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The Invisible Man (1933)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
13 November 1933 (USA)
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Tagline:
Catch me if you can! more
Plot:
A scientist finds a way of becoming invisible, but in doing so, he becomes murderously insane. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Scientist
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Invisibility
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Inn
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Radio Broadcast
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Test Tube
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Awards:
2 wins
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NewsDesk:
(19 articles)
Birthday Suits: Oscar-Snubbed
(From FilmExperience. 10 November 2009, 5:11 PM, PST)
Holiday Preview: A Repertory Calendar
(From IFC. 3 November 2009, 1:01 PM, PST)
(From FilmExperience. 10 November 2009, 5:11 PM, PST)
Holiday Preview: A Repertory Calendar
(From IFC. 3 November 2009, 1:01 PM, PST)
User Comments:
Works Very Well
more (104 total)
Cast
(Complete credited cast) | Claude Rains | ... | The Invisible Man |
 | Gloria Stuart | ... | Flora Cranley |
 | William Harrigan | ... | Dr. Arthur Kemp |
| Henry Travers | ... | Dr. Cranley |
| Una O'Connor | ... | Jenny Hall |
| Forrester Harvey | ... | Herbert Hall |
| Holmes Herbert | ... | Chief of Police |
| E.E. Clive | ... | Const. Jaffers |
| Dudley Digges | ... | Chief detective |
| Harry Stubbs | ... | Insp. Bird |
| Donald Stuart | ... | Insp. Lane |
| Merle Tottenham | ... | Millie |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
71 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording Sound System)
Certification:
Finland:K-16 |
USA:Approved (certificate not issued at release) |
Spain:13 |
West Germany:16 |
Australia:M (DVD rating) |
Australia:PG (original rating) |
Germany:16 |
UK:PG |
USA:Unrated
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
When screenwriter R.C. Sherriff came to Hollywood to write The Invisible Man (1933), he asked the staff at Universal for a copy of the H.G. Wells novel he was supposed to be adapting. They didn't have one; all they had were 14 "treatments" done by previous writers on the project, including one set in Czarist Russia and one set on Mars. Sherriff eventually found a copy of the novel in a secondhand bookstore, read it, thought it would make an excellent picture as it stood, and wrote a script that (unlike the Universal versions of Dracula (1931) and Frankenstein (1931)) was a closer adaptation of the book.
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Goofs:
Continuity: When the Invisible Man looks out of the bedroom window to see the approaching police as they surround the house, a pair of net-curtains appears on the window between shots.
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Quotes:
[first lines]
Man in Pub: Did you hear about Mrs. Mason's little Willy? Sent him to school and found him buried ten-foot deep in a snow drift.
Man in Pub # 2: How did they get him out?
Man in Pub: Brought the fire engine 'round. Put the hose pipe in, pumped it backwards and sucked him out.
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Man in Pub: Did you hear about Mrs. Mason's little Willy? Sent him to school and found him buried ten-foot deep in a snow drift.
Man in Pub # 2: How did they get him out?
Man in Pub: Brought the fire engine 'round. Put the hose pipe in, pumped it backwards and sucked him out.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Masked and Anonymous (2003)
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Soundtrack:
Hearts and Flowers
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FAQ
What is the music playing on Kemp's radio?more
more (104 total)
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This film version of the H.G. Wells science fiction classic works very well. It has a number of strengths, but it benefits most of all from James Whale's direction, creativity, and technical excellence. Both the flashier aspects of the movie (such as the "invisibility" effects) and also most of the basic elements are done with skill.
The story is for the most part based on the one main idea of "The Invisible Man" who combines his scientific genius with a generous supply of madness. The story is interesting enough in itself, and of course it provides all kinds of opportunities for visual tricks. Whale hits just the right balance in making good use of these opportunities without over-indulging himself.
The visual effects themselves are of excellent quality, and they are far better than all but the very best of the present-day computer imagery. While it is usually rather easy to spot which parts of a movie are computer-generated, Whale's effects are all but seamless, with the exception of a handful of brief moments. They are often quite impressive, without resorting to tired devices, such as explosions and the like, in order to impress those with shorter attention spans.
Claude Rains does quite well for having such limitations on what he could do. The rest of the cast is solid, if mostly unspectacular, letting the story do the work. Una O'Connor somewhat overdoes it with the screaming this time, but otherwise the characters are believable. The acting may seem slightly quaint to those who are accustomed to the pretentious styles of the present generation of performers, but it's certainly better than the grating, self-important performances in some of the recent movies of the same genre.
While the story does not have the thematic depth or the suggestive imagery of horror classics like "Frankenstein" or "Dracula", this adaptation gets everything it can out of the material, telling the story in an entertaining fashion and with technical skill.