Jack Griffin, un scientifique, s'est isolé dans une auberge afin d'élaborer un remède qui doit le rendre à nouveau visible. Chassé du lieu pour son antipathie croissante, il s'invite chez un... Tout lireJack Griffin, un scientifique, s'est isolé dans une auberge afin d'élaborer un remède qui doit le rendre à nouveau visible. Chassé du lieu pour son antipathie croissante, il s'invite chez un collègue pour le mêler à ses projets criminels.Jack Griffin, un scientifique, s'est isolé dans une auberge afin d'élaborer un remède qui doit le rendre à nouveau visible. Chassé du lieu pour son antipathie croissante, il s'invite chez un collègue pour le mêler à ses projets criminels.
- Réalisation
- Scénario
- Casting principal
- Récompenses
- 4 victoires et 2 nominations au total
- Detective Thompson
- (non crédité)
- Radio Announcer
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- Villager Playing Darts
- (non crédité)
- Bicycle Owner
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- Farmer
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- Mary Purdy
- (non crédité)
Avis à la une
The story is for the most part based on the one main idea of "The Invisible Man" who combines his scientific genius with a generous supply of madness. The story is interesting enough in itself, and of course it provides all kinds of opportunities for visual tricks. Whale hits just the right balance in making good use of these opportunities without over-indulging himself.
The visual effects themselves are of excellent quality, and they are far better than all but the very best of the present-day computer imagery. While it is usually rather easy to spot which parts of a movie are computer-generated, Whale's effects are all but seamless, with the exception of a handful of brief moments. They are often quite impressive, without resorting to tired devices, such as explosions and the like, in order to impress those with shorter attention spans.
Claude Rains does quite well for having such limitations on what he could do. The rest of the cast is solid, if mostly unspectacular, letting the story do the work. Una O'Connor somewhat overdoes it with the screaming this time, but otherwise the characters are believable. The acting may seem slightly quaint to those who are accustomed to the pretentious styles of the present generation of performers, but it's certainly better than the grating, self-important performances in some of the recent movies of the same genre.
While the story does not have the thematic depth or the suggestive imagery of horror classics like "Frankenstein" or "Dracula", this adaptation gets everything it can out of the material, telling the story in an entertaining fashion and with technical skill.
A brilliant chemist/scientist(Rains) discovers how to make himself invisible. He wrecks havoc in a small British country village as pranks turn to murder. Memorable are the scenes of the invisible man smoking and riding a bicycle; and of course unwrapping.
Also in the cast are:William Harrigan, Gloria Stuart, E.E. Clive and Una O'Connor. At a certain point you wish that O'Connor's funny, but obnoxious character was shorter lived. Dated or not, this is a classic that still demands watching. Creepy and fun for all.
You would think that it would be hard to convince an audience that one of your characters is invisible; but Whale makes it look easy! Claude Rains spends much of the film either under the cover of bandages or not even in it, but it doesn't matter because it's not him but his voice that makes the performance. The fiendishness of his voice is compelling and pure evil, and I don't believe that there is a better man in existence for this role. There isn't a lot of physical acting for him to do, but this is made up for with a dazzling array of special effects. We get to see a shirt move on it's own, things fly around rooms and havoc is caused. It really shows Whale's genius to pull this off. Whale is best known as a horror director, but it's obvious that he has a great respect for comedy also as his Frankenstein films were very tongue-in-cheek, and so is this film. The scenes that see the invisible man causing mayhem are hilarious, and will delight anyone who sees the film. Whale's ability to entertain is absolute, and that is why the films he made for the studio were always the biggest successes. The Invisible Man is one of the greatest achievements in cinema history, and anyone who tells you otherwise is wrong!
Claude Rains does a good job with a mainly "speaking" part - lots of emotion and command there. Una O'Connor as the Innkeepers wife does a bit too much shrieking for my liking - but required "reaction" acting fodder for the time, I assume.
The effects still hold up, and must have been cutting edge at the time. The storyline covers all the basics of the Wells Novel - a quest for knowledge and power, alienation and drug inducessed madness. It's an enjoyable watch with good pacing and steady performances throughout. A sort of lazy Sunday afternoon type of movie.
Universal's take on a British Pub raises a smile, with some fantastic looking weathered-faced locals populating the place. I love the way the gag with a local "fake-playing" a coin driven piano gets a roaring laugh (as if that's the first time the pub's drinkers have seen it). However, the British film-industry was putting out the same type of stereotypes, so Universal can be forgiven there.
A part of Sci-Fi/Horror movie making history, and worth watching for this fact alone.
Le saviez-vous
- AnecdotesOn the DVD short documentary, Claude Rains' daughter Jessica Rains tells of a time when her father brought her to see a re-release of this movie in the theater in Pennsylvania in 1950. It was bitterly cold and his face was completely covered by a hat and scarf. When he spoke to ask for the tickets, the attendant immediately recognized his voice and wanted to let them in for free. Rains was quite upset at this and demanded that he pay full price.
- Gaffes(at around 2 mins) Though the music at the pub comes from a coin-operated player piano, it, along with everyone talking in the pub, stops short at the startling arrival of the Invisible Man.
- Citations
The Invisible Man: We'll begin with a reign of terror, a few murders here and there, murders of great men, murders of little men - well, just to show we make no distinction. I might even wreck a train or two... just these fingers around a signalman's throat, that's all.
- Crédits fousClaude Rains is the only actor in the film whose character is identified in the credits. The roles the other actors play are not identified, even though the cast is listed twice: at the beginning and at the end. Rains is billed as "The Invisible One" in the opening credits and as "The Invisible Man" in the closing credits.
- Versions alternativesWhen the film was released to home video, Universal Studios replaced a snippet of music heard on the radio when Dr. Kemp is reading a newspaper in his house, and the Invisible Man enters through a set of French doors. Universal was unable to secure the rights for the original music and replaced it, covering the original sound effects (the sound of the newspaper and the door latch) in the process. The original music and missing sound effects were restored to the 2012 blu-ray audio.
- ConnexionsFeatured in Sherlock Holmes et la voix de la terreur (1942)
Meilleurs choix
- How long is The Invisible Man?Alimenté par Alexa
- What is the music playing on Kemp's radio?
Détails
- Date de sortie
- Pays d’origine
- Site officiel
- Langue
- Aussi connu sous le nom de
- El hombre invisible
- Lieux de tournage
- Société de production
- Voir plus de crédits d'entreprise sur IMDbPro
Box-office
- Budget
- 328 033 $US (estimé)
- Montant brut mondial
- 27 105 $US
- Durée1 heure 11 minutes
- Couleur
- Rapport de forme
- 1.37 : 1