From Laurie Boeder,
Your Guide to Classic Movies.
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One of the classic old horror/sci-fi movies from Universal Studios, The Invisible Man is among the original mad scientist films. It features special effects that still hold up surprisingly well in the story of a young genius brought to insanity by his own dangerous experiments.

Bwah-ha-ha! Bwah-ha-ha-ha!

The plot

A very young Claude Rains stars as the invisible man in his very first role, although we don‘t see much of him. He arrives at a country inn wrapped from head to toe, ostensibly against the cold winter weather. He demands a room and privacy, and as he removes his hat and face wrapping, we see…well, we don’t see anything. He’s the original empty suit. The fun in the movie comes as he dances about - or rather, his clothes do, plumped out by his unseen body.

He’s attempting to find an antidote, or at least an on/off switch for his invisibility, but he’s also going mad. He kills a policeman called to investigate the strange goings-on, sparking a nationwide manhunt . Meanwhile, the daughter of his former employer (a sane scientist) is in love with him, and is trying to find him, along with his former labmate, Arthur Kemp. Things do not go well for Arthur, as the Invisible Man decides to use him as a tool as he launches his reign of terror.

The rest of the plot is really just an excuse to show the Invisible Man in various stages of dress and undress, allow books to float off tables on his invisible hands, cars and bicycles to go by themselves, etc. We’re given to understand that he must be completely in the buff to be invisible (he gets cold a lot). Nevertheless, there’s a great moment where he’s running through the snow…and his footprints are made by boots (!), not his naked foot.

The players

Rains’ rich, plummy voice and upper-class accent carry his character well along -- a good thing, since he is denied facial expression until the very last scene. Henry Travers, later of "Clarence the Angel" fame in It’s a Wonderful Life, is fine, as is William Harrigan as Kemp. Gloria Stuart is bit over the top as the daughter, literally. In her glamazon blonde bob she towers over all the boys, and seems to be visiting from a different movie. (She is far more famous today from her role in Titanic.)

Una O’Connor strikes a false note as the innkeeper’s wife, screeching with terror played for laughs. It’s as though Invisi-man is goosing her every few seconds, and the schtick gets old quickly.

The director

James Whale directed many of the early horror films for Universal with a deft combination of gothic romance, oddball humor, real chills and tremendous visual style. He created legends and looks that endure today. One of the few celebrities in early Hollywood to openly acknowledge that he was gay, Whale was the subject of the biopic Gods and Monsters in 1998.

The bottom line

The Invisible Man is a short, fun early monster movie, with amazing special effects for its day. Not a bad little horror movie in its own right, and notable for its place in the early pantheon of Hollywood monster movies.

Just the Facts:

Year: 1933, Black and White

Director: James Whale

Running Time: 71 minutes

Studio: Universal

If you liked The Invisible Man…

You might also want to try Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, and The Mummy.