“Any Girl That’d Become Invisible Can’t Be Very Easy On The Eyes.”
The Wicked Witch of the West,one of the Three Stooges, a fading Hollywood legend, and tons of character actors had roles in the offbeat 1940 comedy, The Invisible Woman. The film starred Virginia Bruce, John Barrymore, John Howard, and Charlie Ruggles. Despite being considered the second sequel to 1933’s The Invisible Man film and its first sequel, The Invisible Man Returns (released earlier in 1940), the film bears little resemblance to either of them, opting for slapstick comedy instead of terror (the original film) or murder mystery (the first sequel).
The film’s plot is centered around Dick Russell (John Howard) and his many failed schemes to get rich quick. His funds are drying up and loans are becoming hard to obtain, so he takes one last leap of faith with a hapless scientist, Professor Gibbs (John Barrymore), who claims that he has discovered a way to make people invisible.
Gibbs places an ad in the newspaper asking for someone to be a willing (and unpaid) test subject for invisibility. He and Russell receive multiple replies to the ad, all of which make fun of the duo except for one letter sent by an individual willing to undergo the test. That individual is a fed up department store model named Kitty Carroll (Virginia Bruce).
The fact that Kitty is a woman proves to be a problem for Professor Gibbs, as his test subject has to be entirely nude in order for his invisibility machine to work, but she’s more than willing to remove her clothing for science and Gibbs agrees to go ahead with the test. He calls in his assistant, Mrs. Jackson (Margaret Hamilton), to collect Kitty’s clothing and has her remain behind the screen while he injects her with a fluid that will assist her in becoming invisible.
The test proves successful, but whenever Gibbs goes to fetch Russell to tell him of his success, Kitty makes a mad dash (entirely in the buff) to her old department store boss, the nasty Mr. Growley (Charles Lane), and poses as his conscious, making him change his ways. She also gives him a few kicks in the posterior.
With Kitty away, Russell believes that the professor is lying to him and leaves for his lodge in the woods. Kitty finally returns but begins to materialize, which forces the professor to make her invisible once again in order to drive up to Russell’s lodge and prove to him that the test was a success.
While all of this is going on, a crime boss (Oscar Homolka), sends three of his men to steal the invisibility machine so that he can leave Mexico and return home to the United States undetected. They manage to acquire the machine, but not the fluid that needs to be injected into the subject that wishes to turn invisible, so the test on one of the crime boss’ goon does nothing more than change his voice to a higher pitch. Angry, the boss sends his thugs back to the laboratory to kidnap the professor.
The thugs end up capturing both Gibbs and Kitty. Russell and his loyal butler, George (Charles Ruggles), pursue the criminals and have a hilarious showdown at the crime boss’ Mexican hideout. You’ll need to watch this rather enjoyable film to find out what happens next!
As I already mentioned, the film featured some amazing talent in the form of solid actors like Margaret Hamilton (who portrayed the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz), Shemp Howard of the Three Stooges, Maria Montez, dubbed the Queen of Technicolor for her multiple films, as one of Kitty’s co-workers, and Charles Ruggles as George the butler. Ruggles performed numerous physical stunts in the film and proved to be the funniest member of the cast.
John Barrymore, a legend in Hollywood, was a fading star by the time that he appeared in this film. He seemed to be having a lot of fun, however, and he was enjoyable to watch on the screen. He would pass away two years later.
Virginia Bruce’s stunning good looks were used to their maximum in this film. She and other ladies portraying department store models appeared in various states of undress during one part of the film. The fact that Kitty was nude while she was invisible was also referenced multiple times. This same fact is mentioned only in passing in the films featuring invisible men.
Despite these cheap thrill tactics, Bruce proved to be just as funny as the men in the film and held her own in male-dominated cinema in the 1940’s. Don’t let her looks fool you, she was more than capable of being the star of this film.
If anything lacked in this film, it was the special effects. John P. Fulton, the award-winning mainstay of Universal Horror’s special effects, was nominated for an Academy Award yet again, but the effects weren’t as strong as they were in the previous Invisible films. Virginia Bruce wore a black velvet bodysuit just like Claude Rains and Vincent Price did in the previous films, but she was much more hands on with props (including a cat), and her blacked out form cold be seen blocking objects that were supposed to be visible. In one moment where she is removing her clothing, you can clearly see her waist as she’s lifting her blouse.
Despite the somewhat hokey effects, this film is still very funny and quite enjoyable to watch. There’s nothing scary at all about the film but it is still considered a part of Universal’s horror legacy. If you’re interested in some lighter fare one evening, check out The Invisible Woman. It’s excellent fun.
Thanks for reading. I’ll post again tomorrow.
Ken's Alternate Universe! 