As we traverse into our latest Universal monster film, James Whale’s THE INVISIBLE MAN (1933), we feel a sense of familiarity with another examination into madness. But this tale goes deeper and more personal than our prior films. This time, the scientist is not just driven into insanity by his passionate pursuits, but could he be the monster, too?
H.G. Wells published his novel, “The Invisible Man” in 1897 (originally serialized in Pearson’s Weekly). In 1931, Robert L Schayer and Robert Florey suggested Wells’ novel as a film adaption, as a follow-up to DRACULA (1931). The Laemmles went with FRANKENSTEIN instead. But it was during the filming of FRANKENSTEIN that they purchased the filming rights of “The Invisible Man,” including Wells’ script approval rights, for a grand sum of $10,000. To blend in more frightening plot layers, they also bought the film adaption rights to Philip Wylie’s gruesome 1931 novel, “The Murderer Invisible.”
Laemmle, Jr. planned for James Whale as the director and Boris Karloff as its star. Yet by January of 1932, Whale left in concern of being typecast as ‘the horror director.’ Even though in 1932, James Whale was given carte blanche in directing the unique and quirky THE OLD, DARK HOUSE, which starred Gloria Stuart who was later cast by Whale for THE INVISIBLE MAN. During the entirety of 1932 and up to July of 1933, many writers took a turn at drafting scripts and treatments for this project, all rejected until RC Sherriff’s final version. Many of these versions included everything from an invisible octopus, blowing up Grand Central Station, a revolutionary Russian, to even aliens from Mars.
It was also during this chaotic year and a half that James Whale was in, then out, and back in as director. Twice. Yet Karloff moved on to other projects, citing salary disagreements while awaiting a script to materialize. To further complicate matters, Universal was being rocked by financial woes. On January 17, 1933 Universal reported a loss of $1,250,283 for the year prior. Plans included shutting down for 6 to 8 weeks after all current productions wrapped up filming.
Once the director and the script were finally ready, Whale knew what he wanted from his cast, as he enjoyed British stage actors and campy character actors. He originally considered Colin Clive (from FRANKENSTEIN), but he chose to remain in England. Upon listening to auditions, one commanding voice stood out from all the others. Forty-three-years-old stage actor Claude Rains insisted he gave a horrible performance for his screen test, but Whale instinctively knew he was exactly right for this role.
Unfamiliar with film acting and the details of this particular film, Rains was perplexed to this strange process he soon embarked, when he went to the studio to begin. “The laboratory had an odd look,” he told a New York Times reporter. “There were all sorts of casts about, in papier-mache, clay, and plaster. Men in white coats walked around without noise. They made a cast and nailed me in it. Just my head stuck out. They smeared me with Vaseline and then stood me up and threw plaster at my head. I thought I was going to die. Really, I’m afraid I behaved rather badly. I went back again the next day and saw masks and half-masks of my head all over the place.” It was a humbling experience for Rains, who experienced claustrophobia and spent most of the filming under wrapping. But it was this film that began Rains’ very successful American film career.
Filming began at the end of June 1933 and finished by the end of August. It took another 2 months for Fulton to finish up his special effects. The final cost after Fulton’s special effects were complete, was $328,033. THE INVISIBLE MAN (1933) was a huge financial success. In New York’s famed Roxy Theater (1932-1933 season) alone, this film shattered a 3 year record. They sold 80 thousand tickets in 4 days. Whale’s film singlehandedly brought the ailing Universal studio back from the brink. (For a little while, anyway.)
The pioneering special effects. You cannot screen THE INVISIBLE MAN and not be fascinated by its special effects. How on earth did they do it? Camera tricks to create special effects on film (such as double exposure) has been around since the silent film era. For this film, Special Effects Dept. Head John P Fulton and his team created the impressive transparency effects by wrapping Claude Rains in black velvet then shooting against a black velvet background. Which was then layered into the main scene. A more complicated scene involves four different camera shots when we see Claude Rains look into a mirror, unwrapping his head bandages as we view both his back and his reflection. Often a body double was utilized for speed of takes. The process was both effective and tricky. It works as efficiently today in color with the ‘green screen’ camera work.
Fulton was an award-winning special effects photographer with 253 film credits to his name from 1928 – 1966 (the year of his death). He won two Oscars for Best Effects, Special Effects – WONDER MAN (1945) and THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1956). Additionally, his reputation in creating on-screen invisibility followed him in his successful career, as he was nominated for more Best Effects, Special Effects Oscars including: THE INVISIBLE MAN RETURNS (1940), THE INVISIBLE WOMAN (1940), and THE INVISIBLE AGENT (1942).
James Whale’s THE INVISIBLE MAN (1933) was the first of many films based on HG Wells’ classic novel and this concept, which was redone in drama, romantic, comedic, and even war-time themed iterations. This genre was spoofed by Abbott and Costello as a brief cameo in ABBOTT and COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (1948) and as its own feature in ABBOTT and COSTELLO MEET THE INVISIBLE MAN (1951). Even more recently, feature films created reboots of this fan-favorite tale, including Kevin Bacon in HOLLOW MAN (2000) and THE INVISIBLE MAN (2020), starring Elisabeth Moss (of “Mad Men” and “The Handmaid’s Tale”).
Questions/Thoughts to ponder:
What similarities do we see with FRANKENSTEIN?
-Obsessed scientist who goes into hiding- paranoid, secret experiments
-His brilliant discovery is ultimately his fatal undoing
-A love interest to the ‘mad scientist’ is extremely devoted, despite his change, his unraveling
-Love triangle (rival beau who expresses his love for her)
-How is Kemp different as the 3rd point in the love triangle?
-Unlike FRANKENSTEIN, who ‘gets the girl’?
James Whale loves the smaller character roles. How do we see this expanded in this film as compared to his prior Universal films like FRANKENSTEIN or in comparison the eccentric character roles in THE OLD, DARK HOUSE (1932)?
How does humor play a role in this film? (For example, the camp of Una O’Connor…)
Griffin tells us of his intentions rather directly. What quote examples do we hear that reflect his maniac intentions and that he’s a dangerous threat to society? Examples.: “We’ll begin with a reign of terror. A few murders here and there, murders of great men, murders of little men- well, just to show we make no distinction. I might even wreck a train or two… just these fingers around a signalman’s throat, that’s all.”
“And everyone deserves the fate that’s coming to them. Panic, death, and things worse than death. Don’t be afraid, Kemp. It’s me, Jack Griffin….”
The suggested death count in this film is astonishing. A great deal more than what we witnessed in DRACULA or FRANKENSTEIN. The ‘invisible man’ is neither supernatural nor undead, rather he is a mere human who experimented with the wonders of chemistry. Does that make him a victim or a monster? What does that say about the human potential for evil deeds being even more a threat than a creature?
Themes to review: the outsider, world domination, madness, control, mad scientists, insatiable obsession with power, serial killing, psychological thriller, nudity, delusions of grandeur, the magic of beauty calming a beast.
CAST:
Claude Rains – Dr. Jack Griffin
Gloria Stuart – Flora Cranley
William Harrigan – Dr. Arthur Kemp
Henry Travers – Dr. Cranley
Una O’Connor – Jenny Hall
Forrester Harvey – Herbert Hall
Dudley Digges – Chief of Detectives
EE Clive – Police Constable Jaffers
Dwight Frye – reporter
Merle Tottenham – Millie
Donald Stuart – Inspector Lane
Robert Adair – Detective Thompson
Ted Billings – villager playing darts
Edgar Barrier – radio announcer
Walter Brennan – bicycle owner
Robert Bower – farmer
Mae Bruce – Mary Purdy
John Carradine – Informer suggesting ink
CREW:
Director – James Whale
Writers – HG Wells (novel by), RC Sherriff (screenplay), Preston Sturges and Philip Wylie (contributing writers, uncredited), (other uncredited writers while drafting scripts include John Huston, Robert Florey, Garrett Fort, John L Balderston, Laird Doyle, and James Whale)
Cinematography – Arthur Edeson
Visual Effects – John P Fulton, Cleo Baker, Bill Heckler, Roswell A Hoffman, John J Mescall, Frank D Williams
Camera/Electrical dept. – Peter Abriss, Jack Eagan, Arthur Edeson, Roman Freulich, King D Gray, John J Mescall, Fred Stoll
Film Editing – Ted J Kent
Art Direction- Charles D Hall
Makeup: Jack Pierce
Sound dept. – William Hedgcock, John Kemp, Gilbert Kurland
Music – Heinz Roemheld
(The above article was part of my Universal Horror class I taught in the Autumn of 2022. Enjoy!)