The
Invisible Man is a Fun if Repetitive Spectacle
by
Kristin Battestella
The
1958-59 H.G. Wells' Invisible Man
television
series boasts two thirteen episode seasons filled with invisible
black and white trickery, mad science espionage, and continental
intrigue for the radiated Dr. Peter Brady. While some of the half
hour adventures are dated and derivative, there's a certain mid
century science fiction charm to the driverless cars and early
television special effects.
Due
to an unpredictable side effect of his “refraction” science, Dr.
Peter Brady is transformed lab coat and all in “Secret Experiment”
and he doesn't know how to make himself visible again. Some of the
colloquial invisible science dialogue is of its time and wooden, but
government agencies want Brady's secrets – leading to quarantine
suspense, stolen cover ups, and well filmed invisible escapes. Rather
than be confined or take advantage of Brady insists on finding a
cure, agreeing to continue on at Castle Hill Laboratories while
joking that they won't see him at work. A reclusive and disfigured
millionaire risks being a new test subject in “Behind the Mask,”
and The Invisible Man is
best when the stories focus
on the experiments and gray morality at home. Powder from a lady's
compact is handy in revealing our invisible quarry, and it's bemusing
when people say they are glad to see Brady before stumbling to
correct themselves. Occasionally, there's also no mid-air cigarette
or other invisible scene indicator, forcing the audience to pay
attention for a clue on The Invisible Man's location – a lingering
focus on a blank wall or a longer emphasis on an empty chair. Under
the bandages decoys and dangerous radiation provide top secret
approvals and assassination attempts before the Season Two premiere
“Point of Destruction”
brimming with experimental
fuel risks and airplane disasters. Radical science sabotage, snipers
after Brady – when wounded, his blood trail reappears and faking
his death may help catch the bad guys. More daring train escapes in
“Death Cell” lead to unreliable witnesses, questionable doctors,
straight jackets, and hidden photograph negatives before missing
coworkers and destroyed files in “Flight into Darkness.” Brady
demonstrates the unsafe implications of a new anti-gravity technology
while government ministers and peace organizations argue over using
it as a weapon, and The Invisible
Man is
almost ahead of its time with such ambiguous implications. Well
filmed suspense, neighboring windows, and dangerous voyeurs invoke
Alfred Hitchcock for “The Decoy” alongside decoded notes,
kidnapped singers, and twin sister ruses. USO tours and American
officers provide timely patriotic winks
amid double decker buses, twin camera trickery, and invisible points
of view for those speedboat chases.
Unlike
the ego maniacs in the film adaptations, Dr. Peter Brady is a solid
chap helping catch those who would abuse emerging science. He goes on
secret missions when the country asks him, but Peter's frustrated
over being unable to find a cure. He shaves before the mirror out of
habit despite admitting it is a waste of time. Brady dislikes
stifling security measures, so he often goes invisible at home when
people spy in the window or treat him like an animal in the zoo. He
laughs at the irony of people staring at him and makes jokes when
they say they're happy to see him but occasionally also wishes they
could indeed look on him. Peter doesn't want to be fixed up on dates
with famous dames or relax at the theater in “Play to Kill,” for
he'd rather be a hermit, shut himself in, and get some work done.
Blackmail over celebrity hit and runs add to his notoriety, and
though reluctant to wear his bandages, he chuckles at revealing
himself as a headless man to scare people. His work is stolen in the
Season One finale “Strange Partners,” but Brady's lured with a
call about its recovery before being trapped by a vicious dog – one
of the few times his being unseen doesn't help him. The personal and
immediate dangers, however, fall away in favor of espionage and
heroics. Instead of seeking his once most important cure, Brady is at
times selfish, enjoying being the one who can save the day after the
surprisingly graphic marketplace shootouts of “The Gun Runners.”
A sassy intelligence dame asks for his help on an off the record
mission, and he's a little smitten at her brash compared to all the
helpless damsels he rescues. The invisible tag team cargo switches
are a lot of fun, and the corrupt officials think it's her great
right hook because they don't know Brady is doing the swinging! Such
undercover chemistry actually would have made a great finale as Peter
toasts his refraction heroics with a witty dame accepting of his
condition. Of course, an actor is never seen in the role billed as
The Invisible Man, but the uncredited voice actor Tim Turner
apparently does the most work among several other fill-in actors. Not
only was the unknown casting probably cheaper, but knowing the
specific character or personality underneath the bandages was
unfortunately secondary to the invisible wink and all the unseen
trickery – unlike today where the allure would be in never seeing
the famous face involved or having a different star under the
bandages each week.
Often
called “Dee,” Lisa Daniely (Doctor
Who) as
Brady's widowed sister Diane
takes him into her home despite the adjustments – like bumping into
him when he doesn't have on his overcoat. Although his family isn't
there for themselves so much as to answer the phone as required or to
help with a plan, Dee isn't afraid to wield a gun and take on the bad
guys. When Peter says he's so angry he could kill, she insists he has
his dinner first and demands he wear sunscreen invisible or not. It's
a leap that this mild mannered housewife is apparently an incredibly
resourceful catch all lady in disguise, but Dee pretends to be a
reporter for information and remains a strong headed woman. She
witnesses a man hiding stolen film in the lining of saucy puppeteer
Hazel Court's (The Masque of the Red Death) coat in “The Mink
Coat,” but her brother doesn't believe her despite obvious strong
arming attacks and gunpoint threats. Deborah Watling (who also
appeared on Doctor Who)
as Brady's sassy and precocious niece Sally is cool with this
invisible thing and fresh to those pesky reporters bothering her
famous uncle. Although they probably didn't think anything of it
then, her being in the bathroom with him is a little weird, and
throwaway lines about him not wearing his invisible clothes
inadvertently imply some awkward nakedness. I could almost do without
her, but the entire family angle is dropped by the middle of the
Second Season with just a few late appearances for Sally. It's
obviously a money saving maneuver to have less regular cast, but the
continental espionage of the week takes The
Invisible Man away from the
science fiction and personal elements that make the series unique as
in “Picnic with Death” when a car accident with witnesses puts
Brady's condition in the headlines. The family receives extra
security, but Peter insists he's a human being not a government file.
The invisibility causes more trouble at home as desperate reporters
watch objects moving by themselves and try to get a picture as Brady
helps one of Sally's friends prove her crooked step father is trying
to kill his invalid wife. Sally's kidnapped in “Bank Raid,” too.
There are consequences to The Invisible Man being famous with ransom
notes and abandoned houses making the titular heists stronger because
the action is personal. Of course, there's also some humor when poor
Sally can't flag down any help because bystanders are more shocked at
her driverless transportation!
Unfortunately,
the of the time stereotypes happen early and often with brownface
Arabs in “Crisis in the Desert.” There's no real attempt to
clarify which agencies or military intelligence are recruiting Brady,
either – random colonels use his undercover cover to thwart escaped
agents or unfriendly regimes as needed amid generic thugs of the week
thrashing themselves about in the invisible fisticuffs. Though
originally a secret, everyone eventually knows about Brady. Nobody
minds if he interferes in a local crime, a coup against cliche
foreign powers, or goes vigilante versus enemy scientists. “The
Locked Room” and “Shadow on the Screen” provide anti-government
statements, fake accents, Russian sailors, scientist defections, and
comrade interjections – if you've seen one of these international
intrigue episodes, you've seen them all. It's not so memorable when
episodes rely almost entirely on action sans dialogue and people we
don't know. The white UK agents saving Cairo from heroin dealing
Arabs in “Blind Justice” also misses the mark despite some
surprisingly modern politic intrigue, the irony of a blind woman
helping The Invisible Man, and future 007 guests Honor Blackman and
Desmond Llewelyn. Speeding trains and con artists can't hide that
“Jailbreak” has Brady helping yet another wrongly accused lady.
He says he
can't help everyone, but that's exactly what he does, and The
Invisible Man should
have chosen whether he was going to be a post-war hero fighting
international enemies or just be an invisible mad scientist. Too many
episodes become insert exotic locale here – although
they were in Paris the show prior, Diane tells Peter she's due a
holiday in “Odds Against Death.” They thwart a scientist gambling
in the Alps with some
invisible roulette tricks, but “The
Vanishing Evidence” offers more faux accents and stolen secrets.
These aren't all terrible episodes, but the humorous invisible
moments are out of place amidst the anonymous action plots. The
foreign checkpoints, SS-esque officers, and tortured writer held for
exposing a country's terrors in “The Prize” could be an
interesting, ahead of its time rescue, but it's lost in a sea of
similar of their time episodes. When Brady is called in regarding the
eponymous refraction experiments of “The White Rabbit,” it's just
more fake accents and fascism. An enemy wanting an army of invisible
men could be a great arc, but there's no defined fictitious country
or rival scientist to battle. It's more drugs for “Man in Disguise”
and Middle East ploys yet again in “Man in Power.” “The Rocket”
has more titular secrets at risk over gambling before the
malfunctioning weapon of “Shadow Bomb” and the atomic bomb parts
in the “The Big Plot” finale. Despite frequent directors
Pennington Richards (Interpol
Calling), Peter Maxwell (A
Country Practice), and Quentin
Lawrence (The Ghosts of Motley
Hall) and writing teams with Ian
Stuart Black (Doctor
Who);
creator Ralph Smart (Secret
Agent) seems most responsible
for all the similar action hours and stock scripts. Maybe everyone
wanted to add their own science or spy spins, but that leaves the
series with no cohesive vision in too short a run.
Thankfully,
Tudor manors, classic fifties décor, and cool convertibles add
nostalgia alongside phone booths with horseshoe phones, old school
newspaper headlines, brandy decanters, and vintage dressing gowns.
Old fashioned nurses uniforms and classic constable styles invoke
more British mood while flashbulb cameras, aviation photography,
radio controls, and giant switchboard plugs set off the through the
gun barrel camera visuals. Retro futuristic dials, buzzes, switches,
and knobs hit home The Invisible
Man's premise
with lab coats, cages, and
disappearing animal subjects. The bandages, gloves, fedora, and
sunglasses create that memorable invisible silhouette, and the
unwrapping old chroma key effects are still neat. Phone receivers
hang in the air, papers flip on their own, gates open and close by
themselves – all tricks for The
Invisible Man's slight
of hand, of course. There's
something pleasant in these disappearing strings ruses. Today we take
such in camera skills for granted as now we just motion capture the
actor and CGI remove him from the frame. Where's the fun in that?
Sound effects are also important as the camera follows unseen
footsteps and other foleys itemize the invisible action. Certainly
it's obvious all the dialogue is dubbed voiceovers and cast speaking
opposite our doctor are usually filmed in a separate shot. However,
the actions are well timed with actors moving in and out of the
opening or closing doors in step with the invisible cues, and bravo
to stunt personnel dealing with operator-less lawn mowers, no riders
on the horse's back, and roadsters with nobody behind the wheel nor
in the sidecar. Getting that full wine glass to dangle in the
invisible air without spilling anything must have been tough!
The
Invisible Man often
has weak writing and a thin, aimless focus. The over-reliance on
weekly bad guys and international espionage of the era can be tiring
for sophisticated audiences today. The plots are often more action
than personal man versus science fiction mistakes, but this series
doesn't deserve to be obscure. H.G.Wells' Invisible Man is
still an appealing what if experiment gone wrong with vintage
invisible special effects, and it's a fun
retro marathon for the whole family.
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