Invisible Agent (1942)

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Jon Hall plays Frank Raymond, the grandson of the Invisible Man, who has changed his name from Griffin to Raymond and runs a print shop in hopes of avoiding people looking for his grandfather's formula for invisibility. When Axis agents led by the nefarious duo of Stauffer (Cedric Hardwicke) and Ikito (Peter Lorre) show up and threaten Raymond, he decides to become the Invisible Man and spy for the Allies.The least of Universal's Invisible Man films but still enjoyable. The continuity's a little sloppy. Frank is said to be the grandson of the original Invisible Man, also named Frank Griffin. But the original was named Jack. It was his brother from The Invisible Man Returns that was named Frank. Plus the original Invisible Man died without kids, unless we're to believe his fiancée in the first movie was pregnant. Anyway, it's probably best to assume Frank Griffin took credit for his brother's discovery...or, you know, don't bother explaining it at all because it's really not that important.Hall is fine but his character can be irritating at times. The film's worst scene is where he pranks Nazi Karl Heiser (J. Edward Bromberg). The whole scene is a juvenile attempt at laughs that fails badly. Bromberg's character is a perfect example of the movie's main flaw: the out of place comedy within the darker wartime plot. For the most part, Heiser is a joke and treated like Schultz from Hogan's Heroes. But then there are scenes where his darker side comes through that makes the comedy parts a poor fit. Ilona Massey looks great but her character seems to exist just to fall for Hall, even though he treats her pretty crappy. The climax of the movie plays like an action serial with the Nazis pursuing Hall and Massey as they try to escape by plane. What happens next I won't spoil but it's unintentionally silly.Two characters that actually do work are the evil Stauffer and Ikito, played by Cedric Hardwicke and Peter Lorre. These two are the best part of the film, providing a real menace to the hero. Lorre's Ikito is an especially evil character. He begins the film by threatening to chop Frank's fingers off and later ingeniously (and sadistically) catches him with a net lined with fish hooks! These great actors own every scene they're in and it's worth seeing the movie just for them.

Invisible Agent has had a pretty low reputation for years amongst horror fans, but that is probably to do with the type of story on display here rather than the quality of the film itself. It's a good, enjoyable adventure movie, a world away from H.G. Wells perhaps; but one only has to look at Universal's identi-kit Mummy series to realise that can only be a good thing. This is a welcome change of pace from the usual formula.Jon Hall plays Frank Griffin, Grandson of Claude Raines' original Invisible Man (and like Lon Chaney Jr in The Wolfman about a foot taller than his progenitor!) Guardian of the secret formula for invisibility he's approached first by the Nazis and then the Allies for aid in the war effort. Guess whom he chooses? In a quite startling opening sequence the head Nazi, played by Sir Cedric Hardwicke in his usual phoned-in style, prepares to use torture to get what he wants, ably aided by Peter Lorre's sinister Japanese Baron, who wants to rid Griffin of several of his fingers...Escaping and later Parachuting into Germany, Griffin, now invisible himself, stumbles on a plot to invade America. With the help of a double agent, the gorgeous Ilona Massey, he sets about turning the tables on Hitler's henchmen.It's slightly curious that the film features both comic and genuinely sinister Nazis who commit torture, shoot people, break old men's fingers etc. But the only real fault is the inclusion of a comedy dinner sequence where the Invisible One mocks J.Edward Bromberg's attempts to woo Massey during a cosy meal for two. It goes on much too long and isn't funny at all.That aside, this is a rewarding and entertaining sci-fi spy thriller, which builds to a rousing climax and is graced by John P Fulton's engaging special effects and the ever brilliant Lorre, possibly the only Hungarian who could convincingly play Japanese. A unique, immensely talented, and fascinating actor; Invisible Agent is worth seeing for him alone.

INVISIBLE AGENT (Universal, 1942), directed by Edwin L. Marin, is Universal's attempt in keeping H.G. Wells' "Invisible Man" stories in circulation by bringing them up to date, this time through the use of an original screenplay by Curtis Siodmak. Jon Hall, best known for his South Seas adventure tales with Maria Montez, might have become an unlikely candidate for the title role, but succeeds on his own merits. Though not exactly in the same league as its predecessors, especially the original 1933 classic starring Claude Rains, it's more of a propaganda film than horror, in the tradition of earlier outings as ESPIONAGE AGENT (1939) and Alfred Hitchcock's FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT (1940), both starring Joel McCrea.The story opens in New York where foreign agents, Conrad Stauffer (Sir Cedric Hardwicke), a Nazi leader, and Baron Ikito (Peter Lorre), a Japanese, break into a printing shop run by Frank Raymond (Jon Hall), who's secretly the grandson of scientist Frank Griffin, inventor of an invisibility formula. (Is this in reference to Frank Griffin from THE INVISIBLE MAN RETURNS (1940), overlooking the fact that it was Jack Griffin from THE INVISIBLE MAN (1933), being the true inventor of that formula?) Knowing his true identity, the agents demand the formula from him. After going through the torture test that nearly causes him the loss of his fingers in a cutting machine, Frank manages to make his getaway and report the incident to John Gardiner (John Litel) of the American Embassy. When asked to relay the formula to the government, he refuses, but gives in after the bombing of Pearl Harbor that leads America into war, on the condition that he act as an invisible agent for America by spying on the Germans instead of their trained agents. Once he parachutes on enemy lines, Griffin, now invisible, follows his instructions by meeting with Arnold Schmidt (Albert Basserman), his contact, owner of a coffin shop, who secretly relays the information to England. Griffin's next assignment is to contact Maria Sorenson (Ilona Massey), Stauffer's mistress and counterspy who's under watch from Karl Heiser (J. Edward Bromberg), a Nazi officer. After finding himself trapped inside a fishing net full of hooks that leaves him helpless, Griffin accuses Maria, whom he now loves, to be his betrayer, and must somehow break free in order to acquire the secret plans revealing the Adolph Hitler's attack on New York.Although related to the previous Invisible Man sequels, INVISIBLE AGENT is often treated as an outsider mainly because it's more of a spy vs. spy story than the science fiction/mad scientist formula. Regardless of a fine supporting cast consisting of Hardwicke as the central villain and Lorre, even more menacing, coming close to resembling the Oriental sleuth, Mr. Moto, a character he portrayed in eight film mysteries during the late 1930s, through the use of his thick glasses, the somewhat unbalanced script appears to be geared more for the juvenile audiences out to cheer for their unseen hero. Humor takes precedence over the seriousness nature of the wartime story during its 81 minutes. Top-billed Ilona Massey, who arrives late in the story, plays a Mata Hari-type mystery woman leaving audiences wondering whose side she is on. That's one of the fun parts of the movie. Her key scenes include her encounter with the invisible agent and placing cold cream on him to see his face; and her attempt in having dinner with Nazi Heiser with the unseen Griffin having the time of his life disturbing them by moving things around and driving Heisler to the point of distraction. And speaking of driving, the plot is highlighted by a well staged car chase between Griffin and the Nazis. The scene where the invisible agent, giving himself a bath, covered with soap suds, is realistically done, thanks to John P. Fulton's first-rate contribution to the special effects department that equals the credibility to his earlier technique for THE INVISIBLE MAN and THE INVISIBLE MAN RETURNS.Formerly distributed on video cassette around the 1990s, and rarely visible on the television markets in recent years, INVISIBLE AGENT's current availability happens to be on DVD as part of its "Invisible Man" movie package. Next in the series, THE INVISIBLE MAN'S REVENGE (1944) also starring Jon Hall. (**1/2)

I actually didn't even know about this film, let alone not knowing its ties to the Universal Studios' Invisible Man series. I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. Sure, it's not Claude Rains' "The Invisible Man" film, or even Vincent Price's "The Invisible Man Returns." It's not really even a horror film. But this movie had a pretty decent story.It was about a man who is the grandson of the original Invisible Man They referred to the original as "Frank Griffen" in this story, but the original was actually named "Jack Griffen," and his brother was named Frank in "The Invisible Man Returns." Why they were inconsistent, I'm not sure. Anyhow, the grandson gets offered a fortune to sell his grandfather's secret formula to the Nazis, but refuses and goes undercover as a spy for the United States using the formula to spy on the Nazis to find out their plan of attack on the U.S. Very good plot.With some good special effects and some great, the technical aspects of this film were at least just as good as the previous films. We even got some good warfare explosions. And the story was definitely enjoyable. So despite inconsistencies with previous Invisible Man films, this film is definitely worth a look.