The Invisible Ray
Tags: insanity, revenge, murder, romantic

Plot synopsis:
THE INVISIBLE RAY synopsisDiane Rukh (Frances Drake) stares out the window from their home in the Carpathian Mountains upon the road below. Mother Rukh (Violet Kemble Cooper), seated in a chair, inquires whether her son Dr. Janos Rukh (Boris Karloff) is still working in his lab. Diane confirms this, saying that he is preparing for the delegation of scientists due to arrive from England. Rising from her chair with help from Diane, Mother Rukh comes to the window with her cane.
She tells Diane that on a day like this her son Janos discovered the ray from Andromeda while working with his late father. It was holding the lens during that discovery which caused her permanent blindness. They discuss the brilliance of Janos and how he was rejected by other scientists and called a charlatan. Diane says she was told to watch for the headlights coming and notify Janos. Mother Rukh returns to her seat and Diane looks out the window again. Seeing the car approaching, she announces that she will go tell her husband. She dons her cape and goes through an outer walkway to another building where she rings a bell and enters. Coming into the lab, she tells Janos (who is gazing through a large telescope) that the visitors are arriving. He says he is ready and confident.The car pulls up and several people get out and enter the house. Diane greets Lady Arabella Stevens (Beulah Bondi) who introduces her husband Sir Francis Stevens (Walter Kingsford), Dr. Felix Benet (Bela Lugosi) and her nephew Ronald Drake (Frank Lawton). They are introduced to Mother Rukh who speaks but remains seated. Janos enters and greets each one and is greeted by Lady Arabella who presents her nephew Ronald who she says is a mapmaker and will be valuable to the work in Africa. Janos tells them he has a presentation to show them.In the lab, he shows his telescope, explaining and showing a device which will capture a ray from Andromeda containing pictures and information from thousands of years ago. Dr. Benet looks at Sir Francis with a knowing look of doubt between them. Janos attaches the device to the telescope and tells them to wait a few moments while he prepares the projector. Coming back from another room wearing a welding mask, he reaches into a panel and starts a series of electrical devices which give off sparks and energy. He announces he is ready. Diane leads the way to seats which are protected from dangerous rays by a new kind of barium crown glass, which is explained by Janos. He tells them about the distances the ray has traveled and turns on the projector, which is the type used in planetariums to show outer space. As he narrates, the picture shows a movement that passes our moon, Saturn, Orion and finally Andromeda. He tells Sr. Francis that he had previously predicted a meteor which struck Earth many years ago in Africa, telling him that this will prove it. As they watch, the view changes direction back toward Earth as seen from Andromeda but millions of years ago. A meteor is shown hurtling towards Earth and striking in the southern portion of Africa. Those viewing this are stunned. Various comments are made, saying this is no hoax.Back in the house, brandy is served. Sir Francis marvels at the discovery to Janos, asking when he will publish it to the scientific world. He says it is not yet ready. Sir Francis says it would be good to locate this meteor and see what it contains. Dr. Benet suggests that Janos join them in an expedition. Janos says he has no standing before their scientific congress and that he had previously been declared unorthodox and discredited. Sir Francis tells him their expedition will not be under the auspices of any scientific association. Dr. Benet says that he will be doing them an honor. Janos accepts, but Mother Rukh tells him no. She says he may make an important discovery but that it will not bring him happiness. She reminds him that Janos is not good with people but is better suited to remain with his experiments.A scientific magazine is shown that has an article about Dr. Benets expedition to Africa to recover Radium X. It mentions that Dr. Rukh has separated from the others. Meanwhile, at a camp in Nigeria, Dr. Benet shows Sir Francis how he has been healing natives by a medicine he derived from sunlight. A young native child is shown and given back to his mother. Diane sits in her tent, hot, tired and bored to death since her husband left them to go on his own expedition. She emerges from her tent only to see Lady Arabella and Ronald returning from a hunting trip. Seeing him stirs her. She turns away, not wanting to look. A conversation with Ronald and Lady Arabella about Diane reveals that they are interested in each other, but that Ronald dares not act because she is married. Meanwhile Sir Francis says he is sick of staying in Africa and will not remain for the sake of anyone.A safari group accompanying Janos arrives near a volcano when suddenly a loud buzzing and clicking sound coming from one of the boxes carried by a native frightens him. It is revealed to be a Giger counter showing the presence of radioactivity. Janos takes the machine and approaches a site giving off steam or smoke. He tells the leader to send a message back to the camp by his fastest runner. A runner is selected by the leader and Janos writes out a message, telling him to give it to Diana and wait for an answer. He says he has found what he is looking for, but not to tell anyone where they are.Antelope stew is served at the camp, but not everyone is interested in eating. Diane and Ronald avoid glances over the table at each other, but it is obvious that they are mutually interested in each other and this causes great discomfort. About this time the runner arrives and the note is given to Diane, who reads it. She reports only that Janos will not return right away but believes he is on the right track. Going to her tent, she asks the leader to meet with her and the runner. A small team is prepared to accompany her to see her husband. This is observed by Ronald, who then confronts Diane of her plans. She tells him she must go to her husband right away. He tells her hes not surprised that she wouldnt disappoint any man.Dressed in a protective suit and helmet, Janos is lowered into the volcano by rope controlled by natives. He uses a mining hammer to extract a sample of glowing, sparkling rock which he puts into a safe container. Returning to the natives, he is told they do not like the area because there are many devils. After the leader tells him they all want to leave, he tells them to watch a rock standing alone on a precipice. Loading the rock sample into a projector, he focuses it on the rock and shines the beam. The rock is disintegrated and melted before their eyes. He tells them they may leave if they want to, but threatens to turn the ray on them if they do. They beg and pledge their continued support.That night a meal is brought to Janos by one of the natives. He tells him to take the lantern inside the tent so it will not attract bugs. When the light is taken away, Janos begins glowing in his hands and face. Seeing this, the native cries out in horror. Janos sees his hands glowing and enters the tent. Turning down the lantern, he grabs a mirror and sees his face glowing. When the light is turned on, the glow cannot be seen. He remarks to himself that it has poisoned him. Sitting down on his cot to think, the dog approaches him and he reaches to pet it. The dog dies, and Janos realizes that his touch is deadly.Diane and her party arrive and she is pointed toward his tent. Seeing her coming, Janos draws the tent closed and turns out his lantern, hoping she will not enter. She notices the light go out and stops at the tent door to call him. Not wanting her to see or touch him, Janos questions why she came and tells her she must leave in the morning. She is shown a tent for her to stay the night, but is heartbroken and cries upon her cot. Janos gathers up the rock sample along with his mask and protective suit and starts out into the dark. Passing close by her tent, he hears her sobbing and pauses.Dr. Benet is shown mixing chemicals in his tent. Wearing full protective gear, Janos shows up with the runner and calls out to Benet, entering the tent. He tells Benet not to touch him, saying that he found the element and it is ten times more powerful than radium but that it has poisoned him. They step outside into the darkness and Benet witnesses Janos hands and face glowing. Confessing that his touch is deadly, they re-enter the tent. Janos asks Benet for help. Benet says there is an antidote for radium poisoning which is made from radium. Janos gives him a sample of the element and his chemical analysis which he has written down. Benet says he will begin at once to develop an antidote and that Janos can hide in a small equipment tent.Diane leaves on her way back to base camp. Meanwhile, Dr. Benet wakes Janos, and shows him in the dark that his skin no longer glows. He tells him that the antidote was given him at midnight and that the effect is only temporary. Touching his hand, he demonstrates that Janos is not lethal at this time, but cautions him that he must take doses of this daily for the rest of his life or the condition will recur and eventually kill him. Janos is given the formula on paper as well as a kit containing samples of the antidote and a syringe.Diane and Ronald have a discussion about their relationship, saying there is no point in denying it now. At this point a bell rings, calling them to supper.Natives sound jungle drums. Dr. Benet arrives at Janos camp and approaches him. When asked how Benet found him, he is told they followed the sound of the drums, which stated that a white man had found magic in the mountains. They go into the tent and Janos tells him that he has harnessed the power of the element to destroy cities. Benet asks if he can develop its power to heal and do good. Saying that will come later, he brags about his great discovery. Benet tells him that this was anticipated by himself and Sir Francis and that they must all share the discovery. Benet says Stevens is on his way to present the sample to the International Scientific Congress meeting in Paris. Janos argues that it is his discovery and says they are stealing it from him. Benet assures him that Janos will receive credit for it but reminds him they are united for a common purpose and that this element is too powerful and important to entrust to just one man. He says that Diane has taken ill and gone back to England. Janos is given a note from his wife, telling him that she believes that he no longer loves her and is now involved with someone else. Benet confirms that it is Drake. This further infuriates Janos, who tells Benet to leave before he turns the ray on him. Benet leaves.A newspaper shows that the Benet expedition has left Africa and that Dr. Rukh has returned to his lab in the Carpathian Mountains. Inside, Janos turns the ray on his mothers eyes, hoping to restore her sight. After a few moments, she confirms that she can see. She tells him he has much work to do, but he tells her he is leaving in the morning for Paris. She warns him not to go, for he will find tragedy there. In case of tragedy, he says, keep the formula which he has written down and sealed in an envelope for his mother to keep.In Paris we see Dr. Benet in his office who sees many patients, using the ray to heal. One girl has her sight restored and she and her parents rejoice. At this moment Janos arrives and Benet tells him that his discovery is helping to heal many people. Benet tells Janos that the Nobel Prize has been awarded to Janos and that all Paris is waiting to honor him. Janos says it looks like he is late again and declares that only he can correctly harness its power. Benet reminds him that is why the discovery was too important to entrust to just one man. Saying the counter-active is still working, Janos asks about Diane. He is told that she is working for Lady Arabella and that she and Ronald are in love. Benet tells him that Diane will do nothing until she hears from Janos. He replies that will happen soon enough and leaves.Wandering through the city, Janos finds a man who looks like himself and promises to help the man. About the same height and build, they go off together.Lady Arabella is seen dictating to Diane, who types onto paper. The maid comes bringing the newspaper and giving it to Arabella. She reads the headline and gives it to Diane. It shows that Dr. Rukh has been found dead, his body mutilated by the effects of the Radium X.Diane and Ronald are seen at their wedding at the Church of the Six Saints. As they are leaving, Janos watches from a distance as they get into a car to leave. He looks up at the statues of the six saints and pictures each of them as representing himself, Benet, Diane, Ronald, Arabella and Francis. Taking a room facing the church, he plots to kill each of the other five people.At the Stevens home, Arabella is talking to Benet about the marriage and noted that Sir Francis has not come down from his room. She sends the butler up to see about him. Before the butler can get halfway up the stairs, one of the maids comes screaming into his arms. He goes up to see while Arabella questions the maid. She cannot speak but only screams. Rushing back down, the butler calls for Dr. Benet to come, saying only  Sir Francis! Sir Francis!. Entering his room, they find Francis dead on his bed with a look of horror on his face. Dr. Benet asks for an ultraviolet camera which he uses to shoot pictures of Francis eyes. Developing them, he sees captured in the reflection on the mans cornea the image of Janos.The next day there is a disturbance in the square below. The landlady (May Beatty) brings Janos his breakfast and the morning paper, telling him that one of the statues was destroyed. He sees in the paper the death of Sir Francis. Gazing at the second statue, he calls the name of Lady Arabella.The next day the papers announce the death of Lady Arabella, the third death in wake of the curse of Radium X. Diane and Ronald come into the bedroom where Dr. Benet and the authorities are with the body. He tells Diane not to look and for Ronald to take her away. Then he asks to show the Chief of the Surete (Georges Renavent) some evidence. As the lights are turned out, the cover is pulled back to reveal a glowing handprint on the victims neck. Benet says it was done by someone poisoned by Radium X. Meanwhile Diane blames herself for the deaths, saying they would all still be alive if she hadnt come on the expedition and married Ronald. He tells her not to think like that, saying he will fight with all his strength. She says how can you fight something you cannot see or touch?The paper headline shows that the second statue has been destroyed and people are upset. A discussion is held with Benet, Ronald and the Chief about Janos. It is suggested that the two men go into hiding. Ronald proposes a trap to draw Janos so they can arrest him. Benet says for the papers to announce that the remaining three will leave for an unknown destination after holding a lecture on Benets experiments with Radium X. He will invite distinguished scientists who will only be admitted by card which the police promise to verify. Benet warns that if the police fail to stop him at the gate that the house lights will be darkened at midnight (the time of the lecture) so that Janos can be seen glowing. It is a risk they are willing to take.The night of the lecture, the police are seen checking the cards of each scientist who enters. In the rain the last scientist, Professor Meiklejohn (Frank Reicher) is seen walking with his umbrella. Janos appears and stops him, introducing himself as someone else who remembers his lecture on radiology. Saying he is on the way to the lecture, the Professor locates his card in his pocket. Janos suggests they have a drink of Napoleon Brandy from his flask. They step aside and the flask is handed to him to drink. The touch kills Meiklejohn, who collapses. Janos takes the card and enters in his place. The police confirm him and he enters but remains outside so he can observe through a window.Inside, Benet greets everyone and tells them he must make final adjustments. Entering his lab with a gun, Benet looks around and heads for the outside door, opening it. Janos comes in and confronts him. The light is turned off, showing his glowing face and hands. Janos tells him he will kill the remaining three. Benet asks if he ever feels like he used to before the poison altered his brain. Janos answers  not often now.. When Benet reaches for his gun, Janos grabs his arm, killing him.Diane waits upstairs but is very anxious to come down. There is a knock at the door and it is opened, revealing Mother Rukh entering. Ronald greets her and she is told that Diane is upstairs. At that moment the lights are cut in the whole place. Diane lights a candle and Janos is seen going upstairs with his glowing face. She rushes into the bedroom and tries to close the door but he forces it open. He approaches to try and touch her but hesitates. Trying again, he announces he is unable to kill her and goes out. She faints. Outside on the landing, he faces his mother who tells him he broke the first rule of science. He says he needs time so he can kill Drake, taking out his kit for more of the antidote. As he does this, Mother Rukh strikes it with her cane tip, destroying the contents. As he begins to smoke, he tells her that maybe its better this way. Turning away, he goes upstairs and crashes through a window, falling to the ground below as a fireball. There is nothing left. The head of the Scientific Congress congratulates Mother Rukh for her sons work. Handing him the envelope, she says that he is dead but part of him will continue to help mankind.

Review: There is no doubt that during the decade of the 30s, the names of Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi became a sure guarantee of excellent performances in high quality horror films.
This formula would be repeated in several films through the decade, and director Lambert Hillyer's mix of horror and science fiction, "The Invisible Ray", is another of those minor classics they did in those years.In "The Invisible Ray", Dr. Janos Rukh (Boris Karloff) is a brilliant scientist who has invented a device able to show scenes of our planet's past captured in rays of light coming from the galaxy of Andromeda.
Given that this was a movie with Karloff and Lugosi, Colton puts a lot of emphasis on the horror side of his story, playing in a very effective way with the mad scientist archetype and adding a good dose of melodrama to spice things up.
One element that makes "The Invisible Ray" to stand out among other horror films of that era, is the way that Colton plays with morality through the story.
In many ways, "The Invisible Ray" is a modern tragedy about obsessions, guilt and revenge.A seasoned director of low-budget B-movies, filmmaker Lambert Hillyer got the chance to make 3 films for Universal Pictures when the legendary studio was facing serious financial troubles.
Finally, a word must be said about Hillyer's use of special effects: for an extremely low-budget film, they look a lot better than the ones in several A-movies of the era.As usual in a movie with Lugosi and Karloff, the performances by this legends are of an extraordinary quality.
Still, two of the movie highlights are the performances of Kemble Cooper as Mother Rukh, and Beulah Bondi as Lady Arabella, as the two actresses make the most of their limited screen time, making unforgettable their supporting roles.
Frank Lawton is also good in his role, but nothing surprising when compared to the rest of the cast.If one judges this movie under today's standards, it's very easy to dismiss it as another cheap science fiction film with bad special effects and carelessly jumbled pseudoscience.
One final thing worthy to point out is the interesting way the script handles the relationships between characters, specially the friendship and rivalry that exists between the obsessive Dr. Rukh and the cold Dr. Benet, as this allows great scenes between the two iconic actors.While nowhere near the Gothic expressionism of the "Frankenstein" movies, nor the elegant suspense of "The Black Cat", Lambert Hillyer's "The Invisible Ray" is definitely a minor classic amongst Universal Pictures' catalog of horror films.
With one of the most interesting screenplays of 30s horror, this mixture of suspense, horror and science fiction is one severely underrated gem that even now delivers a good dose of entertainment courtesy of two of the most amazing actors the horror genre ever had: Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi.
Both are crisp, clean-cut fantasies that are very light on horror content despite the fantastic elements.Just as Lugosi went wild in The Raven, much needs to be said of Karloff's hamming in The Invisible Ray. The one aspect of the story that is particularly unsatisfying is that Karloff's character, Rukh, acts so madly before he is poisoned by Radium X, that there really isn't much of a change once he starts glowing.
THE INVISIBLE RAY (Universal, 1935, released January 1936), directed by Lambert Hillyer, is the third screen teaming of two horror greats, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, with KARLOFF (as he is billed in the casting credits with all capital letters), supporting a mustache and curly dark hair, this time dominating the storyline.
Not quite as memorable or as successful as their previous efforts, THE BLACK CAT (1934) and THE RAVEN (1935), both suggested on Edgar Allan Poe, in which the horror relies on their characters of good versus evil, THE INVISIBLE RAY, often classified as a horror film because of Karloff and Lugosi, is actually a science fiction story with three separate chapters.
PART I: Set in an isolated castle somewhere in the mountains as the thunderstorm rages, Doctor Janos Rukh (Karloff) is a middle-aged but brilliant scientist with a young wife, Diana (Frances Drake), and an elderly mother (Violet Kemble-Cooper), who is not only wise, but blind.
Rukh prepares to reveal his latest discovery to a group of scholars: Doctor Felix Benet (Bela Lugosi), Sir Francis Stevens (Walter Kingsford), along with handsome young Ronald Drake (Frank Lawton) and Lady Arabelle Stevens (Beulah Bondi) as spectators.
Rukh is even more upset when he learns that Diane now loves Drake, thus, as in Agatha Christie's acclaimed mystery novel, "And Then There Were None," Rukh prepares to kill off those he felt betrayed him one by one, and with each death comes the destruction of statues that stand on the side of a London church.THE INVISIBLE RAY is very much a production that predates the science fiction fantasies of the 1950s.
On the lighter side is character actress, May Beatty, in her humorous characterization as the nosy, gossipy cockney landlady.It seems interesting to note, however, that with this third installment of Karloff-Lugosi films that Universal didn't attempt to team these two masters of horror to fulfill the trilogy in having them paired in another Edgar Allan Poe based thriller, something like "The Tell-Tale Heart" for example, but as with the aforementioned predecessors, it would have been more Hollywood than Poe. THE INVISIBLE RAY, however, is in a class by itself, but hardly gets the recognition it deserves.THE INVISIBLE RAY, once a frequent late show or Chiller Theater replay on commercial television decades ago, played sporadically on the Sci-Fi Cable Channel in the 1990s during the late night hours where vampires and ghouls were its only viewers.
Karloff, austere and embittered in his Carpathian mountain retreat, is Janos Rukh, genius science who reads ancient beams of light to ascertain events in the great geological pastparticularly the crash of a potent radioactive meteor in Africa.
Joining him is the ever-elegant Lugosi (as a rare hero), who studies "astro-chemistry." Frances Drake is the lovely, underused young wife; Frank Lawton the romantic temptation; and the divine Violet Kemble Cooper is Mother Rukh, in a performance worthy of Maria Ospenskya.The story moves swiftly in bold episodes, with special effects that are still handsome.
The mixture of horror, drama and sci-fi are a perfect blend, while the acting on the part of Lugosi and Karloff couldn't be better.Director Lambert Hillyer captures a lot of elements that James Whale did so often.
THE INVISIBLE RAY (1936) Starring Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Frances Drake, Frank Lawton, Walter Kingsford Directed by Lambert HillyerUniversal's third pairing of Lugosi and Karloff strays in to the realm of science fiction while retaining many of the elements of horror for which the studio was famous.
Janos Rukh (Karloff) is a brilliant, workaholic scientist who lives with his beautiful wife (Drake) and mother in a sprawling gothic castle/laboratory/observatory in the storm-swept Carpathian Mountains (where else?).Sir Francis Stevens (Kingsford) and wife, accompanied by the skeptical Dr. Felix Benet (Lugosi), arrive to see Rukh's latest discovery.
As with all such things, there is a price...Benet cannot promise what effects the counteractive will have on Rukh's mind.For a film released in 1936, THE INVISIBLE RAY has some pretty good special effects.
A middle segment that takes place in Africa is less eerie, but it does provide a nice setting for us to first see Rukh's glowing face and hands.THE INVISIBLE RAY is a fun movie to watch despite (or because of?) a few flaws, like the fact that all of the Paris newspapers seem to be printed in English.
With a special telescope, Dr. Janos Rukh (Boris Karloff) successfully proves that years ago a meteorite landed in Africa containing an unknown, but extremely powerful element.
Living isolated in a castle with his blind mother (Violet Kemble Cooper) and his wife Diane (Frances Drake), he makes a private presentation of the recently discovered invisible ray to his colleague Dr. Felix Benet (Bela Lugosi), and succeeds in being sponsored by Sir Francis Stevens (Walter Kingsford) and his wife Lady Arabella Stevens (Beulah Bondi) in an expedition to Nigeria, where he believe he could find a meteor with Radium X.
Early sci-fi horror film with good performances from Karloff and Lugosi....
THE INVISIBLE RAY is a highly enjoyable horror film that seems way ahead of its time, coming as it does in 1936 and making use of meteors and Radium X in its plot design.
BORIS KARLOFF is the scientist whose ideas are "stolen", or so he believes, by others and goes about seeking an unusual method of revenge, killing off his intended victims one by one.FRANK LAWTON and FRANCES DRAKE are the romantic leads with BEULAH BONDI playing an aristocratic Lady Arabella who is one of the victims.
But the film is mainly a showcase for BORIS KARLOFF as the mad scientist, with BELA LUGOSI doing extremely well (and underplaying effectively) the role of a colleague among those on the "victim" list.Universal obviously planned this as a low-budget feature, but the sets are impressive, all the technical credits are more than adequate, and the story is well-paced and effective throughout.Well worth viewing and certainly one of the better Karloff/Lugosi joint ventures..
Radioactive Man. Brilliant scientist Janos Rukh (Boris Karloff) discovers a rare element called Radium X that has unusual properties.
Enraged by this and his wife (Frances Drake) leaving him for another man (Frank Lawton), Rukh fakes his own death and uses his lethal touch to seek revenge against those who have wronged him.Another good Karloff/Lugosi film.
Not the best of Universal's 1930s horror films or even the Karloff/Lugosi pairings, but a very good one nonetheless..
Frances Drake and Violet Kemble-Cooper are good though, while the top-notch performances of genre masters Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi are the film's best asset.
The invisible ray comes from Andromeda and allows Dr Rukh (Boris Karloff) to see a meteorite that hit Africa millions of years ago.
He goes in search of evidence with a party that includes his wife Diane (Frances Drake), Dr Benet (Bela Lugosi), Sir Francis (Walter Kingsford), Lady Arabella (Beulah Bondi) and non-entity Ronald (Frank Lawton).
Following only five or so years after Dracula and Frankenstein, The Invisible Ray boasts one of Lugosi's best roles, and one of his comparatively rare portrayals of a protagonist rather than antagonist.The film also includes some pretty cool special effects for the time, suspenseful pacing, and effective horror movie atmosphere.
of the Karloff-Lugosi collaboration features in which it was clearly Karloff in the lead with Bela in support.Karloff is scientist Janos Rukh, who lives in a castle in the Carpathian Mountains with his wife Diane (Frances Drake) and blind mother (Kemble Cooper).
After "The Black Cat" in 1934 "The Raven" in 1935 the two horror icons Karloff & Lugosi teamed up again in "The Invisible Ray in 1936.
The Invisible Ray shows Bela Lugosi (Dracula) & Boris Karloff (Frankenstein) in roles very different & a departure from their signature identification stamps.
"The Invisible Ray" is a well crafted horror/sci fi film that features Boris Karloff in a new early Mad Scientist role and he plays it well.
The Invisible Ray (1936)*** (out of 4) Dr. Janos Rukh (Boris Karloff) discovers a new form of radiation and he hopes to do great things with it but he becomes poisoned and soon everything he touches dies.This here was the third teaming between Karloff and Bela Lugosi and as fans often point out this film here isn't nearly in the same league as THE BLACK CAT or THE RAVEN.
What we got a spike in were old dark house movies and more science-fiction type of films, which is what THE INVISIBLE RAY here.The film isn't a complete success but if you're a fan of the two stars then it's certainly good enough to hold your attention.
Lambert Hillyer directed this science fiction story starring Boris Karloff as Dr. Janos Rukh, who organizes an expedition to Africa to locate a newly discovered meteorite of reputed power.
On a stormy night, a group of people—Lady Stevens (Beulah Bondi), her husband Sir Francis (Walter Kingsford), their nephew Ronald (Frank Lawton) and Dr. Benet (Bela Lugosi)—arrive at a castle in the Carpathians to witness an experiment by Dr. Janos Rukh (Boris Karloff, sporting curly hair and 'tache), who believes that a ray from a nebula in the Andromeda system will reveal secrets about the earth's distant history.
The guests are astounded when Rukh shows them a projection of a meteor hitting Africa, an event that occurred a few thousand million years in the past.Convinced that the meteor has left deposits of a previously unknown element, Rukh and his visitors launch an expedition to the dark continent, joined on the venture by Rukh's beautiful wife Diane (Frances Drake); going on ahead of the others, Rukh locates the element—Radium X—but suffers from radiation poisoning in the process, which leaves him deadly to the touch and just a little unhinged.When I was a kid, I had a model figure of Lugosi as Dracula that had glow-in-the-dark hands and face; in this film, it is Karloff who has the luminous head and hands, the result of exposure to the radioactive element with which he creates an all-purpose ray that can both kill and cure.
As fun as the sight of a glowing Karloff is, if it wasn't for the teaming of the Frankenstein star with Lugosi, I imagine that this clunky sci-fi potboiler from Universal would have been all but forgotten by now, suffering as it does from a meandering pseudo-scientific plot that can't decide what it wants to be (sci-fi, jungle adventure, horror, or murder mystery), a rather leaden pace, and a dull illicit romance between Diane and Ronald.3.5 out of 10, not rounded up to 4 because the ray doesn't actually make things invisible..
Universal Pictures teamed their two titans of terror once again in The Invisible Ray. Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi teamed many times, not always in the best of films.
Karloff plays Dr. Janos Rukh, a brilliant scientist who has invented a technique to look into the past through a telescope, and finds out that a meteor has hit the earth thousands of years ago.
Otherwise, "The Invisible Ray" is a wonderfully entertaining film which should satisfy every lover of classic Horror/Sci-Fi cinema, and a must-see for all my fellow Lugosi/Karloff fans..
In this entry the dominant role goes to Boris Karloff.Through specially designed astronomical equipment, Dr. Janos Rukh (Karloff) demonstrates to colleagues Dr. Felix Benet (Bela Lugosi), Sir Frances Stevens (Walter Kingsford), his wife Lady Stevens (Beulah Bondi) and their nephew Ronald Drake (Frank Lawton), that a meteorite containing a powerful element, landed on the African continent many millions of years in the past.
Dr. Felix Benet (Bela Lugosi) develops an antidote--but Rukh starts to go mad due to the Radium AND the antidote and sets out to kill all he believed wronged him.The plot is silly and the "effects" that make Karloff glow in the dark are laughable, but this is still a fun little chiller.
However, tragedy strikes while on the expedition and the good doctor ends up becoming exposed to the element; which makes him glow in the dark, and also sends him mad...The biggest draw of the film is undoubtedly the fact that it stars the two biggest horror stars of its day - Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, and both give excellent performances.
The science here was - to say the least - a bit rough around the edges (thus science fiction, with the emphasis on the fiction) but somehow Rukh harnesses some sort of ray from Andromeda that allows him to look at the earth "several thousand million years ago." In that pre historic time, a huge meteorite slammed into Africa, leaving deposits of a substance the scientists call "Radium X" - which can heal and destroy.
A large portion of the movie is set rather tediously in Africa, on a search for the meteorite deposits, which Rukh eventually finds and harnesses to create a great weapon, unfortunately infecting himself with some sort of disease that makes him a great weapon as well.Karloff and Lugosi were both pretty good here.
He has finally gotten the support of a well financed expedition led by Sir Francis Stevens and his wife Lady Arabella Stevens (Walter Kingsford and Beulah Bondi), and has another scientist, a Frenchman named Dr. Felix Benet (Lugosi), Rukh's young wife Diane (Frances Drake) and a friend and protégée of the Stevenses named Ronald Drake (Frank Lawton).Before they leave, Rukh is warned by his mother (Violet Kemble Cooper) that he is possibly seeking wisdom that he shouldn't and it may end in tragedy.
As this is a science fiction story, he finds the image of Rukh on the the plate, but Benet drops the plate accidentally and it shatters.The film is good on many grounds, the most interesting that for a change Karloff and Lugosi are not unsympathetic towards each other.
Obviously, his knowledge of science came from an undetermined source.Well, Rukh demonstrates his invisible ray to a team led by Dr. Felix Benet, and their look back into the past reveals a giant meteor that descended to Earth millions of years ago, landing in Africa.
Karloff plays Dr. Janos Rukh, creator of a device that can capture light rays through his telescope in the Carpathian Mountains and translate them into pictures that form a visual history of the universe.Before several guests, including Lugosi as Dr. Benet, an astro-chemist who had previously scoffed at Rukh's theories, he demonstrates the existence of an unknown radioactive element, here termed "Radium X", contained in a meteor that fell to Earth in darkest Africa several thousand years ago.
Dr. Felix Benet (Bela Lugosi of "Dracula") heralds Dr. Janos Rukh's discovery, and they embark on an expedition to Africa to find the meteorite.
Really good horror flick featuring to of the greatest, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi.