Invisible Agent (1942)

Last night, while dealing with a cold, I sat down to watch the third entry in the Universal Pictures Invisible Man series.  Of course I have seen the other two, which is good, because you need to be able to reference the older ones to see how well the newer ones do.  This one is really interesting because it shows the propaganda machine at work in an American film at the height of WWII.  A relative (Jon Hall), of the original Invisible Man (1933 - Claude Rains' Dr. Jack Griffin), who I could have swore they said was Griffin's grandson, is attacked in his shop by a small group of Nazi and Japanese agents led by Cedric Hardwick's Conrad Stauffer, a scientist and one of Hitler's buddies and Peter Lorre doing his best angry Mister Moto impersonation as the Japanese Baron Ikito.  Frank Raymond (Hall), as he calls himself now, manages to get away and seeks safety with the British Government.  He cuts a deal with the Allies that only he can use the invisibility drug and is handed the task of infiltrating Berlin and finding out what the Nazi's plans are for their attack on the U.S.  Raymond feels, just like all the other films, that the invisibility drug is too dangerous and can't be used by anyone, but him.  Once he is inside Germany he gains the aid of a beautiful resistance fighter, Maria (Ilona Massey), and the fun begins.

So, with every Universal Pictures Horror series they tend to go through a certain evolution, trying out different things, but forgetting some of the earlier important ones.  Claude Rains' Invisible Man (1933) and Vincent Price's The Invisible Man Returns (1940), give the viewer a detailed description of how his powers work and his limitations.  One limitation is you can see him in smoke, rain or mist.  In this film you can't see him in any, as if the producers hoped people wouldn't remember that important aspect of his character.  That did bother me, mostly, because logic would dictate that would happen and if you are already going to the trouble of explaining that in the first two films, why not this one.  Hell, this one was even nominated for an Oscar in Special Effects, so do all of them.  There also was an issue with the insanity limitation.  Both Rains and Price eventually turn into angry monsters Hell-bent on world domination, until their love interests calm them down.  Raymond's only side effect is he gets sleepy a lot.  However, other than a few other silly things that pop up along the way this film is pretty cool.

Getting back to the effects, the really neat thing they did was, instead of bandages wrapped all over his face, they did something new by inviting the idea of him putting cold-cream on his face and hands.  This is where the Oscar nomination comes in, because it is a great effect, along with him bathing in the bathtub as you see soap applied to invisible arms and legs, nicely done.  It makes you wonder if they traded away one cool effect so they could add another cool effect.  The story and surprisingly the dialogue is really good.  With World War Two raging in Europe, it was a smart idea to send the Invisible Agent in to help with the fight.  Peter Lorre and Cedric Hardwick, as evil and despicable as their characters are, show us why they are such cool actors.  The sarcastic and upstart delivery of Hardwick along with the sniveling evil little Lorre is a great combination. They really throw the rhetoric around too.  Great line from our hero Raymond:

Frank Raymond: "You Nazis. I pity the devil when you boys start arriving in bunches".

This was another pleasant surprise from Universal Pictures Horror wing.  After seeing The Invisible Woman (1940), I was worried this franchise had run out of gas already, but seeing this film changed my mind.  They recovered nicely with a really cool film, loaded with interesting characters and is a history lesson, all rolled into one.  Rather enjoyed this.  - Phil's Grade: B