Now You See Him: The Invisible Man Revealed!

Rudy Behlmer hosts this 35-minute documentary. It's about Universal Studio's foray into the monster movie genre in the early 1930s. The studio was the leader in this field. It had two early smash hits in "Frankenstein" of 1931 and "The Invisible Man" of 1933. This film has interviews with a number of film historians, actors and others.

This bonus featurette has interviews with a number of film historians, actors and others. It shows how the invisibility was achieved for the invisible man. The documentary is very interesting and well done. It makes a good addition for a film library. Universal made this documentary to go with the movie DVD that went on sale after 2000.

The technology was masterful in its day and appears more real than CGI could make things today. Of course, that's because it was real. It was just done with the use of different camera shots, backgrounds, etc. Watch this documentary to see and learn how it was done.

As a monster kid from way back, I enjoy much of the attention and adulation that these movies have garnered over the years. But what has always been a pet peeve is that some of the "lesser" films like The Invisible Man, The Mummy, The Old Dark House, etc...never get the same kind of pomp as Dracula and Frankenstein. I can understand why, but films like these have had just as much a powerful if not indeed more subtle influence. Well, here David Skaal, making documentaries for the big Universal horror films for DVD release around 2000, does his tribute for James Whale's revolutionary science fiction film - a film that had breakthrough technology at the time, used the Whale style to perfection, and made Claude Rains into a star. It had four sequels - granted only the second one near the quality of this, but all were fun. It had countless imitations as recent as the horrible Hollow Man and its sequel. This documentary chronicles the production of the film fusing anecdotal history with facts. We get interviews with some second-hand observers like Jessica Rains(telling a wonderful story about how her father took her to see this film for the first time as a child, Curtis Harrington(who had met and knew James Whale), and some film historians. There are plentiful scenes too. The documentary runs 35 minutes and though I found their analysis of the first film quite good, the rest of the sequels are lucky enough to get a mention. I would have liked to have seen some more on them as they are the films least known. Skaal does a great job with these documentaries as evidenced by the wonderful ones completed for Dracula, Frankenstein, and even The Mummy, but this one falls a little short on their scale. It definitely left me wanting to see more.

Now You See Him: The Invisible Man Revealed! (2000)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Another terrific documentary from Universal with this one covering James Whale's 1933 THE INVISIBLE MAN. This was originally released when that film first hit DVD but it has been paired with the film on other releases. We start off learning the history of the novel and then we get down to how Universal ended up with the rights. The film's production is gone through with a fine comb as we learn how Claude Rains was cast as well as hearing certainly issues the studio had as well as trouble with the special effects. Rudy Behlmer, Curtis Harrington< Paul Jensen, Bill Condon, David Skal and Jessica Rains are among the folks interviewed and all add nice bits of history to the making of the film. Some of the best moments come with Claude's daughter who shares her memories of what her father told her about the role and this includes the story of his original test being so awful that he was shocked anyone would be interested in him. Funny to think that considering all the major classics that he would go onto appear in. The documentary also spends quite a bit of time on Whale and how he originally made this picture to try and get Universal to make his dream project, which he would eventually make but well under the intended budget. Whale's opinion on the horror genre is discussed and we also hear about the original objections by H.G. Wells and how he wasn't happy with how Paramount handled ISLAND OF LOST SOULS. Fans of the film are going to learn a lot about the making of the film and the interviews are priceless. Highly recommended to those interested in the film or its sequel(s).

This 35-minute documentary offers an enjoyable and illuminating glimpse into the making of James Whale's horror classic "The Invisible Man." Among the people interviewed are Claude Rains's daughter Jessica, film historians David J. Skal and Paul M. Jensen, actor Ian McKellan, and Whale's director friend Curtis Harrington. Jessica Rains share a nice story about her father taking her to see the movie at a theater where Rains was recognized by the ticket counter man. Moreover, we also learn that Whale grew up in poverty, H.G. Wells was reluctant to have "The Invisible Man" adapted into a movie due to his dissatisfaction with "Island of Lost Souls," Boris Karloff and Colin Clive were both originally considered for the lead role, how various elements were combined together to create the invisibility effects, Whale loved casting distinctive character players in colorful supporting parts, and Whale eventually became a recluse because of his disillusionment with the meddlesome Hollywood studio system at the end of his career. In addition, there's a brief overview of the several sequels. Worth a watch for fans of the film.

This was a pretty good documentary about Universal's Invisible Man series. It goes into the most detail about the first one, with looks at HG Well's novel, director James Whale, lead actor Claude Rains. It does cover the other Universal Invisible Man movies, but doesn't look at other adaptations of Wells' novel. It also goes into some of the tricks that were used to create the appearance of an invisible man.

There are interviews with film historians, some of the living people involved with the films, or at least their friends or family members. They all have something interesting or funny to say. Claude Rains' daughter tells a tale of how her father took her to see the movie, and he was bundled up much like his character.

Also interesting was how The Invisible Man followed Whale's Frankenstein with certain plot elements retried in similar ways, trying to get them better. It's also asserted that the film part draws from the novel The Murderer Invisible by Philip Wylie.