Director: Joe May
Writers: H.G. Wells, Joe May
Stars: Cedric Hardwicke, Vincent Price, Nan Grey
1 hour, 21 minutes
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Geoffrey Radcliffe has been convicted of murdering his brother. He’s scheduled to be hanged in a few hours. His fiance, Helen, and his friend, Cobb are trying to get him released, but the Home Secretary is away out of the country. There’s nothing that can be done.
Doctor Griffin goes to visit Radcliffe right before the execution. Soon after, Radcliffe turns up missing from his cell; he’s escaped. The guard explains how he basically just vanished into thin air. We “see” the invisible man go to a pre-arranged spot to find a hidden cache of clothes.
Cobb confronts Griffin, and says Griffin must know where Radcliffe and Helen are. Inspector Sampson comes by, and he recognizes the name Griffin. The original Invisible Man was this Dr. Griffin’s brother. The Inspector already suspects that the same formula was used to save Griffin’s friend, Radcliffe.
Radcliffe meets up with Helen, and he makes a few jokes about getting a job haunting a house. He makes Helen promise to chain him up if he starts losing his mind the way the first guy did. He knows the side effects of the drug and also knows that his doctor friend hasn’t found a cure yet.
Meanwhile, Griffin works on reversing the invisibility serum, using an invisible guinea pig in an animated harness. It works, but the pig dies.
A policeman happens across Radcliffe and Helen, and Radcliffe is forced to disrobe. Helen returns home, and Cobb wants to know where she’s been.
Griffin is confronted and threatened by Mr. Spears, an unpleasant drunk who runs the mining company under the direction of Mr. Cobb. Radcliffe follows Spears out to his car. There are some invisible hi-jinks, and Spears ends up admitting that it was Cobb who killed Radcliffe’s brother. Spears runs home, but Radcliffe knocks him out and ties him up.
Radcliffe shows up at Cobb’s house and tries to force him to write a confession. Cobb pulls out a gun and starts shooting wildly. Cobb meets up with Inspector Sampson, who is determined to protect Cobb.
Radcliffe phones Helen and Griffin and tells them to come over and celebrate. Griffin knows by now he’s not going to be able to cure Radcliffe. Radcliffe starts giving speeches about his great power; the madness is obviously starting. Griffin explains to Radcliffe that he needs to give the evidence to Sampson, and then Radcliffe will get off the hook for his brother’s murder. Radcliffe knocks Griffin out and escapes.
He goes straight to Cobb and leads him out of police custody at gunpoint. He makes Cobb drive him to Spears’s home and confronts both of them about the murder. They go to the mine and fight on a rail car. Radcliffe is shot, and Cobb confesses to Helen about the murder and then dies.
The Inspector is still looking for Radcliffe, even though he now knows that Radcliffe is innocent. Radcliffe shows up, wounded badly. The doctor gives him a transfusion, and we get a very cool shot of the blood vessels appearing in human form. He reverts back to his visible self and wakes up, cured and exonerated. A happy ending!
Commentary
This moves pretty quickly. By the fifteen minute point, the Inspector already was looking for an invisible man. There are some good scenes of the Invisible Man in a rainstorm and with cigar smoke and the ending showing the blood vessels appearing first. This was also Vincent Price’s first real horror role.
The body count is 2: Cobb, dumped from a mine car and Spears, hung by Cobb (with Radcliffe’s help).
Overall, this is entertaining, and the special effects were far better than in the first movie. Just like the first time around, we don’t get to see the Invisible Man until the final shot, but this time we get a happy ending. I would have to say the story is better in the first movie, but this one is also very good.
Cedric Hardwicke got top billing, but several of the other characters got a lot more screen time. Vincent Price had the majority of the film’s dialog, even though he’s only onscreen a minute or so at the end.