On I List of Movie Reviews
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The Invisible Man (1933)
Rate:
4
Viewed:
3/17
3/17:
I hate dumb films, and The Invisible Man is one of them.
Notwithstanding the running time of 71 minutes, it's slow-paced. Everything seems to be concentrated in one
location which isn't more than ten miles in radius. The Invisible Man can hop on planes, going from one country
to another anytime he wants to continue his reign of terror.
The acting is okay, but it's Una O'Connor, having too much screen time, who's annoying by virtue of her screams.
The special effect of making Claude Rains invisible has to be lauded, even for 1933. It's the only selling point
of the film. The following trivia is taken from IMDb:
"The first time Claude Rains' daughter ever saw her father in a movie was in 1950, when he took her to a showing
of The Invisible Man in a small Pennsylvanian theater. While the film was playing, Rains was telling his
daughter all about how it was made. The other theater patrons stopped watching the movie and instead listened
to Rains tell how it was made."
Indeed. So, how did they do it? Sometimes, when the Invisible Man had no clothes on, the effects were done with
the use of wires. When he was partly dressed, Claude Rains, wearing a completely black velvet suit, was filmed
against a black velvet background, and then the two reels, the other having been shot on location, were combined
as one.
H.G. Wells, who wrote the novel, reportedly liked the film but didn't appreciate the idea of turning the
Invisible Man into a raving lunatic with bipolar disorder. Neither did I. I wish they would keep his intelligence
intact, so he could come off as a cunning villain. Therefore, the movie will be able to stand the test of time.
All in all, The Invisible Man is worth watching for the special effects alone.