The Invisible Man's Revenge

Robert Griffin (no relation to Jack) was apparently duped and left for dead in Africa several years ago by his partners who went on to discover a diamond mine. Not only did Griffin lose out on his fortune but he lost his mind too. Eventually, Griffin escapes from a mental institution and returns to England. By chance (or the stroke of the writer's pen) Griffin encounters Dr. Drury, a screwball scientist in search of a weirdo to test out his new invisibility formula. Griffin sees invisibility as a chance to get the vengeance he craves. So the demented doctor gives him the obligatory injection.

This is a long way from the quality of the original 1933 film, with Claude Rains. There are a few familiar special effects but Leon Errol's attempts to provide comic relief meet with mixed results. It soon becomes apparent that the film has nothing going for it other than invisibility as a gimmick. The plot is wafer thin and poorly written. There is little action to speak of just a lot of standing around and talking or sitting around and talking. Clearly, this was an exercise to squeeze a few more dollars out of an aging franchise. On the bright side, there are some decent invisibility effects, like when the invisible man dunks his hand into a fish tank or covers his face in flour. That's not enough to recommend this film however.

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.

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.

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.

THE INVISIBLE MAN'S REVENGE (Universal, 1944), a promising title, directed by Ford Beebe, suggested by "The Invisible Man" by H.G. Wells, returns Jon Hall, recently from THE INVISIBLE AGENT (1942), in another caper revolving around the no-sight and sound about a man out for avenge those who had done him wrong.

The story opens on the docks of London where Robert Griffin (Jon Hall) returns after five years of memory loss following a diamond field expedition in Africa. Moments later, a newspaper clipping reveals Griffin to be a homicidal maniac who had escaped from a Capetown Asylum. After acquiring new clothing and a shave, he locates Sir Jasper and Lady Irene Herrick (Lester Matthews and Gale Sondergaard), friends and former partners of the expedition who had left him for dead, to their luxurious mansion and founders of Herrick Mines Ltd., demanding the share of the fortune due him. While talking things over a few drinks, Griffin not only discovers their daughter, Julie (Evelyn Ankers), his former girlfriend, to be engaged to Mark Foster (Alan Curtis), a reporter for the Courier, but finds he's been drugged. Unable to function, Griffin is escorted out by their butler, Cleghorn (Halliwell Hobbes). Half crazed, Griffin is offered assistance by Herbert Higgins (Leon Errol), a drunkard. Afterwards, Griffin stumbles upon the home of Professor Drury (John Carradine), a scientist who has discovered the formula of invisibility. Witnessing his experiment where Drury's dog and other animals are heard but not seen, Griffin volunteers on becoming Drury's human subject. As an invisible man, Griffin gets his revenge, but in the process, does become what he is accused of being, a homicidal maniac.

With this being the third "invisible man" story of the 1940s, not counting the comedy outing of "The Invisible Woman" (1940) starring Virginia Bruce in the title role, this latest installment gives some indication that the writers were attempting an original concept to an already unoriginal scenario. With comedian Leon Errol assuming second billing, it's evident he's around for comedy relief. One scene finds him impressing his friends at the pub in a friendly game of darts by hitting a target every time, compliments of his invisible friend.

Evelyn Ankers, Universal's resident performer in the horror genre, who arrives 48 minutes into the story, is given little to do, compare to her secondary roles opposite Lon Chaney Jr. in "The Wolf Man" (1941); "The Ghost of Frankenstein" (1942) and "Son of Dracula" (1943), In fact, it's a wonder why Chaney never had the opportunity to assume the role as an invisible man, considering that he's played everything else in regards to Universal monsters. Gale Sondergaard and Lester Matthews do well as friendly thieves, while Leyland Hodgeson as Sir Frederick Travers, Doris Lloyd as Maud, and a dog named Grey Shadow lend some moral support.         

An average production that contradicts its predecessors, the screenplay by Bertram Millhauser fails to mention Jack Griffin (Claude Rains) from THE INVISIBLE MAN (1933), to be the true inventor of the invisible formula, thus giving credit to another scientist, Drury. Secondly, Robert Griffin doesn't appear to be related to any of the previous Griffins from the earlier "Invisible Man" stories. His only connection is that he becomes invisible, and the use of the traditional bandages and sunglasses over his head to be seen by others. It would have been logical had Carradine's character been a distant relative to Jack Griffin carrying on his experiment, and using his formula on a human subject, played by Hall, assuming another surname besides Griffin. Had it not been for these inconsistencies, THE INVISIBLE MAN'S REVENGE might have been hailed as a satisfactory entry. Overlooking that, it actually is. Jon Hall may not have the charisma of Rains nor the distinctive voice of Vincent Price, but he does have the distinction of being the only actor to twice play an invisible man on screen, aside the fact that he was playing two different characters bearing the name of Griffin.

Formerly available on video and currently on DVD as part of the "Invisble Man" collection, THE INVISIBLE MAN'S REVENGE did have occasional revivals on cable television's Sci-Fi Channel (1990s) and American Movie Classics (2001). Not quite the closing chapter nor the finish of John Fulton's special effects department, Universal concluded this science fiction series with the comedy of ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE INVISIBLE MAN (1951), which they most certainly did. (**1/2)