And here would be the last serious Invisible Man film Universal made, but this was a fine effort before chucking the monster alongside comedians.
Robert Griffin (Jon Hall) is recently arrived in England after a lengthy stay in British Tanganyika. His stay was more at the state's insistence, if you catch my meaning. Griffin is in bad shape though, as he is still suffering from a rather bad case of brain fever, but his head is clear enough to remember his former partners.
Paying them a visit does little to alleviate his mood. Sir Jasper Herrick (Lester Matthews) looks to be doing okay, what with his family mansion and all, but he and his wife Irene (Gale Sondergaard) make it clear they aren't going to pay him. Oh, it's not that they don't want to of course, but rather Jasper had to spend their fortune (and Griffin's cut) to pay off Jasper's creditors. Why, they are barely keeping a roof over their head as it is.
Griffin doesn't care for the sound of that. He threatens to sue, and he has the original copy of their agreement to back him up. Irene drugs him, steals the contract and has Griffin chucked outside. During the rainstorm Griffin tries to walk across a footbridge, but the weather and his drugged gait sends him tumbling into the raging river.
Thankfully, local drunk Herbert Higgins(Leon Errol) finds Griffin and drags him ashore. When Griffin comes to, he tells Higgins of his bad luck. Higgins, thinking his ship has finally come in, contacts a local lawyer (Ian Wolfe). The meeting is less legal talk and more blackmail. Sir Fredrick Travers (Leyland Hodgson) is the law in those parts, and he doesn't care for troublemakers who go around and insinuate that his friends are less than utterly perfect. Griffin finds himself run out of town.
Lost in the countryside, Griffin comes across Dr. Peter Drury (John Carradine). Drury has a rather interesting experiment, namely the act of turning living tissue invisible. He's had plenty of success with dogs and birds, but he wants to use a human next. Griffin, having nothing to lose, would be the perfect subject. Griffin agrees, but rather than stick around he skips starkers back to town for his revenge.
His acts do cause some commotion though, putting reporter Mark Foster (Alan Curtis) on the trail. Unknown to Foster, however, is that Griffin is carrying a grudge against him too, as Mark is engaged to Julie (Evelyn Ankers), the Herrick's only daughter. Griffin wants her too, but an invisible man might have an issue wooing someone without a face. Going back to Drury, he finds the cure, namely a total blood transfusion. Drury, having some scruples after all, won't change him back, as the blood needed would kill a normal sized man. Griffin, however, notes that the doctor is normal sized. One transfusion and a burning cabin later, Griffin is whole and walking back to collect his reward. Of course, he may not have removed all the evidence, plus there is the possibility that his cure is only temporary. Can Griffin get his revenge?
A rather decent note to go out on. Curious for a 1940's B picture is the morality. No one is purely good or evil. Is Griffin a lunatic? Are the Herricks thieves and possible attempted murderers? The movie doesn't say one way or the other.
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