Collectible Time: The Invisible Man Lobby Cards

My imagi-movie compatriot, Mel, located additional, 8" x 10", lobby-card reproductions for my collection, all assembled from Universal Pictures' impressions of H.G. Wells' The Invisible Man. (She does take pleasure in thinking thematically.) 

The kick-off card comes from James Whale's 1933, classic originator, as adapted from Wells by R.C. Sherriff, featuring the esteemed Claude (The Wolf Man/Phantom of the Opera 1942) Rains as the ambitious and quite mad Dr. Jack Griffin and Gloria (The Old Dark House/Titanic) Stuart as his fiancée, Flora, with a left-corner insert of Una (Bride of Frankenstein/Werewolf of London/The Adventures of Robin Hood) O'Connor's frenetic Jenny. In addition to Griffin's bandaged/goggled guise (graced by, of all grand embellishments, indignant rays for the top-right portrait), Rains is depicted in bold, visible form on the card, in a manner that doesn't match the movie, but all the same, it's nice to catch the solid actor (pun intended) positioned near his spectral outline.  

The second card represents Joe May/Curt Siodmak's 1940 (Oscar-nominated) The Invisible Man Returns, sporting Sir Cedric (The Ghost of Frankenstein/The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1939/Invisible Agent) Hardwicke and Nana (Dracula's Daughter/The House of the Seven Gables) Grey as two of the movie's significant supporting characters. The erudite Vincent Price is, in fact, the Invisible Man in this one, enacting the falsely accused Lord Geoffrey Radcliffe, who's abetted by John Sutton's Dr. Frank Griffin. Though the latter two don't appear on the card, Price's intruding influence (at least to those familiar with the sequence) is felt in this taut, colorized, publicity still.  

Next up is Ford Beebee/Bertram Millhauser's 1944 The Invisible Man's Revenge, which exhibits a taut, black-and-white teaming of Jon (Invisible Agent/Cobra Woman) Hall and Evelyn (The Wolf Man/Ghost of Frankenstein/Inner Sanctum) Ankers. Hall enters as the movie's transparent Robert Griffin, and of special note, the great John Carradine plays the scientist who injects him with the invisibility formula. 

Last but not least is Charles Lamont/Robert Lee/John Grant/Frederic I. Renaldo's 1951 Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man. This card is more of a mini-poster with Bud, Lou and Adele Jergens depicted as scurrying caricatures, while the titular character creeps upon them. Genre favorite Arthur Franz plays the Invisible Man for this uproarious submission.

This is a swell quartet, for which I owe Mel mountainous thanks. Like the movies that inspired them, these lobby-card reproductions are bound to bring me years of visible joy. 😁

HAPPY 90TH, JACK GRIFFIN, THE INVISIBLE MAN

November 13th marks the 90th anniversary release of Universal Studios/James (Frankenstein/The Old Dark House) Whale's ambitious, screen adaptation of H.G. Well's science-fiction masterpiece, The Invisible Man. 

For the most part, movie is faithful to Wells' source, thanks to screenwriter, R.C. (Journey's End) Sherriff's meticulous attentiveness, with Claude (The Wolf Man/Phantom of the Opera) Rains portraying mad scientist, Dr. Jack Griffin, who appears in both creepy, bandaged/goggled guise and through taunting transparency. Griffin is distinguished, above all, by his florid voice. Through Rains' penetrating elocution, Griffin projects an air of superiority, but also sorrowful regret. (The doctor, after all, meant well in concocting his invisibility formula, but he's unable to retract its physiological snags.) 

Joining Rains on the strange journey is Gloria (The Old Dark House/Titanic) Stuart as Griffin's fiancée, Flora Cranley; Henry (It's a Wonderful Life/The Bells of Saint Mary's) Travers as her father, Dr. Cranley; William (G Men/Steel Town) Harrigan as Dr. Kemp; Una (The Bride of Frankenstein/Werewolf of London) O'Connor as inn-owner, Jenny Hall; Forrester (Tarzan the Ape Man/The Invisible Man Returns) Harvey as her husband, Herbert; E.E. (Dracula's Daughter/Bulldog Drummond) Clive as Constable Jaffers and Dudley (The Emperor Jones/The Mayor of Hell) Digges as the Chief of Detectives. (Universal staples, Dwight Frye and John Carradine, hold memorable cameos.) 

The film's effects are astounding and more than hold up with later, state-of-the-arts, invisibility attempts. Such embellishing wonderment inspired a number of sequels, spinoffs, remakes (official and unofficial) and television shows, plus a plethora of visible collectibles. 

I love Universal's The Invisible Man, as much as I love Well's book, and if you're reading this post, you're probably of the same inclination. Revisit this "fantastic sensation" today (or at least sometime this month) and relish its strange, perennial splendor.