The Invisible Man

Before exploring further, it seems like a good time to look back at a classic and some of its sequels. In 1933, Carl Laemmle jr.'s Universal Pictures further solidified their dominance of the sci-fi / horror market with this adaptation of H.G. Wells' novel. James Whale, who directed two of the Frankenstein films, directs The Invisible Man (TIM) with similar skill. Claude Rains stars as the "Invisible One" -- this being his big break into stardom, even though his real face is seen only briefly at the end. Universal would go on to make several sequels, though with other stars.

Quick Plot Synopsis
A man trudges along a snowy country road to the town of Iping. At the Lion's Head Inn, he orders a room. Everyone in the pub is silent at the man, his whole head bandaged. His brusque manner and odd appearance set the rumor mill in motion. Elsewhere, Flora frets to her father, Dr. Cranley, about her fiancee, Jack, who has disappeared for a month. An assistant of Cranley's, Dr. Kemp, makes overtures to Flora, but she's too distraught for wooing. Back at the inn, Jack is working on an antidote to his invisibility formula, but is regularly interrupted by the meddlesome Jenny. Jack throws her and her husband out. The call the constable. Jack flaunts his invisibility to the constable and crowd, causing a stir in the media. Kemp hears this on the radio, but Jack snuck in his room. Jack tries to enlist Kemp to be his partner for a "Reign of Terror." He has Kemp drive him back to Iping to retrieve his notebooks. While there, Jack kills a police chief conducting an inquest on the rumors of an invisible man. Kemp, fearful, plays along, but that night, calls Dr. Cranley, then the police. Flora tries to coax Jack into letting her father find a cure, but the arrival of the police set Jack to running again. He promises to kill Kemp at 10:00 tomorrow, as revenge. The police hatch a plan to catch Jack using Kemp as bait, but plan to sneak Kemp out of the police station disguised as a bobby. The plan fails, as the cordon is imperfectly kept. Kemp is dropped off at his house. He then drives away to the mountains, but invisible Jack is in his car. He chokes and ties up Kemp, then pushes him and his car off a cliff. On his way back from that mischief, Jack hides in the hay inside a farmer's barn to get some rest. Early in the morning, the farmer hears the hay snoring. He rushes to tell the police. As they arrive in force, a light snow falls. They light a fire on the barn to smoke out Jack. They can see his footprints in the snow as he rushes to the line of policemen. The chief inspector shoots where Jack's body must be. A body-shaped print appears in the snow. In the hospital, the doctor says there's no hope. Flora goes to have a few last words. Jack laments at meddling in things man shouldn't meddle with, then dies. He becomes visible again, in death. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
Wells' story is great, Sherriff's screenplay does it justice. The special effects hold up reasonably well for their age. The pace is brisk and there is enough action that the screenplay does not devolve into talky scenes.

Cultural Connection
Universal launched another great story franchise (even if not as famous as their Frankenstein or Dracula series) Not only would Universal capitalize on the popularity of invisible people stories, others would create their own. The trope "had legs" enough to spawn remades and television seres, even into the 21st century.

Notes
Based on the Book -- H.G. Wells' novel was published in 1897. Unlike Shelley's Frankenstein, there were no movie versions until Universal produced this film in 1933. They had R.C. Sherriff adapt Wells' story into a screenplay. Hollywood being Hollywood, Sherriff added a lovely lady as love interest. (Wells seldom wrote in romantic "others") He adapted the Kemp character to be a would-be rival. Wells went into much more explanation about how the invisible formula worked, dwelling on indexes of refraction and such. Sherriff's version cited a fictional drug named Monocaine, said to drain all color from objects -- but also cause madness. Well's Griffin went mad with power-lust. Sherriff's version blamed drugs -- a functional enough subtext. All in all, though, Sherriff stayed fairly faithful to the original.

Cautionary Tale -- Like many (if not most) pre-Cold War films, the moral of the story is a cautionary tale on the dangers of science -- chemistry in this case. Kemp tells Flora that Jack was meddling in things man shouldn't meddle with. On his death bed, Jack confesses to Flora, ""I wanted to come back to you. I meddled in things that man must leave alone." Pre-war audiences were both excited by the advances of science, but still had a healthy concern over what might go wrong.

Cold War Prelude -- Wells' original and Sherriff's version make a good prelude to the nuclear problem to come after the war. Mere men, when given an enormous advantage (whether it be invisibility or nuclear bombs) tend to let the power go to their heads. What starts out as a boon for mankind, becomes a means to world domination.

Star Gazing -- Claude Rains stars in what was his big break in movies. This, even though it was primarily his voice that anyone experiences. It was for his voice that James Whale wanted Rains to have the role. Collin Clive (who played Dr. Frankenstein in Whale's 1931 film) was suggested for the role, but Whale preferred Rains' voice. Another notable star is Henry Travers. He plays the kindly Dr. Cranley. Travers played in many films, but his legacy is Clarence the misfit angel in It's a Wonderful Life (1946). From how he plays the role, Cranley could believably be what Clarence was in life. Una O'Conner plays the innkeeper's wife. She was cast as comic relief. Her annoying shriek-screams must have been more amusing in the 30s. To modern ears, they're just annoying. Watch for a brief scene with John Carridine, who would become a mainstay of 50s B-movies. He plays a cockney villager who calls the police with a plan to catch the invisible man by squirting ink around until you hit him with some. Carridine's role is uncredited, which is mostly what he had at that early stage in his career.

Bottom line? TIM is a must-see for movie buffs, even if sci-fi is not their favorite. This film is the ancestor of many and well worth the effort to find it and watch it.
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The Tunnel

A year later, and in a very similar vein as F.P.1 there was another triple set of sci-fi movies dealing with transatlantic travel. The english version, The Tunnel (TT), was actually released in 1935. Der Tunnel and Le Tunnel were released in 1933. While the French and German films were, like FP1 nearly identical reshoots, TT was a separate production. Not only did it have a different cast, but had its own sets and special effects. All three were based on the same novel, had the same characters and followed the same story. The German version starred Paul Hartmann as "Mac Allen". The French version starred Jean Gabin as "Mac Allen." The English version starred Richard Dix as "Richard 'Mack' MacAllen." The screen play of the english version was, like FP1, co-written by Kurt Siodmak. The American release was called, The Transatlantic Tunnel.

Quick Plot Synopsis
Mr. Lloyd, a rich financier, assembled a group of other rich industrialists to hear Richard "Mack" MacAllen give his sales pitch on building a tunnel from England to America. They're skeptical at first, but buy in when Lloyd says he will. Mack's wife Ruth is excited at the news. So is Varlia Lloyd (the beautiful platinum blonde daughter). She secretly loves Mack. Mostyn outwardly professes love for Varlia, so the stage is set for a fidelity crisis AND a love triangle. Mack throws himself into his work, neglecting Ruth and his young son Geoffrey. Work progresses more slowly than expected, even with the spiffy high-tech "Radium Drill." Investors get nervous, so Lloyd sends for Mack to do publicity tours in America. Varlia likes the idea, because she gets to accompany him everywhere. Ruth, under the care of Mack's best friend Robby, laments about her absent husband and Varlia. Robby suggests she get a job so she's not moping around the house. Turn out she gets a job as a volunteer nurse, treating men with Mine Sickness, which causes blindness. She goes blind. When Mack is on his way home, Ruth tells Robby that she's running away. She does. Mack throws himself into the work, but progress hits a snag as a volcano lies in the tunnel's path. Financier's Mostyn and Grellier conspire to exaggerate the crisis, so as to drive the tunnel's stock low, then buy up a controlling interest. They do. When other backers balk at funding a detour, Mostyn and Grellier smile at the opportunity to gain a controlling interest. Mack's only hope is special funding. Varlia promises to marry Mostyn if he'll back Mack and the tunnel for the detour. He agrees, but Grellier handles Mostyn's defection from The Syndicate, with a poison cigarette. Mostyn is dead in his car, but apparently the funding still went through. Mack rallies his disgruntled workers with a rousing pep talk. Turns out his grown son is now among the workers -- a mixed blessing for Mack. Work proceeds in Sector K, but they hit hot gas and fire. Men flee, but the safety door closes, trapping a hundred or so, including Geoffrey. Meanwhile, Varlia visits Ruth asking her to divorce Mack so she can have him. No can do. Ruth still loves him. Then show it! Ruth goes to Mack, learns that Geoffrey is dead. He learns that she's blind. She says he should complete his tunnel, so he takes four volunteers down. They fire up the radium drill and motor ahead. The temperatures rise to dangerous levels, but he presses on. Eventually, they break through, meeting the American-side tunnelers. Everyone shakes hands. The Prime Minister makes a patriotic speech. The President makes a patriotic speech. The End.

Why is this movie fun?
TT is a very terrestrial sci-fi, but fun for a look at how 1933 thought the world would look 20 or 30 years later -- not much different, just a bit more streamlined. As another of the triple-language films, it is a fun study in how a story can vary when told three times.

Cultural Connection
Underpinning the story in TT is quiet desperation. Linking the two great english-speaking nations is heralded as ensuring peace. This certainly implies that there was some unseen threat. Of course, in 1935, there were a few. Hitler had assumed power and made Germany Nazi instead of Weimar. Mussolini had turned Italy into a fascist state. Russia was still communist. At one point in the film, the Prime Minister talks of "an Eastern Federation" which has been seeking an opportunity to crush the freedom-loving anglo-saxon nations. The foreshadows of WWII can be heard in the wings.

Notes
Based on the Book -- Bernhard Kellermann wrote "Der Tunnel" in 1913. It was a big hit. Kellermann imagined a world of progress in which World War One had not occurred (as, indeed, it had not yet when he wrote his novel). Yet, Kellermann wrote presciently about the largesse of the 20s, financial collapse and even worker revolts. A feature of the book that did not factor into any of the three movies, was the obsolescence of technologies. In his book, by the time the tunnel was completed, it was no longer important. Airplanes could fly across the Atlantic in far less time. This was the fantasy in FP1, after all. Instead, TT ends triumphant that a united UK and USA would ensure peace.

Franco-German Version -- The French and German versions were like FP1 in that the exact same scenes were shot, on the exact same sets, but using a different cast, speaking a different language. It helped to have the same director (Curtis Bernhardt) for both. It was his basic screenplay for both. The French and German versions sometimes reused the same footage too. Long shots, landscapes and some crowd shots where no particular language was discernible. The English version uses no footage from the two French and German films. There was much less of an attempt to make the sets look futuristic. It's pretty much a story set in 1933.

Semi-Serious Tunnel -- The idea for an English Channel tunnel goes back to Napoleon, though his aim was not world peace, so much. The British had been very leery of any channel tunnel ever since. The idea was seriously floated again in the 1880s, but encountered hostile pushback from the public. Novelists wrote about the French invading via some new tunnel. A transatlantic tunnel was mused over and dreamt about, but never seriously considered. A high speed rail link might make the 5,000 mile crossing in 10 hours, assuming one could perfect a 500 mph train. After WWII, airliners were doing just about that. Jet airliners were.

Radium Drill -- A cool bit of special effects is the Radium Drill. It's a bit of magic, and never really explained, but it looks cool in operation. It is also interesting how, in such an imagined modern future, so much labor was still imagined to be performed by sweaty shirtless men with their bare hands.

Car of the Future -- For automotive history fans, TT gives a few good clips of the Tatra 77, both as Ruth's car and as Mostyn's car. This was Czech design by Hans Ledwinka, whose work closely paralleled that of Ferdinand Porsche's (eventual) Volkswagen. The T 77 was a big car, with a rear-mounted air-cooled V8. It was the Beetle's much bigger cousin. In the early 30s, streamlining was all the rage. The T 77 was über-Moderne in 1933, and it had an über-cool central tail fin! So it was the easy choice to be TT's car-of-the-future.

Bottom line? TT is not too bad for an industrial-construction sci-fi. No rockets, saucers, aliens or monster, though. The big tunnel sets are pretty good, and the restrained attempts at "modern" are fun. The soap opera love triangle stuff gets a little tiresome, but it was probably important back then. Sci-fi alone could probably not have made money.