The Invisible Man, 1933

A scientist injects himself with a drug that makes him invisible, but finds out too late that he can’t reverse its effects. The drug’s side effects include madness. He snowballs from causing turmoil to running from place to place in a murderous rage.

The screenplay was adapted from the H.G. Wells novel. Director James Whale took on this project after the success of his 1931 film Frankenstein. This movie’s tagline was “Catch me if you can.” I saw the same invincibility in the Invisible Man that I saw in Leonardo DiCaprio’s character in Catch Me If You Can from 2002.

Actor Claude Rains is the voice of this invisible mad scientist whose face is only seen a few times in the film. They had to use all kinds of tricks to make Rains invisible. The special effects were amazing to a 1930s audience. Not so today. Our technological experience makes the movie seem almost homemade.

Henry Travers, who was the angel in the 1946 classic It’s A Wonderful Life, played Dr. Cranley in this film. Cranley was the former employer of the Invisible Man and the father of the Invisible Man’s girlfriend.

There is always good news, even in a horror movie. Cranley believed that an antidote could be found to reverse the invisibility or possibly the insanity that came with it. The good news is that if you’re feeling invisible and unloved, God sees you and cares about you. Look around to see if God has sent people to help you as Cranley and his daughter tried to help the Invisible Man.