Halloween season
simply isn’t Halloween season without a regular dose of golden age Universal
horror (1923-1963). Every day this October, I’ll be giving you a steady IV drip
of it by counting down Psychobabble’s
31 Favorite Universal Horrors!
#4. The Invisible Man
(1933- dir. James Whale)
James Whale found his voice with The Old Dark House. He started shouting from the rooftops with The Invisible Man. Its blend of horror
and humor are seamless. The plot is pretty faithful to H.G. Wells, but that guy
didn’t have a funny bone in his body. Whale and writer R.C. Sheriff find the
humor in a mad scientist who can do as he pleases—so long as he’s totally
naked— without going in any of the obvious gross or prurient directions.
Really, Dr. Jack Griffin just wants to have fun, whether that means dancing
down a road as a pair of floating pants while singing “Here we go gathering
nuts in May” or throwing a few beer mugs about. OK, he takes the joke too far
when he derails a train and murders his arch rival for the affections of Gloria
Stuart, but can you blame him for that last one? That Dr. Kemp is such a bore!
The same cannot be said of Griffin, and Claude Rains fleshes out his invisible
role with a brilliantly expressive voice. However, the real stars of The Invisible Man may very well be the
special effects team of John P. Fulton, John J. Mescall, and Frank D. Williams,
whose disappearing act will still make you marvel “How did they do that?”
Oh…and Una O’Connor. Never forget Una O’Connor.
