Themes: Mad Scientists, Amateur Sleuths, Race Against Time
Main Cast: Cedric Hardwicke, Vincent Price, Nan Grey, John Sutton, Cecil Kellaway
Release Year: 1940
Country: US
Run Time: 81 minutes
Plot
A semi-sequel to the 1933 Universal horror masterwork The Invisible Man, The Invisible Man Returns stars Vincent Price in the title role. Condemned for a murder he did not commit, Price begs doctor John Sutton to inject him with the invisibility serum invented by Claude Rains in the first film. Sutton does so, even though he warns Price that the serum will very likely drive him insane. Sir Cedric Hardwicke co-stars as the genuine murderer, a colliery owner who framed Price. Though his behavior veers dangerously close to homicidal, Price is able to mete out retribution to Hardwicke without stooping to murder. As he gradually weakens, Price is recaptured and rushed to the hospital, where his life is saved by an emergency blood transfusion. Price's face is revealed to us for the first time as he vows his undying love to leading lady Nan Grey. Taking a less playful approach to the grim goings-on than director James Whale had in The Invisible Man, The Invisible Man Returns is a grim little morality play, containing vestiges of The Count of Monte Cristo and distinguished by an odd preoccupation with the mechanics and minutiae of death (a characteristic trait in the screenplays of Curt Siodmak). The film helped to solidify the cinematic reputation of Vincent Price, though it would be years before he'd specialize in horror on a full-time basis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
The Invisible Man Returns is among the most somber horror films of the 1940s, and an early chance to see Vincent Price play the type of stylish role that would become his trademark. The Oscar-nominated special effects are quite good, including John P. Fulton's photographic tricks and Bernard Brown's sound enhancements. Milton Krasner's cinematography is suitably moody. Austrian-born Joe May was near the end of his prolific career when he directed The Invisible Man Returns; in an interesting change of pace, May was one of the writers on Universal's screwball comedy classic The Invisible Woman, released in late December of the same year. ~ Richard Gilliam, All Movie Guide
Vera West - Costume Designer, Joe May - Director, Frank Gross - Editor, Hans Salter - Composer (Music Score), Frank Skinner - Composer (Music Score), Charles Previn - Musical Direction/Supervision, Milton Krasner - Cinematographer, Ken Goldsmith - Producer, John P. Fulton - Special Effects, William Hedgecock - Sound/Sound Designer, Joe May - Screen Story, Lester Cole - Screenwriter, Curt Siodmak - Screenwriter, Cecil Belfrage - Screenwriter
The Invisible Man Returns is a 1940horrorscience fiction film from Universal. It was written as a sequel to the 1933 film The Invisible Man, which was based on the novel The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells. The studio had signed a multi-picture contract with Wells, and they were hoping that this film would do as well as the first. It would be followed by the comedic The Invisible Woman later the same year.
The movie ran for 81 minutes in black and white with mono sound. The movie holds a 89% at Rotten Tomatoes The production ran slightly over budget, costing $270,000, but it returned good box office revenues. The special effects by John P. Fulton received an Oscar nomination.
In the chronology styled documentary, Ted Newson's 100 Years of Horror (1996), Price recalls that the undressing of the scarecrow scene took several hours to shoot, for only three minutes of on screen time. The transparent effect was done with black velvet covering the actor.
Sir Geoffrey Radcliffe (Vincent Price) is sentenced to death for the murder of his brother Michael, a crime he did not commit. Dr. Frank Griffin, the brother of the original invisible man, injects the prisoner with an invisibility drug. As Radcliffe's execution nears, he suddenly vanishes from his cell. Detective Sampson (Cecil Kellaway) from the Scotland Yard guesses the truth while Radcliffe searches for the real murderer before the drug wears off.
The Radcliffe family owns a mining operation. The recently-hired employee Willie Spears (Alan Napier) is promoted within the company, stirring Radcliffe's suspicions. After forcing Spear's car off the road, Spears is scared into revealing that Richard Cobb (Cedric Hardwicke), Radcliffe's cousin, is the murderer. After a confrontation, a chase scene ensues during which Radcliffe is struck by a bullet from Sampson. Cobb is killed from a coal wagon, but not before confessing to the murder.
Radcliffe nearly dies from blood loss and exposure, but is saved by Dr. Griffin. A transfusion of blood makes Radcliffe visible, allowing the doctor to operate. (Vincent Price actually only appeared in the film for one minute, and spent the remainder of the movie as a disembodied voice.)
