Review of The Invisible Man's Revenge

1944's "The Invisible Man's Revenge" brought the infrequent Universal series to an end, apart from 1951's "Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man." It's appropriate that Jon Hall repeat the role again, after playing the heroic "Invisible Agent" in 1942; here, his Robert Griffin, no relation to prior Griffins, isn't so much a madman as a man who believes himself to have been wronged, and with Lester Matthews and Gale Sondergaard as the objects of scorn, you too may feel they were indeed guilty of the alleged crime (leaving him behind in the jungle to die after leading them to a fabulous diamond mine). The expected comedy relief is ably supplied by Leon Errol, whose dart game echoes the James Whale original, but goes on a tad too long. Lovely Evelyn Ankers is again wasted in a peripheral role, as she often was in Universal horrors, leaving the way open for the scene stealing John Carradine to command the screen, in only two scenes, as Dr. Peter Drury, the source of Griffin's invisibility, with transparent pets such as a parrot and a dog, whose later visibility will doom any future plans for our nonhero ("in this house, you've got to believe what you CAN'T see!"). Former adversaries in 1937's "The Hurricane," Jon Hall and John Carradine would once more oppose each other in 1957's "Hell Ship Mutiny." Director Ford Beebe ("Night Monster") was one of Universal's finest journeymen, again finding a slot for his father-in-law, Cyril Delevanti, selling Griffin some new clothes before nearly getting himself killed. Among the smaller parts are Doris Lloyd ("The Wolf Man"), Ian Wolfe ("The Raven"), Billy Bevan ("Dracula's Daughter"), and Skelton Knaggs ("House of Dracula"). All five entries, even 1940's "The Invisible Woman," appeared on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater.