The Invisible Man's Revenge

This Invisible Man film is easily the least significant of the four made. It tells of a gruff left-for-dead man coming back named Bob Griffin, having absolutely nothing to do with anyone in any of the other Invisible Man films, dealing with a couple that may or may not have left him in Africa. The couple's complicity in the crime is never stated one way or the other, and we as viewers are left with an overacting Jon Hall barking out orders to everyone he meets. Hall's character is so odious that we feel nothing for him at all except a desire to see him die. I will not spoil that bit of plot for you, but I will say that the ending is one of the few highlights of this film. Because the script takes no ground morally, I was in a lurch as to whom I should be concerned for. Were Jasper and his wife responsible for Griffin being left-for-dead? Did they purposely swindle him? Even when they do something to him, one is never really sure of their intent. The other actors are typical for a Universal film and give adequate performances. The sole bright light for me was John Carradine as a scientist with invisible animals that discovers he can make a man invisible too. Carradine seems to have a lot of fun with his role as he is garbed in white lab coat and pince-nez. The plot never really thickens and any real meat to the film is indeed invisible. Save for Carradine and some spectacular special effects of the day, one can see why this was the end of one of Universal's monsters.

Robert Griffin (Jon Hall) escapes from an asylum and seeks out his old friends, Sir Jasper and Lady Irene (Lester Matthews, Gale Sondergaard). Griffin accuses the two of leaving him for dead in Africa years before and taking full claim for the diamond mine he had discovered, which subsequently made them rich. The two deny this and say they were told Griffin was dead by their guide. They offer to pay him half of what they have but Griffin, now quite insane, refuses and says he wants it all plus their daughter Julie (Evelyn Ankers)! They throw Griffin out, which leads to him meeting up with a Cockney blackmailer (Leon Errol) and eventually a scientist (John Carradine), who enlists him to take part in the inevitable invisibility experiment. The experiment is successful and Griffin, now invisible, returns to get even with Jasper and Irene.

Despite being named Griffin, this Invisible Man shares no history with the previous ones. It's John Carradine's scientist who has created the invisibility formula here. Also, Griffin is nuts before the movie begins so the invisibility formula can't be blamed for that. To make matters slightly more confusing, Hall plays the lead here and he also played the lead (another Griffin) in Invisible Agent.

The cast helps overcome a messy script. Hall is quite convincing as the psycho Invisible Man. Carradine, as usual, is great as the scientist. Leon Errol seems to ruffle quite a few feathers among viewers, judging by reviews here. His character was pretty much unnecessary but he didn't bother me. Gale Sondergaard is always a treat to watch but she gets little to do and seems to disappear from the story altogether after a half-hour or so. Lester Matthews is fine as the weakling husband who may or may not have left Griffin for dead in Africa. Evelyn Ankers has a thankless part. Halliwell Hobbes is the butler, as he often was in these films.

Part of the problem with the story is that no one is that likable. The closest thing to a hero in the movie is Alan Curtis' reporter character and there's something about him that kind of bugged me. Another problem is the script feels uneven, especially in the early part. Reportedly the first draft of the script had Jasper and Irene as much more villainous characters and no doubt was cast on their attempt to kill Griffin, both in Africa as well as upon his showing up at their house in this film. That's not the case in the final version yet the pair still seems unsympathetic, so I wonder why they bothered changing it all, if they did? The special effects are OK, if a little sloppy in some scenes. I think some reviewers have overstated just how sloppy they were. It's not like you see wires in every scene or even most scenes. I think only eagle-eyed viewers will spot most of the flaws with the effects.

Overall, it's a good movie of its type. Not great, but watchable B-grade entertainment. It's got a solid cast with a strong performance from Jon Hall in the lead. Still, it's easy to see why Universal stopped the series after this one.

1944's "The Invisible Man's Revenge" brought the infrequent Universal series to an end, apart from 1951's "Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man." It's appropriate that Jon Hall repeat the role again, after playing the heroic "Invisible Agent" in 1942; here, his Robert Griffin, no relation to prior Griffins, isn't so much a madman as a man who believes himself to have been wronged, and with Lester Matthews and Gale Sondergaard as the objects of scorn, you too may feel they were indeed guilty of the alleged crime (leaving him behind in the jungle to die after leading them to a fabulous diamond mine). The expected comedy relief is ably supplied by Leon Errol, whose dart game echoes the James Whale original, but goes on a tad too long. Lovely Evelyn Ankers is again wasted in a peripheral role, as she often was in Universal horrors, leaving the way open for the scene stealing John Carradine to command the screen, in only two scenes, as Dr. Peter Drury, the source of Griffin's invisibility, with transparent pets such as a parrot and a dog, whose later visibility will doom any future plans for our nonhero ("in this house, you've got to believe what you CAN'T see!"). Former adversaries in 1937's "The Hurricane," Jon Hall and John Carradine would once more oppose each other in 1957's "Hell Ship Mutiny." Director Ford Beebe ("Night Monster") was one of Universal's finest journeymen, again finding a slot for his father-in-law, Cyril Delevanti, selling Griffin some new clothes before nearly getting himself killed. Among the smaller parts are Doris Lloyd ("The Wolf Man"), Ian Wolfe ("The Raven"), Billy Bevan ("Dracula's Daughter"), and Skelton Knaggs ("House of Dracula"). All five entries, even 1940's "The Invisible Woman," appeared on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater.

Generally speaking, the horror films from the "New Universal" period (1937-1946) aren't as good as the ones from the era when Carl Laemmle, Sr. and Jr., were still in control of the studio (though "Son of Dracula," a moody masterpiece, is not only the best in Universal's vampire cycle but the finest vampire film ever made in the U.S.). "The Invisible Man's Revenge" isn't the equal of the peerless 1933 Laemmle-era original, but it's certainly better than the previous run of "New Universal" Invisible Man movies. Jon Hall, relatively dull as the hero in "Invisible Agent," proves surprisingly effective as a full-throated villain (in this version he's a psychotic madman BEFORE becoming invisible); Leon Errol's dry wit is several cuts above the usual un-funny "comic relief" in these films; Lester Matthews and Gale Sondergaard make a nice guilt-ridden couple for the Invisible Man to have his titular revenge on; Alan Curtis and Evelyn Ankers are certainly more than competent as the romantic leads; John Carradine is in good form as the rather dotty scientist with the invisibility formula; and the direction by Ford Beebe, usually a name associated with Universal serials, is convincingly Gothic and well-paced. Universal was on the downgrade as a horror studio by then (and their only further foray into invisible man-dom would be an Abbott and Costello vehicle in 1953) and some of the effects work is sloppy, but on the whole this film is convincing and vividly atmospheric. Incidentally, in "The Face of Marble" from Monogram two years later (another underrated film with a fine sense of atmosphere even though its plot doesn't make a lick of sense even by the meager standards of horror fantasies!), John Carradine also played a mad scientist who had a dog named Brutus.

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.