Invisible Agent

Plot synopsis:
The grandson of Dr. Jack Griffin, the original Invisible Man, has emigrated to the United States and now runs a print shop in Manhattan under the assumed name of Frank Raymond (Jon Hall). In his shop he is confronted by four armed men who reveal that they know his true identity. One of the men, Conrad Stauffer (Cedric Hardwicke), is a lieutenant general of the S.S., while a second, Baron Ikito (Peter Lorre), is Japanese. They offer to pay for the invisibility formula and threaten amputation if it is not revealed. Griffin manages to escape with the formula in his hands.
Griffin is reluctant to release the formula to the U.S. government officials and only agrees to limited cooperation following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. (The condition is that the formula can only be used on himself). Later, while in-flight to be parachuted behind German lines on a secret mission, he injects himself with the invisibility serum. Griffin strips out of his clothing as he parachutes down, much to the shock of German troops tracking his descent.
After landing, Griffin evades German troops and makes contact with an old coffin-maker named Arnold Schmidt (Albert Basserman), who reveals the next step of Griffin's mission. Griffin is to obtain a list of German and Japanese spies within the U.S. The list was in the possession of Stauffer. Griffin is aided in his task by Maria Sorenson (Ilona Massey), a German espionage agent and the love interest of both Stauffer and Stauffer's well-connected second-in-command, Gestapo Standartenführer Karl Heiser (J. Edward Bromberg).
According to their plan, Sorenson attempts to gain information from Heiser during a private dinner, with Griffin as witness. Inexplicably, Griffin uses his invisibility to play tricks on Heiser instead. Finally enraged when the dinner table mysteriously tips and soils his uniform, Heiser places Sorenson under house-arrest. Later, an apologetic Griffin demonstrates his existence to Sorenson by putting on a robe and smearing facial cream on his features. The two are attracted to each other.
Conrad Stauffer returns from his efforts in the United States and tries to manage his shifting alliances with Karl Heiser, Maria Sorenson, and Baron Ikito. When he learns of Heiser's disastrous romantic dinner with Sorenson, Stauffer has Karl Heiser arrested and baits a trap for Griffin, whom he comes to suspect has made contact with Maria. Despite walking into Stauffer's trap, Griffin manages to obtain the list of agents, and start a fire to cover his escape. Griffin takes the list of agents to Arnold Schmidt for transmission to England.
Conrad Stauffer tries to hide the loss of the agent list from the prying Baron Ikito. Baron Ikito has been staying at the local Japanese Embassy. When Stauffer refuses to answer Ikito's questions, the two confess to each other that German and Japanese cooperation is not one of trust. Without revealing their plans to each other, both men start separate hunts for the Invisible Agent.
The plot thickens as Griffin steals into a German prison to obtain information from Karl Heiser about a planned German attack on New York city. In exchange for additional information, Griffin helps Heiser escape his imminent execution. Griffin returns with Heiser to Schmidt, who in the meantime has been arrested and tortured by Stauffer. At the shop, Griffin confronts Maria Sorenson, whom he suspects has betrayed Schmidt, and is captured with a net trap by Ikito's men.
Heiser escapes detection and attempts to save his life and career by phoning in Ikito's activities to Stauffer. Griffin and Sorensen are taken to the Japanese embassy, but manage to escape during the mayhem that ensues when Stauffer's men arrive. For their joint failure to safeguard the list of Axis agents, Ikito kills Stauffer and then commits seppuku, ritual suicide, as Heiser watches from the shadows.
Assuming command, Heiser arrives too late to the local air base to stop Griffin and Sorenson from escaping. The couple acquires one of the bombers slated for the New York attack, and destroy other German planes on the ground as they fly to England. Stauffer's loyal men catch up with Karl Heiser and he is shot.
Griffin succumbs to his injuries before he can radio ahead. England's air defense shoots down their craft, but not before Sorenson parachutes them to safety. Later, in a hospital, Griffin has recovered and is wearing facial cream so that he can be visible again. Sorenson appears with Griffin's American handler, who vouches for Sorenson that she has been an Allied double-agent all along. Sorenson is left alone with Griffin. Griffin reveals that he is actually visible under the facial cream, and they kiss. Sorenson happily accepts the challenge of discovering how Griffin regained his visibility.

Tags: sadist

Review:
I actually didn't even know about this film, let alone not knowing its ties to the Universal Studios' Invisible Man series.
Anyhow, the grandson gets offered a fortune to sell his grandfather's secret formula to the Nazis, but refuses and goes undercover as a spy for the United States using the formula to spy on the Nazis to find out their plan of attack on the U.S. Very good plot.With some good special effects and some great, the technical aspects of this film were at least just as good as the previous films.
Of the "Invisible Man" series made by Universal, I was only familiar with the first two (both of which I'll rewatch again presently) - the James Whale original being one of my all-time favorites.Ever since it was released as part of the "Legacy" set, I had mostly read negative opinions about this film - and even Leonard Maltin gives it a pretty low rating.
True, the leads are rather bland (why on earth is Ilona Massey credited before Jon Hall?!) but, then, INVISIBLE AGENT has a formidable trio of villains - Peter Lorre, Sir Cedric Hardwicke and J.
Besides, I must say that I'm a sucker for both WWII and espionage movies, so that's a big plus as well...which, I guess, means that it isn't really a horror film and that The Invisible Man is the hero!
Fulton's still-impressive special effects (exposed a bit here by the extra clarity of the DVD transfer) deliver the goods and, all in all, the film made me keen to get to the remaining titles in the series..
Frank Raymond (Jon Hall), grandson of the original Invisible Man, still has the old family formula but won't allow anyone to use it, even though World War II is looming on the horizon.
After an unfriendly visit by Axis agents (Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Peter Lorre) and the attack on Pearl Harbor Raymond comes to his senses.
Instead, Raymond spends time wooing the beautiful German double agent he's assigned to work with (Ilona Massey) and playing puerile pranks on an overweight Nazi with an undersized brain.
Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Peter Lorre steal the movie as a Gestapo official and Japanese spymaster, respectively.
Marin, is Universal's attempt in keeping H.G. Wells' "Invisible Man" stories in circulation by bringing them up to date, this time through the use of an original screenplay by Curtis Siodmak.
Though not exactly in the same league as its predecessors, especially the original 1933 classic starring Claude Rains, it's more of a propaganda film than horror, in the tradition of earlier outings as ESPIONAGE AGENT (1939) and Alfred Hitchcock's FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT (1940), both starring Joel McCrea.The story opens in New York where foreign agents, Conrad Stauffer (Sir Cedric Hardwicke), a Nazi leader, and Baron Ikito (Peter Lorre), a Japanese, break into a printing shop run by Frank Raymond (Jon Hall), who's secretly the grandson of scientist Frank Griffin, inventor of an invisibility formula.
When asked to relay the formula to the government, he refuses, but gives in after the bombing of Pearl Harbor that leads America into war, on the condition that he act as an invisible agent for America by spying on the Germans instead of their trained agents.
After finding himself trapped inside a fishing net full of hooks that leaves him helpless, Griffin accuses Maria, whom he now loves, to be his betrayer, and must somehow break free in order to acquire the secret plans revealing the Adolph Hitler's attack on New York.Although related to the previous Invisible Man sequels, INVISIBLE AGENT is often treated as an outsider mainly because it's more of a spy vs.
Regardless of a fine supporting cast consisting of Hardwicke as the central villain and Lorre, even more menacing, coming close to resembling the Oriental sleuth, Mr. Moto, a character he portrayed in eight film mysteries during the late 1930s, through the use of his thick glasses, the somewhat unbalanced script appears to be geared more for the juvenile audiences out to cheer for their unseen hero.
Her key scenes include her encounter with the invisible agent and placing cold cream on him to see his face; and her attempt in having dinner with Nazi Heiser with the unseen Griffin having the time of his life disturbing them by moving things around and driving Heisler to the point of distraction.
It makes no excuses for it's blatant propaganda messages and obvious opinions of the German or Japanese ("I can't tell you people apart", to quote one of Hall's lines), nor does it even attempt to understand their cultures (Hari Kari, for example, is grossly misunderstood and misrepresented in this film).
He's supposed to be on a serious mission to thwart an air raid on New York city (I consider that pretty serious), yet the minute he touches ground on German soil he takes great risks in exposing himself by opting to make his presence known by playing pranks rather than staying low and "out of sight".
This is a very entertaining film, but I like it so much because Peter Lorre plays a Japanese character.
Cedric Hardwicke is also very good as the Nazi ring leader.I avoided this film for years, because I thought it was strictly a war movie with some Sci Fi overtones.
The grandson of Jack Griffin, the Invisible Man, has been living peacefully somewhere in the United States until some German agents find, corner, and try to "persuade" him to give up the family formula so Germany can have this new weapon.
Jon Hall plays the relative of the biggest disappearing act ever, and he manages to escape the German clutches and offer the use of the formula to the United States with the proviso that only he will use the possibly fatal formula.
There is a very serious side as well and Edward Hardwicke and Peter Lorre mix wit with menace as an intelligent German Gestapo head and a Japanese diplomat looking out for the interests of Japan.
Jon Hall plays Frank Raymond, the grandson of the Invisible Man, who has changed his name from Griffin to Raymond and runs a print shop in hopes of avoiding people looking for his grandfather's formula for invisibility.
When Axis agents led by the nefarious duo of Stauffer (Cedric Hardwicke) and Ikito (Peter Lorre) show up and threaten Raymond, he decides to become the Invisible Man and spy for the Allies.The least of Universal's Invisible Man films but still enjoyable.
Anyway, it's probably best to assume Frank Griffin took credit for his brother's discovery...or, you know, don't bother explaining it at all because it's really not that important.Hall is fine but his character can be irritating at times.
Ilona Massey looks great but her character seems to exist just to fall for Hall, even though he treats her pretty crappy.
The climax of the movie plays like an action serial with the Nazis pursuing Hall and Massey as they try to escape by plane.
What happens next I won't spoil but it's unintentionally silly.Two characters that actually do work are the evil Stauffer and Ikito, played by Cedric Hardwicke and Peter Lorre.
Frank Raymond is the grandson of the original Invisible Man Jack Griffin.
World War breaks out and the German agents are wanting the information for invisibility.
A few fun things happen when the Invisible Agent shows up.The opening scene is great - I wish they would have kept the rest of the film this eerie but I still enjoyed the fun of the movie.Worth watching if you like the older war films and/or the Universal Horror Invisible Man series.8/10.
Enjoyed this great 1942 comedy starring Jon Hall, (Frank Raymond) and Peter Lorre, (Baron Ikto) and Cedric Hardwiche, (Conrad Staffer).
Frank uses his grandfather's secret formula which can make a person become invisible in order to find out secret information from Nazi Germany.
(Conrad Stauffer) plays the role as a Nazi officer who wants to catch the Invisible Agent and obtain his secrets.
Fran k Griffin (Jon Hall) is the grandson of the original invisible man and still has the formula under lock and key.
He also gets involved with German and Japanese spies (Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Peter Lorre) and a beautiful British spy (Ilona Massey).This is an OK war melodrama with touches of invisibility as a gimmick.
Hall barely escapes from the agents who include Cedric Hardwicke for the Nazis and Peter Lorre as a visiting ally from Japan.Right after Pearl Harbor like Wonder Woman, Hall decides his talents are best put to use in the Allied Cause.
His condition is that he alone will be given the invisibility drug, mindful of the bad side effects it has including causing the madness that killed Claude Rains back in the day.Hall finds out some vital information, like the day the Axis is going to invade the USA and who their agents are in America.
He has the help of the beautiful Ilona Massey, but he's not quite sure what side of the fence she's playing.The Nazis are stupid, even more stupid than usual in these films, but they've also got a lot of intrigues going among each other, between Cedric Hardwicke and J.
To be fare to Hardwicke, Lorre, and Bromberg, it's not easy dealing with an invisible man.
"Invisible Agent" was one of the few Universal "series" horror films I hadn't seen until now.
It's basically a good concept for a film  turning the Invisible Man loose on the Axis and a formidable set of German and Japanese villains including Sir Cedric Hardwicke (just as despicable here as he was in "The Invisible Man Returns"), Peter Lorre (who just about steals the entire show) and Keye Luke.
Why is Jon Hall's character depicted as the grandson, not the son or nephew, of the original Invisible Man?
One could readily imagine the Nazis trying to recruit the Invisible Agent to their side as the drug took hold of him and he started sounding like them!
Still, it's a fun movie and Ilona Massey's character is appropriately morally ambiguous -- though she must have wondered about the direction of her career: she'd been brought over to the U.S. by MGM in 1939 to replace Jeanette MacDonald as Nelson Eddy's co-star in the elaborate operetta film "Balalaika," but just three years later here she was at Universal making movies like this and "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man.".
After all, I adore the Universal horror films of the 30s and 40s and the Invisible Man series is among the best.
Also, having Peter Lorre (whose heritage in reality was German) playing a Japanese man was ridiculous.
Now I understand that Lorre played the lead in the Mr. Moto films (where he was supposed to be Japanese), but here he didn't even try to look or sound Asian.
Finally, throw in an unimportant and ridiculous love story that comes out of no where and you have the ingredients for a truly awful film.Exceptionally poor writing, indifferent direction and actors who couldn't have possibly made this material work and you have INVISIBLE AGENT in a nut shell.
Fortunately, the next film in the series (THE INVISIBLE MAN'S REVENGE) is quite a bit better..
It's bad enough that it adulterates "The Invisible Man" story into rah-rah propaganda, but it's also incredibly stupid about it, to the point of having contradictory effects.
Sure, Karl Heiser seems like he's auditioning a generation too early for Sergeant Schultz in the "Hogan's Heroes" TV series, and the Nazi minions are pushed around by the Invisible Agent like they're the Keystone Kops.
Worse is that the hero, the Invisible Agent, is arguably more boorish, incompetent and racist than the buffoonish Nazis in the picture.Frank Raymond, the descendant of Jack Griffin, the original Invisible Man of the book and the 1933 film of the same name, agrees to become invisible to aid the Allies cause in WWII.
Again, he's extraordinarily lucky that not one of the dumbfounded Nazis fires upon him as he carries the seemingly-flying Maria to the plane they confiscate and, again, is fortunate that they receive cloud cover as they're fired upon by anti-aircraft weapons.Besides being incredibly reckless and stupid, Frank also displays his racism from a relatively mild crack about the German way of thinking to the textbook racist comment, "I can't tell you Japs apart." Which is especially ludicrous given that the Austro-Hungarian-born Peter Lorre, seemingly preparing for his future Mr. Moto role, plays the main Japanese antagonist.
"Invisible Agent" probably would've worked better had he stuck to the procedural elements and detective plots that were effective in his other Universal horror films such as the "The Invisible Man Returns" (1940) and "The Wolf Man" (1941).The one thing this and most transparent man films have going for them are the visual effects.
Fulton received an Oscar nomination for his traveling matte work on one of Universal's invisibility films, and he surely would've received another had the category existed at the time of the original "The Invisible Man" (1933).
Jon Hall plays Frank Raymond, the title character, who claims to be the grandson of the original Invisible Man(though I'm not sure how!) He still has the invisibility formula, which is desired by two Axis spies(played by Cedric Hardwicke & Peter Lorre).
After Pearl Harbor is attacked, Frank agrees to enlist, and uses the serum on himself(no nasty side effects anymore...) to go behind Nazi lines to track down those two Axis agents, and thwart Hitler's war effort.
Jon Hall plays Frank Raymond, the grandson of the scientist from the original James Whale film, who is asked by the American government to use his invisible potion to sneak behind German lines and spy on the enemy.
Invisible Agent has had a pretty low reputation for years amongst horror fans, but that is probably to do with the type of story on display here rather than the quality of the film itself.
This is a welcome change of pace from the usual formula.Jon Hall plays Frank Griffin, Grandson of Claude Raines' original Invisible Man (and like Lon Chaney Jr in The Wolfman about a foot taller than his progenitor!) Guardian of the secret formula for invisibility he's approached first by the Nazis and then the Allies for aid in the war effort.
In a quite startling opening sequence the head Nazi, played by Sir Cedric Hardwicke in his usual phoned-in style, prepares to use torture to get what he wants, ably aided by Peter Lorre's sinister Japanese Baron, who wants to rid Griffin of several of his fingers...Escaping and later Parachuting into Germany, Griffin, now invisible himself, stumbles on a plot to invade America.
It goes on much too long and isn't funny at all.That aside, this is a rewarding and entertaining sci-fi spy thriller, which builds to a rousing climax and is graced by John P Fulton's engaging special effects and the ever brilliant Lorre, possibly the only Hungarian who could convincingly play Japanese.
Once again this is not a horror film more like a spy/like comedy in my opinion) The effects are top notch again with a great choice of casting as well.
Jon Hall plays Frank Raymond, the grandson of the original invisible man, who volunteers his service to Axis and uses a strong formula that makes him invisible.
Frank manages assistance in his task from the lovely Maria Sorenson (Iiona Massey), a German espionage agent, who is involved with two well-connected German officers.There are elements of humor as the American spy is invisible and antagonizing Nazi officers and troops.
Frank Raymond (likeable Jon Hall), who's the grandson of the invisible man, uses his grandfather's invisibility formula so he can sneak into Germany as an undercover spy in order to thwart the Nazis and romance beautiful female double agent Maria Sorenson (the charming and elegant Ilona Massey).Although director Edward L.
Fortunately, there's a trio of excellent villains who ensure that this movie remains watchable: Peter Lorre as oily Japanese weasel Baron Ikito, Cedric Hardwicke as the smoothly sinister Conrad Stauffer, and J.
Sure, there are little gaffes (they get original Invisible Man Jack Griffin's name wrong, and Jon Hall's teeth show up when only his skin is supposed to be visible with cold cream) and there's a regrettable, dated crack about how "Japs all look alike" (especially ironic since Hungarian Peter Lorre looks nothing like Keye Luke (who was Chinese) nor any Japanese you ever met) but in the main, it's one of Universal's best wartime efforts, with some terrific John P.
It makes hero Frank Raymond (née Griffin) both manic and reckless, as well as extremely suspicious of Ilona Massey, an irresistible Mata Hari-type in that negligee...!Siodmak pulls out all the stops for the remarkably violent climax, with a prison break, a nasty fish-hook trap, a Nazi-Japanese brawl, all the villains getting machine-gunned or stabbed or self-disemboweled, a car chase, an air field set ablaze and then bombed, and that parachute escape from the crashing plane...man, wartime audiences must have cheered this thing!.
That is all to find the secret formula for making people invisible that Jon Hall has, unwilling to sell it even to his own country.
But Hall managed to escape the enemy, changes his mind of selling it to the allies, and makes it to Germany where he dive-bombs out of a crashing plane, strips naked and invisible, and locates another agent (the seductive Ilona Massey) who is using portly dumb Nazi J.
The hero is dumb (what a pitiful spy!), but this can be related to the original movie (the first Invisible man became insane because of the drug, this one becomes stupid and suspicious - kind of a "war symptom" for America or France!).
An enjoyable movie, representative of the Universal's evolution at that time, when the studio capitalized on the "addition principle" (pardon me for my poor English): since we are in war and since Frankenstein can meet the werewolf, why couldn't the Invisible man fight the Gestapo?