The Invisible Man (1933)

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Director: James Whale

Writers: R.C. Sherriff, from the novel by H.G. Wells

Stars: Claude Rains, Gloria Stuart, William Harrigan, Henry Travers, Una O'Connor, Forrester Harvey



A maverick researcher (Claude Rains) uses an invisibility drug on himself, then goes into hiding while attempting to develop an antidote.

 


Unbeknownst to himself, the drug also induces megalomania, and before long he will become the terror of the English countryside.

 


Although it may have been a severe miscalculation for Jack Griffin to subject himself to the drug before he had a countermeasure, there are no miscalculations on the part of director James Whale, who is responsible for some of the very best vintage Universal horror pictures.

 


The special effects are surprisingly good for the era and present no bar to enjoyment.

 


The script, though it departs significantly from the H.G. Wells source material, is intelligent.

 


No review of this film is complete without praise for Rains, who appears only at the very end and only for a moment, but whose superb vocal performance and physical expression, while hidden under bandages, presents a fully realized character.



































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