Joe l'inafferrabile

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.

Of the "Invisible Man" series made by Universal, I was only familiar with the first two (both of which I'll rewatch again presently) - the James Whale original being one of my all-time favorites.

Ever since it was released as part of the "Legacy" set, I had mostly read negative opinions about this film - and even Leonard Maltin gives it a pretty low rating. However, I was very surprised by how much I enjoyed it! True, the leads are rather bland (why on earth is Ilona Massey credited before Jon Hall?!) but, then, INVISIBLE AGENT has a formidable trio of villains - Peter Lorre, Sir Cedric Hardwicke and J. Edward Bromberg - going for it (who even make Curt Siodmak's script sound better than it is). Besides, I must say that I'm a sucker for both WWII and espionage movies, so that's a big plus as well...which, I guess, means that it isn't really a horror film and that The Invisible Man is the hero! Oh well, you can't have everything!

John P. Fulton's still-impressive special effects (exposed a bit here by the extra clarity of the DVD transfer) deliver the goods and, all in all, the film made me keen to get to the remaining titles in the series.

The grandson of Jack Griffin, the Invisible Man, has been living peacefully somewhere in the United States until some German agents find, corner, and try to "persuade" him to give up the family formula so Germany can have this new weapon. Jon Hall plays the relative of the biggest disappearing act ever, and he manages to escape the German clutches and offer the use of the formula to the United States with the proviso that only he will use the possibly fatal formula. This is one of those films that is very light and a whole lot of fun. It is definitely trying to promote the war effort and patriotism with a lot of figurative flag waving. So what? I'd rather have that than goosestepping to and fro while some German autocrat mouths idealistic tripe under a small moustache. Anyway, the film is more a comedy than anything else with Nazis once again being stereotyped as figures of ridicule. Bromberg in particular is very effective as an overweight Nazi with little intelligence and a knack for comedic situations. There is a very serious side as well and Edward Hardwicke and Peter Lorre mix wit with menace as an intelligent German Gestapo head and a Japanese diplomat looking out for the interests of Japan. Hall makes an affable leading man in nothing else. Naturally we get to see lots of things move on their own and other such situations, but the film as a whole if a lot of entertaining fluff with some moral ideology as a fringe.

Wow, this movie is a perfect blend of intrigue, comedy and action, and it's done with quite a bit of flair too. Definitely corny at times, but that's part of the fun. As is the case with all Universal Horror pics from 1930-45, this chiller is incredibly moody and atmospheric. 8/10. Watch it with the lights off.

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.