Director: A. Edward Sutherland
Writers: Curt Siodmak
Stars: Virginia Bruce, John Barrymore, John Howard
1 Hour, 12 Minutes
Buy now from Amazon: https://amzn.to/2jSidn2
George the butler trips and falls down the stairs. Is there an invisible woman in the room? No, he’s just a klutz. The door opens and John the lawyer comes in. He says playboy Richard is broke, and he forbids Richard from investing any more money on Professor Gibbs, who hasn’t invented anything in ten years. Gibbs had just asked for $3000, and the lawyer tells Richard, “No,” which Richard then forwards on to Gibbs.
George runs the message over to Gibbs saying there won’t be any more money. Gibbs then goes to the newspaper office and changes the ad he placed for “Wanted- A human being, willing to become invisible. $3000.” He crosses out the $3000 and runs the ad anyway with no compensation.
They get piles of letters from people who want to try it. Most of them are jokes or cranks. Gibbs explains that he really can make people invisible– probably. He made the cat invisible, but it wore off. He gets one legitimate-sounding letter, and he calls her in.
Kitty Carroll hears “the call to adventure” and wants to become invisible. She’s a model and doesn’t care for her job anymore. Mr. Growley, the boss, is overbearing and bullying, and she wants to get even.
She shows up, and Gibbs injects her with something, then turns on his machine. It flashes and pulses and sure enough, she fades away. First thing she does is crawl out the window and heads to Mr. Growley’s place. Professor Gibbs comes in and can’t find her. Maybe she fainted? He searches everywhere for her.
Meanwhile, at Growley’s office, he’s firing more models. She puts on a dress and scares the customers, then goes after Growley. She tears the place up, in a very nonviolent manner. She claims to be his conscience, and scolds him. The next day, he’s reformed, being nice, not cheating the girls, and he gives Kitty the whole week off.
A trio of gangsters show up at the newspaper wanting to know where they guy who placed the “invisibility ad” lives. The gangsters show up and want to become invisible. Kitty runs the gangsters off and then she reappears. It shouldn’t have worn off for another hour, but these things are hard to predict.
There is some more straight comedy as Richard keeps missing his opportunity to “see” the invisible woman.
The boss gangster, exiled to Mexico, wants the machine so he can turn invisible to get over the border. He tells his men to get that machine or don’t come back.
Kitty and the professor track down Richard in the country. There’s a funny scene where the professor tries to sneak the invisible woman past George the butler. Something in the treatment makes her want to drink a lot of alcohol. She drinks a bunch and passes out, turning invisible again.
Meanwhile, the gangsters break into the professor’s lab and start disassembling his machine. They load it on a truck and take it to Mexico.
The next morning, Kitty is still invisible. The professor thinks the alcohol may have made her permanently invisible. He says that’s no problem, he can fix it with his machine.
The gangsters arrive in Mexico and unpack the machine. The professor says without the injection, the machine could do… strange things to people. One of the gangsters gets in the machine, they turn it on, and his voice gets high. That’s all, just a squeaky voice.
Richard and Kitty start talking, and the professor comes in with a cure. As she starts to rematerialize, the professor gives her a stylish dress. As she comes down the stairs, ready for a glamorous happy ending, the gangsters break in, now demanding the formula.
Kitty drinks some pure alcohol and becomes invisible again. She manages to trick and knock out all the gangsters. They all escape, and some time passes. Richard and Kitty have a baby that fades out when they rub him with alcohol. The professor exclaims, “It’s hereditary!”
Commentary
This is a comedy, and therefore there’s no death, no murder, and even the gangsters fall down and roll around a lot. There are a few mallets to the head, but it’s done in a comedic style. There are a few genuinely funny moments, and this movie is completely child-friendly.
Margaret Hamilton has a small role as Professor Gibbs’s housekeeper, Jackson. Shemp Howard is one of the gangsters, but other than a screen credit, he doesn’t really do anything. Charles Ruggles as George the Butler is very funny, does a lot of his own stunts, and he falls down a lot. The grumpy boss’s name is, of course, “Mr. Growley.”
It’s cute, it’s silly, and it’s entertaining, but it’s definitely not horror.