Invisible Agent (1942)

The Invisible Man's grandson uses his secret formula to spy on Nazi Germany.

Director:

Edwin L. Marin

Writers:

H.G. Wells (novel), Curt Siodmak

Stars:

Ilona Massey, Jon Hall, Peter Lorre

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Ilona Massey	...	Maria Sorenson
Jon Hall	...	Frank Raymond
Peter Lorre	...	Baron Ikito
Cedric Hardwicke	...	Conrad Stauffer
J. Edward Bromberg	...	Karl Heiser
Albert Bassermann	...	Arnold Schmidt (as Albert Basserman)
John Litel	...	John Gardiner
Holmes Herbert	...	Sir Alfred Spencer
Keye Luke	...	Surgeon

Storyline

Frank Raymond, grandson of the original Invisible Man, still has the old formula but considers it too dangerous to use, even when Axis agents try to get it. But Pearl Harbor brings him to volunteer his own services as an invisible agent in Germany. Though a bit cold (clothes aren't invisible), his adventures are more comedy than thriller (with occasional grim reminders) as he makes fools of Nazi officials and romances a luscious double agent, in search of Hitler's secret plan...

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Plot Keywords:

spy | nazi | pearl harbor | invisible man | germany | 

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Genres:

Sci-Fi | War

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 August 1942 (USA)

Also Known As:

Agent invisible

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$322,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Frank Lloyd Productions, Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the opening scene, a newsboy shouts the headline, "Extra! Oregon State Invites Duke to Rose Bowl." The 1942 movie audience would recognize the opening scenes in the movie as taking place in the previous year, just *before* the Pearl Harbor attack. The 1942 Rose Bowl was especially memorable to movie audiences because it was the only game in Rose Bowl history that was not played in Pasadena, California. Following the U.S. entry into the war, it was feared that the Pasadena game would be an ideal target for the Japanese, so the game was played at Duke University in North Carolina. On January 1, 1942, Oregon State defeated Duke University, by a score of 20-16.

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Goofs

The way the woman holds the champange glass changes between shots.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Newsboy: Extra! "Oregon State Invites Duke to Rose Bowl." Extra! Late edition! "Oregon State Invites Duke to Rose Bowl."

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Connections

Featured in Now You See Him: The Invisible Man Revealed! (2000)

User Reviews

Good movie that could have been even better

"Invisible Agent" was one of the few Universal "series" horror films I hadn't seen until now. It's basically a good concept for a film — turning the Invisible Man loose on the Axis and a formidable set of German and Japanese villains including Sir Cedric Hardwicke (just as despicable here as he was in "The Invisible Man Returns"), Peter Lorre (who just about steals the entire show) and Keye Luke. Lorre doesn't wear any "slant-eye" makeup to turn himself Asian, but he hadn't as Mr. Moto either and he's just as believable here. Still, there are a number of missed opportunities in this movie. Why is Jon Hall's character depicted as the grandson, not the son or nephew, of the original Invisible Man? (That would have made sense if the 1933 film had been set in the 1890's, when H. G. Wells wrote the source novel, but it wasn't.) More importantly, why did Curt Siodmak omit the key plot device that the invisibility formula turned its user into a raving megalomaniac as a side effect? One could readily imagine the Nazis trying to recruit the Invisible Agent to their side as the drug took hold of him and he started sounding like them! Still, it's a fun movie and Ilona Massey's character is appropriately morally ambiguous -- though she must have wondered about the direction of her career: she'd been brought over to the U.S. by MGM in 1939 to replace Jeanette MacDonald as Nelson Eddy's co-star in the elaborate operetta film "Balalaika," but just three years later here she was at Universal making movies like this and "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man."