The Invisible Man (1933) - Rains mounts the screen in Whale's memorable adaptation

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Sinister darkness and experimental menace hangs heavy over this fine poster for James Whale's The Invisible Man

A mad scientist is discovered to be an invisible man, hidden in a house in a village. Soon his pranks on his fellow men turn deadly.

 

The Invisible Man is written by R.C Sherriff (Miss Mabel (1958, TV movie)), with Preston Sturges (The Great Moment (1944)) contributing elements, adapting H.G. Wells' (Love and Mr Lewisham (1900)) same-titled 1897 novel, and directed by great English-born American filmmaker James Whale (Journey's End (1930)).

Wells' story of a scientist's clandestine hunt for success and power is the stuff of myths, and Whale has supplied fun supporting performances, rapidly edited action and high production values. Not least due to the perfect special effects, which are both amusing and far ahead of their time, The Invisible Man is a blast. Claude Rains (Naked City (1960, TV-series)) rules in the title part that changed his trajectory from a theater career that he was ready to vacate at this point, into major movie stardom.

 

Related posts:

James Whale: The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) - The magnificent and mysterious monster bride

Frankenstein (1931) - Whale's iconic, dark horror classic 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 328k $

Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain

[The Invisible Man premiered 31 October (Colorado) and runs 70 minutes. Several writers, directors and stars were attached to the film prior to production, and Universal Pictures were in bad shape at the time and had locked down completely for many weeks in early 1933. Shooting took place from June - August 1933 in California. The film opened to strong reviews and big audience interest, although the total gross is regrettably not known. Whale returned with By Candlelight (1933). Rains returned in Crime without Passion (1934); Gloria Stuart (Titanic (1997)) in Roman Scandals (1933). The Invisible Man is certified fresh at 95 % with an 8.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Invisible Man?

Caesar and Cleopatra (1945) - See Claude Rains revel in Shaw's words in lavish adaptation

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Beautifully painted, caligraphed and designed poster for Gabriel Pascal's Caesar and Cleopatra

QUICK REVIEW:

In this adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's (The Apple Cart (1929)) play (with screenplay by Shaw himself) Caesar is a wise, good-humored pacifist, who plays mentor to the beautiful, capricious Cleopatra in Egypt, before SPOILER he sails back for Rome.

Claude Rains (Casablanca (1942)) as the, reportedly, first actor ever, received a 1 mio. $ salary to play the part of the Roman emperor, - and the result? - What splendor! He gives a great performance and plays Caesar with real gusto.
Shaw's rich, meaningful text is done full justice here in beautiful Technicolor and silly costumes in the most expensive English film production ever, at its time, which got an Oscar nomination for its art direction by John Bryan (Great Expectations (1946)). Its production was prolonged, because it was filmed in England during WWII, and its female star Vivien Leigh (Gone With the Wind (1939)) suffered a miscarriage after a fall on the set. 
The film is directed by Romanian expatriate Gabriel Pascal, whose other directorial credit Major Barbara (1941) was also a Shaw adaptation.

Claude Rains and Vivien Leigh, the stars of Gabriel Pascal's Caesar and Cleopatra

Watch the original trailer here

Cost: 5.2 mil. $
Box office: 2.2 mil. $
= Huge flop
[The film made 1.3 mil. $ (62 % of its total gross) in the States, making it one of the most popular British films there up to date. 815k people paid admission in France, where it was released in 1948. But the film suffered under its own inflated costs and a perhaps inauspicious time of release in world history.]

What do you think of Caesar and Cleopatra?
Other Shaw adaptations that are worth looking out?

Casablanca (1942) - The perfect film

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Beautiful original poster for Michael Curtiz's Casablanca

QUICK REVIEW:

A perfect film, master director Michael Curtiz's (Mildred Pierce (1945)) Casablanca may also be the best film ever made.
American Rick has a 'café' in Casablanca, Morocco, during World War II, and the Germans are closing in day by day, when the Czechoslovakian resistance leader Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) seeks refuge there with the woman, Rick had thought he would never see again; Ilse.
That's all good. But: Why is Casablanca so good?
It shows the purest and most beautiful in man during the worst darkness of our history. Humphrey Bogart (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)) is mesmerizing as the cynic with a humanistic inclination, and Ingrid Bergman (Spellbound (1945)) is as beautiful as an angel, - and all the supporting roles, whether they are humorous reliefs or gripping, they are extremely well-played, and well-cast, to make for continuous viewer's joy.

Dooley Wilson and Humphrey Bogart as Sam and Rick in Michael Curtiz's Casablanca

Curtiz's expressive lighting and the many great scenes and lines, - and the music, Herman Hupfeld's As Time Goes By especially, stays with you forever.
Casablanca is a marvelous, hailed masterpiece about good people's actions during the Nazi insanity, made by an 1920's exiled, Austrian-Hungarian Jew, Michael Curtiz, who himself had family members who were refugees due to the antisemitism of the Germans.
Casablanca won Oscars for Best Picture, Director and Screenplay and was also a commercial success that has lived on and still begs to be seen over and over again. It is continuously at the top of Best Films lists everywhere and currently inhabits # 28 on IMDb's Top 250. 

Related post:

Top 10: The best B/W movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

Watch the gorgeous trailer here

Budget: 0.8 mil. $
Box office: 3.7 mil. $ (only U.S. initial release)
= Big hit 

What do you think of this cinema classic?
Stories about the film, your experience with it, or its stars and/or filmmakers are welcomed