Der unsichtbare Agent

This is a very entertaining film, but I like it so much because Peter Lorre plays a Japanese character. Early in the film, Lorre is magnificent as he prepares to get Griffin (Jon Hall) to talk! Cedric Hardwicke is also very good as the Nazi ring leader.

I avoided this film for years, because I thought it was strictly a war movie with some Sci Fi overtones. My mistake. Very good Universal picture and belongs beside the other classics from Universal in the 1940's.

I actually didn't even know about this film, let alone not knowing its ties to the Universal Studios' Invisible Man series. I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. Sure, it's not Claude Rains' "The Invisible Man" film, or even Vincent Price's "The Invisible Man Returns." It's not really even a horror film. But this movie had a pretty decent story.

It was about a man who is the grandson of the original Invisible Man They referred to the original as "Frank Griffen" in this story, but the original was actually named "Jack Griffen," and his brother was named Frank in "The Invisible Man Returns." Why they were inconsistent, I'm not sure. Anyhow, the grandson gets offered a fortune to sell his grandfather's secret formula to the Nazis, but refuses and goes undercover as a spy for the United States using the formula to spy on the Nazis to find out their plan of attack on the U.S. Very good plot.

With some good special effects and some great, the technical aspects of this film were at least just as good as the previous films. We even got some good warfare explosions. And the story was definitely enjoyable. So despite inconsistencies with previous Invisible Man films, this film is definitely worth a look.

Jon Hall plays Frank Raymond, the grandson of the Invisible Man, who has changed his name from Griffin to Raymond and runs a print shop in hopes of avoiding people looking for his grandfather's formula for invisibility. When Axis agents led by the nefarious duo of Stauffer (Cedric Hardwicke) and Ikito (Peter Lorre) show up and threaten Raymond, he decides to become the Invisible Man and spy for the Allies.

The least of Universal's Invisible Man films but still enjoyable. The continuity's a little sloppy. Frank is said to be the grandson of the original Invisible Man, also named Frank Griffin. But the original was named Jack. It was his brother from The Invisible Man Returns that was named Frank. Plus the original Invisible Man died without kids, unless we're to believe his fiancée in the first movie was pregnant. Anyway, it's probably best to assume Frank Griffin took credit for his brother's discovery...or, you know, don't bother explaining it at all because it's really not that important.

Hall is fine but his character can be irritating at times. The film's worst scene is where he pranks Nazi Karl Heiser (J. Edward Bromberg). The whole scene is a juvenile attempt at laughs that fails badly. Bromberg's character is a perfect example of the movie's main flaw: the out of place comedy within the darker wartime plot. For the most part, Heiser is a joke and treated like Schultz from Hogan's Heroes. But then there are scenes where his darker side comes through that makes the comedy parts a poor fit. Ilona Massey looks great but her character seems to exist just to fall for Hall, even though he treats her pretty crappy. The climax of the movie plays like an action serial with the Nazis pursuing Hall and Massey as they try to escape by plane. What happens next I won't spoil but it's unintentionally silly.

Two characters that actually do work are the evil Stauffer and Ikito, played by Cedric Hardwicke and Peter Lorre. These two are the best part of the film, providing a real menace to the hero. Lorre's Ikito is an especially evil character. He begins the film by threatening to chop Frank's fingers off and later ingeniously (and sadistically) catches him with a net lined with fish hooks! These great actors own every scene they're in and it's worth seeing the movie just for them.

Like most American war propaganda films, this film probably presented the perfect propaganda needed at the time to rally a nation, but viewing it today it manages to make the allied forces (and most specifically Americans) look like racist ignorant buffoons in the process. It makes no excuses for it's blatant propaganda messages and obvious opinions of the German or Japanese ("I can't tell you people apart", to quote one of Hall's lines), nor does it even attempt to understand their cultures (Hari Kari, for example, is grossly misunderstood and misrepresented in this film). But I won't argue the issue, because, after all, it's only a movie, and America needed their villians clearly cut and defined to swallow the bitter pill of war.

But honestly, how inept is our "hero" in this film? He's supposed to be on a serious mission to thwart an air raid on New York city (I consider that pretty serious), yet the minute he touches ground on German soil he takes great risks in exposing himself by opting to make his presence known by playing pranks rather than staying low and "out of sight". He frequently jeopardizes the success of the mission because he can't resist grabbing a chicken leg or a glass of wine while in the company of the Gestapo, or falling asleep in facial makeup. And while it makes for some entertaining scenes that utilize the invisible effects, his behavior is completely implausible and downright ridiculous. Think of how easy his mission would have been had he just quietly moved about and retrieved the info he needed without bringing attention to himself. (But that doesn't make for a very entertaining movie, now does it?).

If I were the Maria Sorenson character in this film, I would have kicked him in his unmentionables.

Another really big-budget sequel to the original Invisible Man, this one has a screenplay that's witty yet adventurous and packed with hair's-breadth escapes. It also provides great opportunities for some of our favorite character players including a delightful trio of treacherous heavies: Peter Lorre, J. Edward Bromberg and Sir Cedric Hardwicke. It's also good to see the lovely Ilona Massey, who made only eleven Hollywood movies between 1937 and 1960 (this is the fifth), though it's disappointing that she doesn't get to sing. Never mind, she does wear some really lovely gowns. Jon Hall is personable enough as the reluctant hero, though he fails to handle the switch in his feelings towards the heroine with complete conviction.

Marin's direction is admirably fast-paced (we suspect producer Frank Lloyd took a hand in the action sequences) and other credits, including Lester White's attractive photography, are equally outstanding. Special effects fans will not go away unhappy either.