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Monday, September 3, 2018

The Invisible Man Returns (1940)

Starring Cedric Hardwicke, Vincent Price, Nan Grey, John Sutton, Cecil Kellaway
Directed by Joe May
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

The brother of the original Invisible Man uses his formula to help a wrongly convicted man escape the police, while he tries to find a cure before the madness that accompanies the invisibility can overtake him.

A sequel to Universal's excellent The Invisible Man carries on without director James Whale or most of the principal cast, instead casting Price as the new transparent one, whose vocal characterization foreshadows his future horror roles.  Written by German emigres Kurt Siodmak & Joe May (with Lester Cole), and directed by May, it's more serious in tone, without Whale's wry touches of humor, but still a worthwhile film, enhanced by the excellent special effects of John P. Fulton and crew. Frank Skinner and Hans J. Salter's score is fronted by a lovely theme underscoring Price's romance with Grey, and later a touching scene where he borrows the clothing of a scarecrow.  Unfortunately the background setting of a coal processing plant doesn't allow for the atmospheric advantages of the first film, but the picture is still arguably the best of the many sequels to the original.

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