Sunday, September 29, 2013

The Invisible Ray (1936)

Director: Lambert Hillyer                                  Writer: John Colton
Film Score: Franz Waxman                             Cinematography: George Robinson
Starring: Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Frances Drake and Beulah Bondi

This was the last year of production for Universal under the control of the Laemmles, before bad business decisions and financial downturn forced them to give up control of the company and sell out. It was also one of the last films that Lugosi and Karloff appeared in together during their careers. The Invisible Ray stars Karloff as a crazed scientist who has been able to harness light rays from a distant galaxy and is able to show the images from the past that are captured within the light. It’s a farfetched theory that is cleverly done by the art department at Universal, complete with giant telescope, a monstrous computer, and a globe that transmits the images on the domed ceiling. Of course this leads to an African safari to recover the new atomic element that was shown crashing to Earth “thousands of millions of years ago:” Radium X.

The story is so corny that it seems as if it should be bad. But it’s actually quite charming. Lugosi plays a fellow scientist who has been at odds with Karloff over his theories. The great Beulah Bondi is Lady Stevens, whose husband is another famous scientist. And her nephew is Frank Lawton, who falls in love with Karloff’s young wife, Frances Drake, who only married Karloff because it was her late father’s wish. In Africa Karloff locates the space element only to discover he has been poisoned by the intense radiation from it. Lugosi is able to develop a counteractive treatment to prevent further degeneration of Karloff, but it can’t cure him. When Karloff is under the influence of the radiation sickness his skin glows in the dark and he can kill with a touch of his hand. After his treatment, he naturally rushes off to complete his discovery, leaving Drake in the hands of Lawton, both of them smitten with each other but unable to do anything about it.

Karloff gives a solid performance, as always, but it is Lugosi who dominates the screen in their scenes together. While Karloff is the crazed villain, Lugosi stands as the force for good, the scientist who wants to use the discovery for curing people. As in most Universal thrillers, the couple in love are fairly generic. Frances Drake is good, so far as her part allows her, but little more. And Frank Lawton is the usual interchangeable British love interest. The one highlight in the supporting cast is Beulah Bondi, who would be nominated for an Academy Award that year for The Gorgeous Hussey. She was rarely seen in thrillers and does a great job here, but one wishes she could have played more villainous roles like those played by Judith Anderson. There’s also a nice little cameo appearance by Frank Reicher who played Captain Englehorn in King Kong.

Director Lambert Hillyer does a decent job, though nothing like his atmospheric masterpiece Dracula's Daughter from later that year. The script was written by John Colton who had written The Werewolf of London the previous year, and this film retains the same Jekyll and Hyde theme, with Karloff gradually succumbing to the overwhelming destructive urges caused by the radiation poison. Even the costuming reflects the influence of the Robert Louis Stevenson story, with Karloff sporting a flat hat and cape in the later half of the picture while he wreaks his revenge on those he believes have wronged him. One of the most memorable aspects of the film, however, is the score by the great Franz Waxman, who had recently finished scoring Bride of Frankenstein. It would be nice to see an extended treatment of this score, as it is one of only a handful of horror scores by the great film composers of the era. The Invisible Ray is not a horror film, per se, and it’s not terribly suspenseful, but it is entertaining and certainly recommended for fans of the era, and of Lugosi and Karloff especially.

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