El hombre que logró ser invisible

The plot of Mexico's cinematic rendition of the invisible man is hardly new, being essentially a remake of the 1940 Universal Studios film "The Invisible Man Returns." Like Sir Geoffrey Radcliffe before him, Carlos, oops make that "Charles Hill" is falsely convicted of murder. Where Radcliffe found himself facing the gallows. Hill is merely sentenced to 99 years in prison. Luckily, Hill's scientist brother concocts the obligatory invisibility serum and smuggles it into prison. Hill takes the serum, vanishes, and simply walks out of jail. Invisibility enables Hill to make fools out of the police and prove his innocence. Unfortunately, that nasty side effect--creeping insanity--rears it ugly, unseen head. Hill decides that he rather terrorize the city than go back to being normal. Can he be stopped in time? Hardly a classic but some nice special effects, a few intriguing scenes, and decent acting make the film worth watching, if you can find it.

1958's Mexican "El Hombre que Logro ser Invisible" (The Man Who Managed to Be Invisible) eventually made the rounds of American TV screens under the title "The New Invisible Man." Sadly, there's precious little that's new, the most frequently used basic plot, that of an innocent man becoming transparent in order to prove his innocence, perfected by the very first sequel to James Whale's 1933 original, 1940's "The Invisible Man Returns" (Vincent Price in the title role). Done very cheaply in black and white, this version coincides with Edgar G. Ulmer's "The Amazing Transparent Man" (from 1959), Japanese variations (1954's "Tomei Ningen" and 1960's "The Human Vapor"), also a British half hour teleseries syndicated in the US. Price and Claude Rains possessed dynamic voices to powerfully convey their emotions (Jon Hall not so effective) but on this dubbed occasion the tones are decidedly ordinary despite the presence in the central role of Charles Hill of Arturo de Cordova, one of Mexico's biggest stars, so popular that he spent a few years in Hollywood during the 1940s playing romantic Latin types. Some footage is missing from the beginning (10 minutes in all), setting up the engagement of Charles to Beatrice (Ana Luisa Peluffo), then introducing Charles' brother Luis (Augusto Benedico), perfecting an invisibility formula that so far works on panes of glass. By the five minute mark we witness the murder, the culprit escaping as Charles enters, only to be falsely accused with the revolver in his hand and successfully prosecuted on circumstantial evidence. Once Luis stumbles on the right combination to make his despairing brother disappear the injection is made in the prison infirmary, the subject rising from his bed to see himself vanish before the mirror and easily get away. The Invisible Man pairs up with his fiancée to learn the truth behind the frame up, more mayhem to follow even after he's cleared of murder, becoming a self righteous angel of death to carry out the lord's work as he goes insane. The test animals are simply shown as skeletons during their transformations, while our hero makes himself visible through cold cream like Jon Hall in 1942's "Invisible Agent," so the special effects are at least better than in Ulmer's hour long opus, but the picture drags badly during the second half. There's really no characterization for Arturo de Cordova, and despite his assorted misdeeds by the climax his fiancée stubbornly and almost fatally clings to her love for him.

In spite of cinema's most successful effort yet to depict it, invisibility is not a very cinegenic subject. Even James Whale's 1933 wonderful "The Invisible Man", based on the novella by H. G. Wells, also had to rely on a voice and special effects, in compensation for the absence of the leading character on screen. Since the invisible entities cannot be photographed, the action centers on the capacity of special effects and sound, as well as the reaction of the rest of the cast, to keep us interested for most of the running time. In 1958 there were two releases dealing with the condition: the horror sci-fi filler "Fiend Without a Face" (not very good, don't be misled by Criterion), which is the better known, and this almost forgotten Mexican production that apparently was conceived as an ambitious project, considering the cast and crew involved. It even starts promisingly, as a scientist shows his future wife where they will build their home, and they both imagine how it will look inside. The scientist is played by Arturo de Córdova (best known for Buñuel's "Él" and Wood's "For Whom the Bell Tolls"), reprising the role of the man who becomes invisible and mad, as in Wells' novella. Conceived by Alfredo Salazar, scriptwriter of several classic Mexican horror films, and adapted by playwright Julio Alejandro (who wrote "Nazarín", "Viridiana" and other scripts for Buñuel), the story also owes a bit to "Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man": the Mexican has been wrongly accused (and sentenced) for a murder he did not commit, and he uses his invisibility to clear his name. But De Córdova becomes religiously nuts, a mixture of the Exterminating Angel of God and Klaatu, threatening humanity with poisoning. For a change, the film ends rather well, considering all the many people that get killed in 90 minutes, and that we have to endure the slow pacing, to show off the special effects. For De Córdova's other famous roles, don't miss "La diosa arrodillada", "Dios se lo pague", "In the Palm of Your Hand" and the very enjoyable "The Skeleton of Mrs. Morales".