The Invisible Man (1933) -- James Whale

In the 1930s Universal Studios hit upon a terrifically popular genre of film which featured distinctive monsters and spooky creatures that thrilled and excited movie audiences with suspense and danger. Because the genre was so commercially successful, the studio often developed horror series that showcased the characters and their offspring over the next ten to twenty years. The characters helped defined the legacy of the featured actors, and the films remain some of the most enjoyable classics, in large part for the obvious creativity of the directors and technicians employed to bring the stories to the screen.

The studio started it all with Dracula (Bela Lugosi) in 1931, and quickly followed with Frankenstein (Boris Karloff) later that same year. Today, most movie-lovers would consider these first two, Dracula and Frankenstein, as the dual kings of the creature features. But other scary characters came quickly on their heels, including The Mummy (Karloff again) in 1932; The Invisible Man (Claude Rains) in 1933; and The Wolf Man ( Lon Chaney Jr.) in 1941.

While you wouldn't want to meet any of these fellows on a dark night, if asked to choose, you might feel safest with The Invisible Man. However, in that you would be mistaken. The gauze-wrapped one was the most dangerous, racking up a staggering body count of at least 122.

One of author H.G. Wells best creations, the Invisible Man was published as a science fiction novella in 1897.  The story concerns a scientist who learns too late that there are some things that man must not meddle in. Director James Whale's cinematic take on the novella retains the basic elements, though the script adds a love interest, deletes a key character who briefly is coerced into helping The Invisible Man, makes the relationship between the Invisible Man and a former colleague much more familiar and recent, and alters the capture sequence.

Whale introduces the main character in a wonderfully atmospheric scene. A heavily garbed figure trudges through the swirling snow to the Lion's Head inn in search of a private room. His face is obscured behind dark glasses, a low-brimmed hat, and gauze wrapped tightly about the head.

The Invisible Man makes an ominous entrance.

The reaction of the inn's patrons to this strange apparition is fun to see. You can't blame them for wondering what type of man dresses so. The inn is run by horror film staple Una O'Conner, who will soon unleash her signature screaming, and is occupied by fellows who look like they spend a good amount of time in saloons. Familiar faces pop up throughout the film, including Henry Travers (Clarence the angel in It's a Wonderful Life); Walter Brennen; and Dwight Fry (Renfield in Dracula and Fritz in Frankenstein).

The strange boarder just wants to be left alone to conduct his mysterious experiments. He soon fills his room with test tubes, percolating beakers of liquid, and other scientific equipment. When O'Conner makes too much of a nuisance of herself, The Invisible Man loses his temper and knocks the woman's hen-pecked husband down a flight of stairs, prompting a call to the police. The Invisible Man disrobes and soon, police and patrons are wrestling with an unseen figure. This incident seems to push the man over the edge psychologically. He goes from being a desperate scientist to a mad fiend intent on world domination.

Whale infuses the film with several moments of intended humor: an unseen force knocks off a man's hat and throws out a quip; an empty shirt appears to dance in the air; and most outrageously, pants with nobody inside them cavort down the street as The Invisible Man sings "Here we go gathering nuts in May." The character occasionally unleashes a maniacal laugh. None of these are particularly funny today, but may have been to audiences eighty years ago.

Una O'Conner.

The special effects, however, are still remarkable, an aspect of the film that makes it memorable. Audiences of the 1930s must have been amazed, and it's easy to imagine youngsters leaving the theater and playing "invisible man" for weeks afterwards. My favorite are the footprints that magically appear in the snow near the end, as police smoke the trapped villain out of a barn. You'd think Whales would have been more careful--the prints show a man in shoes rather than bare-feet. Another is a spectacular train wreck caused by the Invisible Man. We later learn that this accident resulted in the death of 100 passengers. 

Jack Fulton did the special effects. He'd win two Oscars during his career, one for The Ten Commandments. Nominations for best effects came with three of the The Invisible Man sequels. Fulton wasn't the only crew member that helped director Whales produce a top-notch thriller. Pioneering cameraman Arthur Edeson gave the film a sharp look with technically ground-breaking shots, including two overhead crane shots used to show police closing in on the murderer. Edeson was one of the best in the business. He'd worked with Whale on Frankenstein. Among his other credits are the spectacular All Quiet on the Western Front, Mutiny on the Bounty, and The Maltese Falcon.

An Example of the special effects -- The Invisible Man in a chair.

Having escaped the melee at the inn, and later mortally wounding a skeptical police officer with a bench to his head--his first murder--The Invisible Man makes his way to Dr. Kemp, a colleague he hopes to convince to partner with in a Reign of Terror. We learn that The Invisible Man's name is Jack Griffin. In an explanatory sequence, we are presented with the back story: Griffin has been fixated on secret research into optics. The novella goes into more detail than the film, but in essence it involves how objects absorb and reflect light. Griffin has learned to make himself invisible, but can't figure how to reverse the procedure.

Kemp, who'd like to get Griffin out of the way so he can pursue Griffin's fiance, Flora (Gloria Stuart of Titanic), calls in the police. Enraged, Griffin vows revenge, a promise he manages to achieve in what must be one of film's first "car over the cliff " sequences. Bound in the back seat, Kemp can only watch in terror as Griffin sends the car over the edge to a satisfying fiery explosion at the bottom.

The police eventually track the prey thanks to snow on the ground and Claude Rains finally gets revealed as The Invisible Man. Classic film-lovers, of course, recognize the distinctive voice from the first scene, but in 1931, American audiences got their first look at a man who would become one of our favourite character actors, securimg four Oscar nominations during the 1940s in the process.

Author H.G. Wells.

Author H.G. Wells was a prolific writer of science fiction and other genres. The Invisible Man was not the first film based on his work. French director George Melies found inspiration for his A Trip to the Moon (1902), featured in the recent film Hugo, from the works of Wells and Jules Verne. And Island of Lost Souls (1932) was based on the Wells novel, The Island of  Dr. Moreau. Wells continues to be a source for film-makers, one of the most famous being the 1960 feature, The Time Machine. Wells died in 1946.

Casablanca (1942) -- Michael Curtiz

A brooding Rick asks pianist Sam to play As Time Goes By.

It is December 1941 and the German tentacles of domination have reached North Africa. Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), an exiled American and former freedom fighter, owns the most popular nightclub in Casablanca. On the surface Rick is as cynical as they come, saying he sticks his neck out for nobody, but at heart he is idealistic. The Moroccan city is governed by the Vichy French and is a jumping off point for refugees looking to flee Europe. The black market flourishes. Rick comes into possession of two letters of transit, tickets to America that many would die for. When Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid), an important Czech Resistance leader arrives with his wife Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), Rick must confront painful memories—he and Elsa were once lovers. She broke his heart in Paris with no explanation. Major Strasser (Conrad Veidt), a high-ranking Gestapo official who hopes to detain Laszlo, orders the local police to keep the man under observation, but Captain Renault (Claude Rains), an unscrupulous police captain and friend of Rick's, will go where the wind blows.

Director Curtiz fashioned a memorable and tightly plotted film. Working with brothers Julius and Philip Epstein's wonderful script, as good an ensemble cast ever gathered, and a top-notch cameraman, it's no wonder the film works so well. Each scene propels the action forward and is packed with crackling dialog. Famous quotable lines include: "Here's looking at you kid," "I think this is be the beginning of a beautiful friendship," "We'll always have Paris," and "I came to Casablanca for the waters."           

Bogart as the embittered Rick Blaine

Bogart's transformation from the thug he often played in 1930 gangster films to the cool cynic persona he's best known for today, and first displayed two years earlier in The Maltese Falcon, is complete in the character of Rick, looking great in a white tux or trench coat and fedora. It's a marvelous performance. He holds the film together. No-one ever delivered bitterness and hurt better. Ilsa's arrival opens old wounds; he says "Tell me, who was it you left me for? Was it Lazlo, or were there others in between or... aren't you the kind that tells?" The character is easy for anyone to relate to who has loved and lost. And that's part of the film's charm too; it sews a love story into the fabric of an adventure thriller, where a common looking man can win the beautiful girl, even if it's for but a brief period.    

[about Rick] Strasser: You give him credit for too much cleverness. My impression was that he's just another blundering American.
Renault: We mustn't underestimate "American blundering". I was with them when they "blundered" into Berlin in 1918.

Rick's club is the site for most of the action, a perfect setting for intrigue, but the best scene occurs at the end at the airport, shrouded in heavy fog. The five main characters converge and it is not until the final moment that Curtiz lets the audience find out how it will turn out, and what kind of men Rick and Renault really are. Great moments at Rick's include the rousing rendition of  La Marseillaise to drown out  the German anthem, the rigged Roulette game, Renault's gambling payoff, Rick's drunken brooding, and Dooley Wilson's piano.

Bergman, convincingly conflicted, is stunningly lit in black and white, while Veidt is coldly reptilian and condescending. Rarely do you want a villain to get his just deserts more. 

The supporting  actors are all terrific, starting with Claude Rains as the shifty and amusing Renault, Rick's brother in arms. They both despise the Nazis. Always a solid performer, Rains nearly steals the show with some of the best lines. Portly Sidney Greenstreet owns the Blue Parrott, Rick's competition, and Peter Lorre is sufficiently sleazy as the parasitic Ugarte, who preys on desperate people trying to escape the city.

And it has that most romantic song, penned by Herman Hupfeld in 1931.

What Makes Casablanca Special:



At its core the film has a theme to rally around: the good guys against the evil oppressor. The Nazis, personified by the menacing Major Strasser, must be stopped, or in this case, out-foxed. This is patriotism without it being in-your-face. When Rick tells Elsa that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans, we understand and like to think that we too, possess such a noble character. It makes us feel good about ourselves and our country. That the message is delivered by such charismatic and memorable actors, is icing on the cake.      

Bogart and Bergman embrace after Ilsa tried to force him to give her the letters of transit.

There are certainly films technically superior to Casablanca, more ground-breaking, or with better acting or cinematography; but for pure entertainment, nothing tops the film. And that's what most people want out of a movie, escapism and enjoyment. On that level, it's one of the best film ever made. 


Inside Story:

  

Conrad Veidt was a staunch anti-Nazi who fled Germany in 1933 after Hitler came to power. He became a British citizen in 1939 and donated a portion of his film earnings to the British war effort. He died one year after making Casablanca, just fifty years old. 



Arthur Edison excelled at black and white cinematography. He handled the cameras on two other classic films, 1930's All Quiet on the Western Front, for which he received an Oscar nomination, and The Maltese Falcon.  



Round up the usual suspects.

Curtiz'sCasablanca was Yankee Doodle Dandy, another that garnered Oscar nominations for Picture, Director, and Actor. Bogart lost but James Cagney won.

The film opened in November 1942, less than a year after the United States' entrance into WWII. The timing was right. By then, Nazis were justifiably vilified everywhere outside the Axis, and any film that demonized them had a good chance of success. The New York Times was impressed. It said the film "makes the spine tingle and the heart take a leap." As Time Goes By first appeared in a 1932 Broadway show, Everybody's Welcome.

Major Awards:

• Nominated for eight Academy Awards, it won for Best Picture, Best Director, and screenplay.
• Bogart and Rains were nominated for acting, Arthur Edison for cinematography, and Max Stiener for music.
• Selected by the National Registry in 1989 as one of 25 landmark films.

Other films by Curtiz:

• The Sea Wolf 1947
• Yankee Doodle Dandy 1942
• Passage to Marseille 1945
• Mildred Pierce 1945
• White Christmas 1954

Notorious (1947) - Alfred Hitchcock

Grant and Bergman embrace.

U.S. government agent T.R. Devlin (Cary Grant) and his superior (Louis Calhern as Captain Prescott) want to know what a group of Nazi scientists and businessmen are up to in Argentina. To find out they recruit Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman), the beautiful American daughter of a convicted German spy, to seduce Alexander Sebastian (Claude Rains), a man who once loved her and was an old friend of her father's. Sebastian is one of the Germans' chief financiers. Even though Alicia has a reputation of being wild and promiscuous, she is reluctant—she is no patriot and she harbors ill will toward post-war America, which she believes drove her father to suicide. She relents however, after falling in love with Devlin. He loves her too but won't tell her; he is too wrapped up in duty and the importance of their mission. Sebastian falls prey to Alicia, but when he discovers she is a spy who threatens their plans, and indeed his own safety, his ruthless mother provides a deadly solution.

Grant's Devlin is Hitchcock's most conflicted hero, and one difficult to root for. Suave, witty, and handsome, he can also be rude and nasty. Deeply in love with the woman he has endangered, it is Grant's most serious role. His barely controlled emotion in several scenes with Bergman are some the best acting of his long career. When Alicia comes to tell Prescott she'll act as spy, she all but begs Devlin to tell her not too. His mouth tightens and he leaves the room. Later, during one of their clandestine rendezvous she tells him that he can add Sebastian's name to her list of playmates. He is more visibly angry, his voice projecting disgust, but it is not with Alicia, but rather with himself. She is merely following orders.

Devlin proves Grant a considerably more versatile actor than his common persona suggests. He never played anyone quite like it before or since. One thinks of Cary Grant as a likable rouge, but Devlin is hardly a character to elicit our sympathy. That role belongs to one of the villains of the film, Sebastian, and that's one of aspects film that makes the film so interesting. Claude Rains—a consistently great supporting actor—makes us feel sorry for him, a Nazi! He is trusting and vulnerable. He genuinely loves Alicia, and unlike Devlin, openly admits it. His shock at her duplicity is painful to watch.

Notorious is slight on action but full of suspense as one should expect from Hitchcock. Grant is convincing as the agent who can keep his cool when needed. No one wore a suit better and it's no wonder that Rains' character is jealous of the man. His suspicions are aroused when he finds the two kissing in the basement after they've inspected some strange bottles of champagne.

                            Alicia: What does the speedometer say?
                            Devlin: 65.
                            Alicia: I want to make it 80 and wipe that grin off your face.

The film has an elegant look, heightened by the black and white cinematography. These Nazis have money. Famed Hollywood costume designer Edith Head designed Bergman's gorgeous wardrobe. Though inexplicably not for this, Head was nominated for 35 Oscars.

One of the most famous camera shots in any Hitchcock film takes place at a party hosted by Sebastian. Alicia suspects that a clue as to the Nazi's secret activity can be gleaned in the wine cellar. She has stolen Sebastian's key and must slip it unobserved to Devlin, who has crashed the party. Hitchcock used a crane high above the dance floor;  the shot pans the crowd, stopping at Alicia; her hand is behind her back, holding the key. Another highly regarded shot peers through the space between a door and its jam. It is superbly made thriller.  

What Makes Notorious Special:

 

"You can add Sebastian's name to my list of playmates."

Long-time Hitchcock collaborator Ben Hecht wrote the clever screenplay. This is essentially a love story, and as in real life  sometimes one or both partners are unable to express their true feelings and love is threatened. In Hitchcock's, Hecht's, and the actors' hands, how that threat is averted makes for great viewing.

The final scene involves Devlin's suspenseful attempt to rescue a weakened Alicia—she is being slowly poisoned. He supports her limp body as they come down a long stairway where they are confronted by Sebastian and his mother as his suspicious and dangerous colleagues watch and wonder what is happening. They have already "disposed" of one of their own for an innocent but foolish slip of the tongue. Sebastian has a Hobson's Choice. He can stop Devlin, but would reveal that he has compromised the group's efforts; or he can let Devlin and Alicia escape, knowing  that U.S. government authorities will soon intervene. Whispered threats leave you wondering how Hitchcock will resolve the crisis.    

Bergman's performance easily tops that of her Oscar nominated role in The Bells of St. Mary's the same year.

Inside Story:

Sebastian confesses to his mother.

The shady Nazi plot involves uranium, a key ingredient for making nuclear weapons. At the time of filming, FBI agents reportedly kept Hitchcock under surveillance, wondering what the director knew about such efforts.

Hitchcock makes his cameo appearance as a party guest at Sebastian's mansion, accepting a drink at the bar. 

Major Awards:

Nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Rains) and Writing.

Other Alfred Hitchcock/Cary Grant Collaborations:

• Suspicion 1941
• To Catch a Thief 1955
• North by Northwest 1959

Grant performances nominated for Best Actor:

• Penny Serenade 1941
• None But the Lonely Heart 1944   

Major Awards: