1. Film (1933). Universal. Directed by James Whale, starring Claude Rains, Gloria Stuart, Henry Travers, William Harrigan, Una O'Connor. Screenplay R C Sherriff, Philip Wylie, based on The Invisible Man (1897) by H G Wells. 71 minutes, cut to 56 minutes. Black and white.
This excellent black comedy tells of a scientist who discovers a Drug that causes Invisibility but whose side-effect is megalomania. Wearing black goggles over a face wrapped in bandages, he is memorably menacing. After a series of crimes he is trapped by police (his footprints in the snow betray his presence) and shot, slowly regaining visibility as his life ebbs away. Whale's direction is full of his usual idiosyncratic touches, with much humour derived from baffled minor characters. John Fulton's special effects are very sophisticated for the period, and were widely imitated. One of the most successful Wells adaptations, this made Claude Rains a star almost purely on the basis of his mellifluous voice. The Invisible Man is archetypal in its not-unsympathetic portrait of the Scientist as over-reacher – it contains the much-copied line: "I meddled in things that Man must leave alone."
2. Universal's progressively inferior and silly variations on the theme – not true sequels – were The Invisible Man Returns (1940), The Invisible Woman (1940), The Invisible Agent (1942), The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944) and Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951). Over 30 other films use the invisibility theme, some crediting Wells's novel as a source.
3. UK tv series (1958-1959). ATV. Created and produced by Ralph Smart, starring the voice of Tim Turner. Writers included Philip Levene. Two seasons, 26 25-minute episodes. Black and white.
In this un-Wells-like version, the unfortunate hero divides his time between seeking an antidote for his condition and fighting crime. Lisa Daniely and Deborah Watling played the hero's sister and niece.
4. US tv series (1975-1976). Universal TV for NBC. Created and produced by Harve Bennett, Steve Bochco. Directors included Robert Michael Lewis, Alan Levi, Sigmund Neufeld Jr. Writers included Bochco, James D Parriott. One season, 75-minute pilot plus 12 50-minute episodes. Colour.
David McCallum stars as a scientist who discovers a way of turning himself invisible but cannot regain visibility. A plastic-surgeon friend makes him a skin-coloured mask identical with his pre-invisibility face. The pilot episode concerns his attempts to keep the formula from the military; in later episodes the plots revolve, tepidly, around his work as a secret agent.
5. US tv series as Gemini Man (1976). The above series had mediocre ratings, so in 1976 Universal replaced McCallum with Ben Murphy, changed the title to Gemini Man, and started the story again from the beginning. One season, 75-minute pilot plus 11 50-minute episodes (only 5 broadcast by NBC). Colour.
Murphy plays a secret agent who can control his invisibility with a wristwatch-like device, but can remain safely invisible for only 15 minutes a day. This version flopped, too, and was cancelled before all completed episodes were shown. The producer, Harve Bennett, was having greater success elsewhere with The Six Million Dollar Man.
6. UK tv serialization (1984). BBC1. Adaptation of the original Wells novel by James Andrew Hall. Produced by Barry Letts, directed by Brian Lighthill. Six 30-minute instalments. Colour. Griffin, the Invisible Man, was played by Pip Donaghy. [PN/JB/DRL]
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