The Invisible Man Returns (1940)

The owner of a coal mining operation, falsely imprisoned for fratricide, takes a drug to make him invisible, despite its side effect: gradual madness.

Director:

Joe May

Writers:

H.G. Wells (characters), Joe May (story)

Stars:

Cedric Hardwicke, Vincent Price, Nan Grey

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Cedric Hardwicke	...	Richard Cobb (as Sir Cedric Hardwicke)
Vincent Price	...	Geoffrey Radcliffe
Nan Grey	...	Helen Manson
John Sutton	...	Doctor Frank Griffin
Cecil Kellaway	...	Sampson
Alan Napier	...	Willie Spears
Forrester Harvey	...	Ben Jenkins

Storyline

Framed for the murder of his brother, Geoffrey Radcliffe is scheduled to hang. After a visit from his friend Dr. Frank Griffin, he vanishes mysteriously from prison. Police inspector Sampson realizes that Griffin is the brother of the original Invisible Man and has given Geoffrey the formula to aid his escape. Can Geoffrey elude the police dragnet and track down the real murderer? More importantly, can Griffin discover an antidote before the invisibility formula drives Geoffrey insane?

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Plot Keywords:

invisible man | wrongful arrest | framed for murder | murder mystery | violence | 

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Taglines:

You Can Feel Your Skin Creep!

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 January 1940 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Invisible Man Returns

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White (Sepia)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Part of the original Shock Theater package of 52 Universal titles released to television in 1957, followed a year later with Son of shock, which added 20 more features.

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Goofs

The wires holding the gun are clearly visible.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Mr. Cotton: I - I can't believe it's going to happen. Just two more hours, and they're going to kill him.

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Connections

Follows Frankenstein (1931)

User Reviews

Different than the original in many ways, but still a dandy film

In general, it seems that sequels seldom live up to the originals. There are just too many examples I can think of when this was the case. In addition, sequels that take an entirely different approach to the original subject matter often are abysmal failures as well (such as the wonderful VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED and it's incredibly awful and saccharine CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED). In light of this, I was very pleasantly surprised to this see that this film, while quite different from the fantastic original, is still an exceptional film.

Much of the reason for the film being so good was that the film was made by Universal Studios during a very productive period for their horror films. They just knew how to put the whole package together to make a dandy film. Additionally, the cast really helped as well, as Vincent Price (mostly just his voice, as he IS invisible through almost all the film), Cedric Hartwicke, Cecil Kellaway and many others worked together to quite nicely. The writing, also, is a big standout, as the film COULD have easily been just another "hack" sequel. Using bits of humor here and there throughout the film and providing a great ending really made this film worth while.