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The Invisible Man (1933)

Director: James Whale

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Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Engrossing adaptation of HG Wells' tale of a scientist made invisible by his experiments with the drug monocaine. The megalomania that ensues upon Rains' ability to go about unseen is played for suspense, pathos and tongue-in-cheek humour (he can't go out in the rain, because it would make him look like a ridiculous bubble). The real strengths of the movie are John P Fulton's remarkable special effects (Rains removing his bandages to reveal nothing, footsteps appearing as if by magic in the snow), lending much-needed conviction to the blatant fantasy; and the fact that we never see the scientist without his bandages until the very end of the film. No wonder Karloff, disdainful of a role in which he would for the most part only be heard, turned down the part; but Rains, with his clear, sensitively inflected voice, was lucky: it made him a star.

Author: GA 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide

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Cast & crew

Director: James Whale

Producer: Carl Laemmle Jr

Cast: Claude Rains, Gloria Stuart, Una O'Connor, William Harrigan, EE Clive, Dudley Digges, Dwight Frye, Walter Brennan, John Carradine full cast

Genre(s): Science Fiction

Duration: 71 mins


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