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IMDbPro

The Invisible Ray

  • 19361936
  • ApprovedApproved
  • 1h 20m
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
2.7K
YOUR RATING
The Invisible Ray (1936)
HorrorMusicSci-Fi
A scientist becomes murderous after discovering, and being exposed to the radiation of, a powerful new element called Radium X.A scientist becomes murderous after discovering, and being exposed to the radiation of, a powerful new element called Radium X.A scientist becomes murderous after discovering, and being exposed to the radiation of, a powerful new element called Radium X.
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
2.7K
YOUR RATING
    • Lambert Hillyer
    • John Colton(screenplay)
    • Howard Higgin(original story)
    • Douglas Hodges(original story)
  • Stars
    • Boris Karloff
    • Bela Lugosi
    • Frances Drake
    • Lambert Hillyer
    • John Colton(screenplay)
    • Howard Higgin(original story)
    • Douglas Hodges(original story)
  • Stars
    • Boris Karloff
    • Bela Lugosi
    • Frances Drake
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 58User reviews
    • 59Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards

    Photos86

    Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi in The Invisible Ray (1936)
    Bela Lugosi, INVISIBLE RAY, THE, Universal, 1936, **I.V.
    "Invisible Ray" Boris Karloff 1936 Universal **I.V.
    The Invisible Ray (1936)
    The Invisible Ray (1936)
    The Invisible Ray (1936)
    The Invisible Ray (1936)
    The Invisible Ray (1936)
    Beulah Bondi and Frances Drake in The Invisible Ray (1936)
    The Invisible Ray (1936)
    Boris Karloff in The Invisible Ray (1936)
    Violet Kemble Cooper in The Invisible Ray (1936)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Boris Karloff
    Boris Karloff
    • Dr. Janos Rukh
    • (as Karloff)
    Bela Lugosi
    Bela Lugosi
    • Dr. Felix Benet
    Frances Drake
    Frances Drake
    • Diana Rukh
    Frank Lawton
    Frank Lawton
    • Ronald Drake
    Violet Kemble Cooper
    Violet Kemble Cooper
    • Mother Rukh
    Walter Kingsford
    Walter Kingsford
    • Sir Francis Stevens
    Beulah Bondi
    Beulah Bondi
    • Lady Arabella Stevens
    Frank Reicher
    Frank Reicher
    • Professor Meiklejohn (Mendelssohn in end credits)
    Paul Weigel
    • Monsieur Noyer
    Georges Renavent
    Georges Renavent
    • Chief of the Surete
    • (as Georges Renevant)
    Ernie Adams
    Ernie Adams
      Ricca Allen
      Ricca Allen
      • Bystander
      • (uncredited)
      Charles Bastin
      Charles Bastin
      • French Newsboy
      • (uncredited)
      May Beatty
      May Beatty
      • Mme. LeGrand
      • (uncredited)
      Ted Billings
      • Counterman
      • (uncredited)
      Ernest A. Bouveron
      • French Newsboy
      • (uncredited)
      Helen Brown
      • Blind Girl's Mother
      • (uncredited)
      Daisy Bufford
      Daisy Bufford
      • Infant's Mother
      • (uncredited)
        • Lambert Hillyer
        • John Colton(screenplay)
        • Howard Higgin(original story)
        • Douglas Hodges(original story)
      • All cast & crew
      • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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      Storyline

      Edit

      Did you know

      Edit
      • Trivia
        The church in which Frank Lawton and Frances Drake get married, though called the "Church of the Six Saints" in the film, is actually the set of Notre-Dame Cathedral recycled from the 1923 Universal production "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame," starring Lon Chaney, Sr.
      • Goofs
        The film shows a clipping from a news magazine announcing that the principal characters have gone on an expedition to Nigeria to find the meteor containing Radium X. Yet in the earlier sequence showing the meteor landing on earth, it hit on the southwest coast of Africa over 1,000 miles away from Nigeria.
      • Quotes

        Ronald Drake: [discussing Benet's plan to invite unwitting scientists to a lecture intended as a trap for Rukh] Do you think it's fair to expose them to the danger?

        Dr. Felix Benet: There are only two people he wants to destroy. Two, or perhaps... three.

      • Crazy credits
        At the end: "A Universal Cast is Worth Repeating." This credit appeared on many Universal films of that era, not just "The Invisible Ray". It did not, however, appear on the cast list for the 1936 "Show Boat", which Universal also made.
      • Connections
        Edited into Mondo Lugosi - A Vampire's Scrapbook (1987)
      • Soundtracks
        Bridal Chorus (Here Comes the Bride)
        (1850) (uncredited)

        from "Lohengrin"

        Written by Richard Wagner

        Played on an organ for the wedding

      User reviews58

      Review
      Review
      Featured review
      6/10
      Delightfully Silly and Naive Sci-Fi
      The scientist Janos Rukh (Boris Karloff) has been expelled from the scientific community due to the lack of credibility in his researches. Living isolated in a castle with his blind mother (Violet Kemble Cooper) and his wife Diane (Frances Drake), he makes a private presentation of the recently discovered invisible ray to his colleague Dr. Felix Benet (Bela Lugosi), and succeeds in being sponsored by Sir Francis Stevens (Walter Kingsford) and his wife Lady Arabella Stevens (Beulah Bondi) in an expedition to Nigeria, where he believe he could find a meteor with Radium X. Once in Africa, Janos leaves the expedition alone and finds the meteor, but is exposed to its radiation, acquiring a deadly touch that immediately kills anyone who is touched by him. Meanwhile, Diane falls in love for the son of Lady Arabella, Ronald Drake (Frank Lawton). Dr. Benet finds an antidote to control the effects of the radiation in Janos to be daily injected, but advises that the side effect could bring madness to him. Dr. Benet returns to Paris and steals the findings of Janos, exposing and using Janos's researches to the scientific community, while the deranged Janos seeks revenge against those that have betrayed him.

      "The Invisible Ray" is a delightfully silly and naive sci-fi visibly inspired in H.G. Well's "The Invisible Man" of 1933. This minor film is a great opportunity to see Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi acting together. The story is entertaining but with questionable ethical and moral behaviors of the lead characters. Dr. Felix Benet steals the research of his colleague that needed to recover the esteem together with the scientific community for self-profit and self- promotion. Diane Rukh has an affair with Ronald Drake in the absence of her husband in Africa. Mother Rukh breaks the only chance of survival of her only son that loved her and recovered and healed her vision. And Janos Rukh does not tell his wife that is sick and kills innocent people to reach his personal vendetta. In the end, all the characters are unpleasant. My vote is six.

      Title (Brazil): "O Raio Invisível" ("The Invisible Ray")
      helpful•9
      3
      • claudio_carvalho
      • Nov 20, 2007

      Details

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      • Release date
        • January 20, 1936 (United States)
        • United States
        • English
        • French
      • Also known as
        • Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA
      • Production company
        • Universal Pictures
      • See more company credits at IMDbPro

      Technical specs

      Edit
      • 1 hour 20 minutes
        • Black and White

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