Invisible Agent (1942)

Very Cool!!!

Absolutely Fantastic

Blistering performances.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Enjoyed this great 1942 comedy starring Jon Hall, (Frank Raymond) and Peter Lorre, (Baron Ikto) and Cedric Hardwiche, (Conrad Staffer). Frank uses his grandfather's secret formula which can make a person become invisible in order to find out secret information from Nazi Germany. It is believed that the Nazi's are going to bomb the United States and Frank is set to find out this information. Cedric Hardwicke. (Conrad Stauffer) plays the role as a Nazi officer who wants to catch the Invisible Agent and obtain his secrets. Ilona Massey, (Marie Sorenson) helps Frank Raymond who is very suspicious of her involvement in this situation. There is lots of comedy and Peter Lorre gave a great supporting role. Enjoy.

Of the "Invisible Man" series made by Universal, I was only familiar with the first two (both of which I'll rewatch again presently) - the James Whale original being one of my all-time favorites.Ever since it was released as part of the "Legacy" set, I had mostly read negative opinions about this film - and even Leonard Maltin gives it a pretty low rating. However, I was very surprised by how much I enjoyed it! True, the leads are rather bland (why on earth is Ilona Massey credited before Jon Hall?!) but, then, INVISIBLE AGENT has a formidable trio of villains - Peter Lorre, Sir Cedric Hardwicke and J. Edward Bromberg - going for it (who even make Curt Siodmak's script sound better than it is). Besides, I must say that I'm a sucker for both WWII and espionage movies, so that's a big plus as well...which, I guess, means that it isn't really a horror film and that The Invisible Man is the hero! Oh well, you can't have everything!John P. Fulton's still-impressive special effects (exposed a bit here by the extra clarity of the DVD transfer) deliver the goods and, all in all, the film made me keen to get to the remaining titles in the series.

This movie is of course fantasy. (Unless if the scientists are holding out on us.) But, it was well done. The special effects were fantastic considering when the movie was made. Even by today's special effects standards I was totally impressed with how they made Frank Raymond disappear. On the dramatic side the movie was a little slapstick at times with Frank spilling food on people without them knowing how it was happening. But, the movie was a great reminder of how evil the Nazi people were. It's hard to believe that people could be so wicked and yet that part of the movie was not fantasy. It did happen. Overall I enjoyed the movie and it all played well from beginning to end.

Like most American war propaganda films, this film probably presented the perfect propaganda needed at the time to rally a nation, but viewing it today it manages to make the allied forces (and most specifically Americans) look like racist ignorant buffoons in the process. It makes no excuses for it's blatant propaganda messages and obvious opinions of the German or Japanese ("I can't tell you people apart", to quote one of Hall's lines), nor does it even attempt to understand their cultures (Hari Kari, for example, is grossly misunderstood and misrepresented in this film). But I won't argue the issue, because, after all, it's only a movie, and America needed their villians clearly cut and defined to swallow the bitter pill of war.But honestly, how inept is our "hero" in this film? He's supposed to be on a serious mission to thwart an air raid on New York city (I consider that pretty serious), yet the minute he touches ground on German soil he takes great risks in exposing himself by opting to make his presence known by playing pranks rather than staying low and "out of sight". He frequently jeopardizes the success of the mission because he can't resist grabbing a chicken leg or a glass of wine while in the company of the Gestapo, or falling asleep in facial makeup. And while it makes for some entertaining scenes that utilize the invisible effects, his behavior is completely implausible and downright ridiculous. Think of how easy his mission would have been had he just quietly moved about and retrieved the info he needed without bringing attention to himself. (But that doesn't make for a very entertaining movie, now does it?).If I were the Maria Sorenson character in this film, I would have kicked him in his unmentionables.