The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944)

An eccentric scientist helps a fugitive from the law become invisible, unwittingly giving him the power to exact revenge on his former friends.

Director:

Ford Beebe

Writers:

Bertram Millhauser (original screenplay), H.G. Wells (suggested by "The Invisible Man")

Stars:

Jon Hall, Leon Errol, John Carradine

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jon Hall	...	Robert Griffin
Leon Errol	...	Herbert Higgins
John Carradine	...	Doctor Peter Drury
Alan Curtis	...	Mark Foster
Evelyn Ankers	...	Julie Herrick
Gale Sondergaard	...	Irene, Lady Herrick
Lester Matthews	...	Sir Jasper Herrick
Halliwell Hobbes	...	Cleghorn
Leyland Hodgson	...	Sir Frederick Travers (as Leland Hodgson)
Doris Lloyd	...	Maud
Ian Wolfe	...	Feeney
Billy Bevan	...	Sergeant
Grey Shadow	...	Grey Shadow

Storyline

An eager scientist tests his new formula for invisibility on an escaped fugitive. When the formula works the criminal runs off to terrorize a family he believes cheated him out of a fortune years earlier.

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Plot Keywords:

dog | escaped mental patient | killed by a dog | paranoia | insanity | 

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Taglines:

THEY'RE MARKED...for DEATH! (original print ad - mostly caps)

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Unrated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Grey Shadow also appeared with Leon Errol in the 1945 RKO short It Shouldn't Happen to a Dog (1945).

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Goofs

During the last half of the film, visible wires/strings are used to stage many of the invisibility effects, most notably when the invisible Robert Griffin lifts the unconscious Mark Foster up unto a table. And in three different close-up shots of Brutus (Dr. Drury's dog), we see a wire holding up the dog's muzzle.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Malty Bill: Two pounds, seven for the Burberry and the hat.

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Connections

Follows The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

User Reviews

So Invisible You Can't Even See Him

A rather weak and confusing script makes The Invisible Man's Revenge not nearly up to the standard set by the first Invisible Man film and the stylish performance of Claude Rains as the scientist who discovers the secret of invisibility and its trap.

Our invisible protagonist in this film is Jon Hall who has come over to Great Britain from South Africa in the belief that Lester Matthews and Gale Sondergaard cheated him out of his half share of a diamond mine. Let's say that their actions don't allay his suspicions and Hall gets quite the bum's rush out of their house.

Alone and paranoid Hall stumbles on scientist John Carradine who's been working on the matter of invisibility. He offers himself as a guinea pig to Carradine and of course Carradine sees Nobel Prize in his future.

Of course Hall has other plans to use the invisibility as a method of revenge. He also considers an alternative to killing and stealing from Matthews and Sondergaard. Hall gets one look at their lovely daughter, Evelyn Ankers, and decides it might be easier to marry the fortune. That is if he can get rid of her boyfriend Alan Curtis.

The motivations of these characters is quite confusing at times, you're not quite sure who to root for. Even in the end, someone had a marvelous idea for the Invisible Man to get his comeuppance involving man's best friend and blew it in the execution.

One very interesting performance in the film is Leon Errol, away from the comic parts he usually had. He's still got some funny moments, but he's also a blackmailing scoundrel as well.

The Invisible Man's Revenge is far from the best in the series. Even Abbott&Costello's film with them ranks better than this.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 July 1944 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Invisible Man's Revenge

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Gross USA:

$1,669,226

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1