The Invisible Man Returns
The Invisible Man Returns was a 1940 horror, science fiction film from New Universal. It was written as a sequel to the 1933 film The Invisible Man, which was based on the novel The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells. The studio had signed a multi-picture contract with Wells, and they were hoping that this film would do as well as the first. It would be followed by the comedic The Invisible Woman later the same year.
The screen play for this movie was written by Lester Cole and Curt Siodmak (as Kurt Siodmak). The film director was Joe May, who had previously directed the successful Son of Frankenstein and The House of the Seven Gables. (May's native language was German, and he spoke little English.) The cast of the film included Vincent Price, Cecil Kellaway, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Nan Grey, Alan Napier and John Sutton.
The movie ran for 81 minutes in black and white with mono sound. The production ran slightly over budget, costing $270,000, but it returned good box office revenues. The special effects by John P. Fulton received an Oscar nomination.
A modified remake of this film was released in 1951 as Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man.
Plot
Template:Spoilers Sir Geoffrey Radcliffe (Price) is sentenced to death for the murder of his brother, a crime he did not commit. Dr. Frank Griffin, the brother of the original invisible man, injects the prisoner with an invisibility drug. As Radcliffe's execution nears, he suddenly vanishes from his cell. Detective Sampson (Kellaway) from Scotland Yard guesses the truth, and so Radcliffe must find the real murderer before the drug wears off.
The Radcliffe family owns a mining operation. The recently-hired employee Willie Spears (Napier) is promoted within the company, stirring Radcliffe's suspicions. After forcing Spear's car off the road, Spears is scared into revealing that Richard Cobb (Hardwicke), Radcliffe's cousin, is the murderer. After a confrontation, a chase scene ensues during which Radcliffe is struck by a bullet from Sampson. Cobb is killed from a coal wagon, but not before confessing to the murder.
Radcliffe nearly dies from blood loss and exposure, but is saved by Dr. Griffin. A transfusion of blood makes Radcliffe visible, allowing the doctor to operate. (Vincent Price actually only appeared in the film for one minute, and spent the remainder of the movie as a disembodied voice.)
References
- Michael Brunas; John Brunas; Tom Weaver, Universal Horrors: The Studis' Classic Films, 1931-1946, McFarland & Co., 1990, ISBN 0-89950-369-1.
