L'agent invisible

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.

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.

INVISIBLE AGENT (Universal, 1942), directed by Edwin L. Marin, is Universal's attempt in keeping H.G. Wells' "Invisible Man" stories in circulation by bringing them up to date, this time through the use of an original screenplay by Curtis Siodmak. Jon Hall, best known for his South Seas adventure tales with Maria Montez, might have become an unlikely candidate for the title role, but succeeds on his own merits. Though not exactly in the same league as its predecessors, especially the original 1933 classic starring Claude Rains, it's more of a propaganda film than horror, in the tradition of earlier outings as ESPIONAGE AGENT (1939) and Alfred Hitchcock's FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT (1940), both starring Joel McCrea.

The story opens in New York where foreign agents, Conrad Stauffer (Sir Cedric Hardwicke), a Nazi leader, and Baron Ikito (Peter Lorre), a Japanese, break into a printing shop run by Frank Raymond (Jon Hall), who's secretly the grandson of scientist Frank Griffin, inventor of an invisibility formula. (Is this in reference to Frank Griffin from THE INVISIBLE MAN RETURNS (1940), overlooking the fact that it was Jack Griffin from THE INVISIBLE MAN (1933), being the true inventor of that formula?) Knowing his true identity, the agents demand the formula from him. After going through the torture test that nearly causes him the loss of his fingers in a cutting machine, Frank manages to make his getaway and report the incident to John Gardiner (John Litel) of the American Embassy. When asked to relay the formula to the government, he refuses, but gives in after the bombing of Pearl Harbor that leads America into war, on the condition that he act as an invisible agent for America by spying on the Germans instead of their trained agents. Once he parachutes on enemy lines, Griffin, now invisible, follows his instructions by meeting with Arnold Schmidt (Albert Basserman), his contact, owner of a coffin shop, who secretly relays the information to England. Griffin's next assignment is to contact Maria Sorenson (Ilona Massey), Stauffer's mistress and counterspy who's under watch from Karl Heiser (J. Edward Bromberg), a Nazi officer. After finding himself trapped inside a fishing net full of hooks that leaves him helpless, Griffin accuses Maria, whom he now loves, to be his betrayer, and must somehow break free in order to acquire the secret plans revealing the Adolph Hitler's attack on New York.

Although related to the previous Invisible Man sequels, INVISIBLE AGENT is often treated as an outsider mainly because it's more of a spy vs. spy story than the science fiction/mad scientist formula. Regardless of a fine supporting cast consisting of Hardwicke as the central villain and Lorre, even more menacing, coming close to resembling the Oriental sleuth, Mr. Moto, a character he portrayed in eight film mysteries during the late 1930s, through the use of his thick glasses, the somewhat unbalanced script appears to be geared more for the juvenile audiences out to cheer for their unseen hero. Humor takes precedence over the seriousness nature of the wartime story during its 81 minutes. Top-billed Ilona Massey, who arrives late in the story, plays a Mata Hari-type mystery woman leaving audiences wondering whose side she is on. That's one of the fun parts of the movie. Her key scenes include her encounter with the invisible agent and placing cold cream on him to see his face; and her attempt in having dinner with Nazi Heiser with the unseen Griffin having the time of his life disturbing them by moving things around and driving Heisler to the point of distraction. And speaking of driving, the plot is highlighted by a well staged car chase between Griffin and the Nazis. The scene where the invisible agent, giving himself a bath, covered with soap suds, is realistically done, thanks to John P. Fulton's first-rate contribution to the special effects department that equals the credibility to his earlier technique for THE INVISIBLE MAN and THE INVISIBLE MAN RETURNS.

Formerly distributed on video cassette around the 1990s, and rarely visible on the television markets in recent years, INVISIBLE AGENT's current availability happens to be on DVD as part of its "Invisible Man" movie package. Next in the series, THE INVISIBLE MAN'S REVENGE (1944) also starring Jon Hall. (**1/2)

Frank Raymond (Jon Hall), grandson of the original Invisible Man, still has the old family formula but won't allow anyone to use it, even though World War II is looming on the horizon. After an unfriendly visit by Axis agents (Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Peter Lorre) and the attack on Pearl Harbor Raymond comes to his senses. He offers the Allies the use of the formula but insists that no one uses it but him. After all, the drug is dangerous but it's never really explained why. Allied Command somehow agrees to go along with this dumb idea. Apparently, it never occurred to them that something might happen to Raymond. If so, what would then become of the drug?

Raymond becomes a phantom commando with a heavy boot for Nazi rears. He parachutes into Germany (an amusing scene). He's supposed to meet with a couple of people and steal vital information. Instead, Raymond spends time wooing the beautiful German double agent he's assigned to work with (Ilona Massey) and playing puerile pranks on an overweight Nazi with an undersized brain. Ultimately, Raymond saves the day by thwarting a far-fetched plot to attack New York.

Despite its faults, this was probably just the ticket for uplifting the morale of American audiences in dark, early days of the war. Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Peter Lorre steal the movie as a Gestapo official and Japanese spymaster, respectively. Their performances are much better than this lighthearted film deserves. I laughed most over Raymond's confrontation with and escape from Hardwicke and his mindless minions at Gestapo headquarters. Still, it bothered me that Ms Massey's character wasn't selected to become to become the Invisible Agent. She was well placed, well trained as a spy, and highly motivated. She knew all the right people, who had access to the right information, and demonstrated cool under fire. Most important of all, she was a lot smarter than Raymond. If she was invisible, I'm sure the war in Europe would have ended much sooner!

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.