"... Claude Rains was The Invisible Man ..."
Yes. Yes he was. Third movie referenced in the song Science Fiction/Double Feature. Nine down, two to go.
Before I begin, I want to acknowledge the passing of film great Elizabeth Taylor. I understand she was quite pretty in her early years and a top notch actress, but I remember her as the overweight caricature of her former self. Then the thought struck me that I had not ever seen one of her movies, ever. Further research revealed that I did see The Taming of the Shrew back in high school and, sadly, The Flintstones. I decided to add Cleopatra to my Netflix queue because I'm quite fond of catastrophes, but after learning that it's about 16 hours long I don't know if I'll ever get to it.
Back to The Invisible Man, shall we? Here's the story. Noted scientist discovers the secret to invisibility but then realizes he forgot to search for the secret of VISIBILITY. So, he goes out into the snow with his science gear and tries to come up with the solution. The hottie and colleagues he left behind grow concerned. It seems the secret ingredient to make one self invisible ALSO makes them insane. Crazy and invisible, what a combination.
The rest of the movie is a cat and mouse game where doc's friends are trying to find him and doc lives out his secret ambition. Not to sneak into girls locker rooms, but to just screw with people. It seems the one thing he's always hated was people.
Who should turn up but Una O'Connor, the ugly housemaid. Shrill and completely over the top, she's a total delight. In a Hollywood where a character named Ugly Betty is played by a hot chick, it's nice to know that once upon a time us regular (and sub-regular) looking folk could get screen work.
Very good movie. The special effects were way ahead of their time. Director James Whale isn't well remembered now-a-days but he directed many of the early great horror films: Frankenstein and Bride of, plus The Old Dark House, which I understand is excellent. The studio grew tired of him turning out great work so they forced him to do crap.
One could spend a lifetime watching the infinite sequels and adaptations, but I will for now leave it right here. AMRU 4.
"The drugs I took seemed to light up my brain. Suddenly I realized what power I held, the power to rule, to make the world grovel at my feet."
No comments:
Post a Comment