Dr. Jack Griffin (Claude Rains), a chemist experimenting with a substance suspiciously called monocaine, discovers a formula that can render his entire body totally transparent to light. He uses this power to murder his enemies, terrorize everybody else he feels like terrorizing, and plot for world domination. Did the chemicals drive him mad? Or did the power?
The Invisible Man was originally pitched as a follow-up to Universal’s tremendously successful Dracula, a spot which Frankenstein took instead. But then Frankenstein was itself a tremendous success, so now the search for more monster/horror/effects showcases was even more frantic. To make it work, they had to perfect the effects, which were undertaken with total secrecy. The studio even leaked false information to the industry press. It worked; the effects were unbelievably good and nearly impossible to reproduce.
