The Invisible Man (1933)

A scientist (Claude Rains) has discovered a serum that renders him invisible. Unfortunately, he not only doesn't have an antidote but the serum contains a drug that brings on madness. Based on the 1897 H.G. Wells novel, this is wonderful mixture of science fiction, horror and comedy. The director James Whale seemed to have an affinity for dark material laced with wit and he's working from a sharply written economic screenplay here. Rains is really marvelous and all the more so in that it's voice acting since we don't actually see him (he's covered in bandages) till the very end of the film. That scene stealer Una O'Connor upstages Rains though when they share screen time. When she screams, she doesn't just scream, she gurgles it out from her diaphragm before letting it spew out! In recent times, I've heard a lot of talk about subtext, mostly in regards to Whale's sexuality, but really, it's just a good well made yarn. With Gloria Stuart (50 years before TITANIC), Henry Travers and even Walter Brennan, John Carradine and Dwight Frye pop up.