“He’s invisible, and mad!” Those
four short words from the classic Universal horror The Invisible Man sum up the film more than any plot synopsis ever
could. Directed by James Whale in between 1931’s Frankenstein and 1935’s Brideof Frankenstein, the movie is often overshadowed by its monstrous
companions but The Invisible Man
should not be overlooked. The movie features some astounding and groundbreaking
special effects which seem years ahead of their time. These are combined with
H.G. Wells’ classic story to form a memorable if not at times slightly
formulaic horror movie.
Production on The Invisible Man was fraught with
difficulty and set backs and the story went through several incarnations before
it was decided to follow Wells’ own novel closely. Alternative versions
featured invisible rats or even foregoing Wells’ novel altogether but it was
finally decided to use the source text much more closely than originally
intended. Casting for the central role was also difficult with a number of
actors including Whale favourites Boris Karloff and Colin Clive coming and going
before an unknown English stage actor was given the part on the merit of a
rather disastrous screen test. Claude Rains had just one Hollywood
screen test, years before the film was made and it didn’t go particularly well.
It was said that his acting was stiff but forced and the test lead nowhere.
When James Whale was looking for an actor whose voice would be doing the acting
though, Rains’ test screamed out to him and he was offered the part.
