THE INVISIBLE WOMAN (1940)
Article #228 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 10-30-2001
Posting date: 3-15-2002
A scientist discovers a method to make people invisible and searches for a volunteer for the experiment. A woman seeking revenge on her boss is the volunteer.
This invisible (wo)man comedy starts out all right but gets fairly tiresome after a bit, due to the lack of really interesting gags. However, a familiar crop of faces adds some fun to the proceedings; John Barrymore in one of his last roles, Oscar Homolka, Virginia Bruce, and Shemp Howard all pop up at one time or another.
Maybe I’m being a bit cranky, but I have to admit that I’m not really all that fond of comedies about invisibility; the concept just seems a little too easy. I don’t know how many invisible man comedies there are out there, but I suspect there’s a few too many for my taste.