March 22- Look Who’s Back (Who You Won’t See!)
After the amazing reaction to “the Invisible Man” last week- what better to bring you back to our show this week than- “The Invisible Man Returns?!” Okay, okay- it’s not THE Invisible Man, because, as we all saw, he passed away, finally becoming visible for the only time in the film, giving us a quick look at the great Claude Rains who majestically portrayed the unseen title menace. You’ll get a quick look at him in this film as well- watch for a still picture of him- but, this time, our Invisible Man is the classic horror star Vincent Price- as a man sent to prison, framed for murder. Thanks to his pal, the original Invisible Man’s scientist brother- he becomes invisible, escapes prison, and sets out to find the true murderer- before the madness that comes with the invisibility drug deteriorates his mind, as it did the original Invisible Man!
This 1940 film really has never gotten as much exposure (and that’s not a play on the fact that our invisible pal remains invisible by being naked!) as the original film, but is a very watchable movie. The “invisible’ effects are pretty much the standard stuff, and we’ll point out some of the differences in the invisible lore between the two movies- along with pointing out some of the identifiable actors- including Alan Napier- who appeared in all sorts of films, including the beloved “the Mole People”-but is best known to a generation of TV and “Dark Knight Lite” fans as the loyal Wayne family butler on the 1960s “Batman” series!
I wish that Universal didn’t provide us with more of the “Invisible” movies they have in their library-back in my old days, I got to show several of them, including “Invisible Agent”-
A 1942 wartime epic that featured Ilona Massey, who played Ilsa Frankenstein in “Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man” and the always weasley Peter Lorre-playing a Japanese character! The invisible guy that time was Jon Hall-and the far-fetched plot involved nazis planning to send planes from Germany to bomb New York- a clever feat, seeing as how there were no real aircraft that could make that trip without refueling at that time( I know -there were also no real “invisible agents” at that time either…) –I also showed “the Invisible Woman”- a mostly comedic 1940 film that had Virginia Bruce as the title babe, and featured such favorites as Margaret Hamilton (the Wicked Witch of the West from “Wizard of Oz!”)-and- our old pal Shemp Howard of the 3 Stooges!
Universal wouldn’t give us those- but I’m glad they gave us “Invisible Man Returns”- which returns to your TV tonight on WCIU (also on Me-TV at 1 am!-Milwaukee and South Bend- please check your local listings-especially for the digital WDJT-58.3!)
This 1940 film really has never gotten as much exposure (and that’s not a play on the fact that our invisible pal remains invisible by being naked!) as the original film, but is a very watchable movie. The “invisible’ effects are pretty much the standard stuff, and we’ll point out some of the differences in the invisible lore between the two movies- along with pointing out some of the identifiable actors- including Alan Napier- who appeared in all sorts of films, including the beloved “the Mole People”-but is best known to a generation of TV and “Dark Knight Lite” fans as the loyal Wayne family butler on the 1960s “Batman” series!
I wish that Universal didn’t provide us with more of the “Invisible” movies they have in their library-back in my old days, I got to show several of them, including “Invisible Agent”-
A 1942 wartime epic that featured Ilona Massey, who played Ilsa Frankenstein in “Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man” and the always weasley Peter Lorre-playing a Japanese character! The invisible guy that time was Jon Hall-and the far-fetched plot involved nazis planning to send planes from Germany to bomb New York- a clever feat, seeing as how there were no real aircraft that could make that trip without refueling at that time( I know -there were also no real “invisible agents” at that time either…) –I also showed “the Invisible Woman”- a mostly comedic 1940 film that had Virginia Bruce as the title babe, and featured such favorites as Margaret Hamilton (the Wicked Witch of the West from “Wizard of Oz!”)-and- our old pal Shemp Howard of the 3 Stooges!
Universal wouldn’t give us those- but I’m glad they gave us “Invisible Man Returns”- which returns to your TV tonight on WCIU (also on Me-TV at 1 am!-Milwaukee and South Bend- please check your local listings-especially for the digital WDJT-58.3!)
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