible Man
Claude Rains delivers a remarkable performance in his screen debut as a mysterious doctor who discovers a serum that makes him invisible. Covered by bandages and dark glasses, Rains arrives at a small English village and attempts to hide his amazing discover. But the same drug which rends him invisible slowly drives him to commit acts of unspeakable terror. Based on H.G. Well' classic novel and direct by the master of macabre James Whale, The Invisible Man no only fueled a host of sequels but features some special effects that are still imitated today.Claude Rains practically owns his film debut in The Invisible Man, despite the fact that his face (let alone his body) is seen only for seconds in the final moments. As the brilliant scientist who discovers the secret of invisibility, Rains steps into the film wrapped up like a mummy behind a layer of bandages and blanketed in heavy clothes. When he removes his garments, there's nothing underneath, a simple but effective bit of 1930s movie magic that, apart from a few glitches, works as well today as it did in 1933. Like Frankenstein, another cautionary tale of science gone horribly wrong, the consequences of the doctor's experiments are dire: the chemicals drive him insane. Director James Whale infuses the film with plenty of humor, much of it arising from the quaint quirks of the local villagers, but it turns to black comedy as the doctor transforms from an impish prankster upsetting bicycles and taunting tavern patrons to a megalomaniac bent on world domination. It's slow going even at 71 minutes, but full of delightful touches and boasts a terrific performance by the all but unseen Rains, whose rich, cultured voice envelopes the picture in a kind of omnipresent fog. Vincent Price took up the role in the sequel, The Invisible Man Returns. --Sean Axmaker
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