The fourth entry in Universal's multi-picture deal of works inspired by the novel by H.G. Wells, "Invisible Agent" may be the worst of the bunch (the next, "The Invisible Man's Revenge" (1944) is a mess, too). It's bad enough that it adulterates "The Invisible Man" story into rah-rah propaganda, but it's also incredibly stupid about it, to the point of having contradictory effects. Sure, Karl Heiser seems like he's auditioning a generation too early for Sergeant Schultz in the "Hogan's Heroes" TV series, and the Nazi minions are pushed around by the Invisible Agent like they're the Keystone Kops. None of it's funny, even though it was intended to be, but that's hardly the biggest problem. Worse is that the hero, the Invisible Agent, is arguably more boorish, incompetent and racist than the buffoonish Nazis in the picture.
Frank Raymond, the descendant of Jack Griffin, the original Invisible Man of the book and the 1933 film of the same name, agrees to become invisible to aid the Allies cause in WWII. Once transparent, the first thing he does is get incredibly lucky that the Nazis didn't shoot him in his parachute because they were dumbfounded by his disappearing act. Next, instead of going about quiet espionage for vital information, he knocks Heiser about, alerting the Germans and the Japanese agents to his presence in Germany. Besides jeopardizing a mission that was supposed to retrieve intelligence on a large-scale upcoming attack on the United States, Frank also puts fellow agent Maria's safety at risk. Oblivious, he also falls into the trap of Nazi Conrad Stauffer, and fortunate for Frank, the Nazi's slight display of superior intelligence is no match for Frank's fists--again. Later, Frank again puts Maria's life in danger, as well as that of the old man, another spy for the Allies, who has his hands broken and is never rescued due to the egregious incompetence of Frank who makes a sleazy phone call to Maria, who he by now has the hots for (he even watches her undress, whistles at her and surprises her with a kiss while he's invisible). But, never mind, at least Frank never seems to mind the fate of the old man for the rest of the picture. Nope, instead, he blames Maria of being a double agent! Then, gets himself caught by the Japanese. Despite his unfounded suspicions, Frank rescues Maria for her ability to fly a Nazi plane to England. Again, he's extraordinarily lucky that not one of the dumbfounded Nazis fires upon him as he carries the seemingly-flying Maria to the plane they confiscate and, again, is fortunate that they receive cloud cover as they're fired upon by anti-aircraft weapons.
Besides being incredibly reckless and stupid, Frank also displays his racism from a relatively mild crack about the German way of thinking to the textbook racist comment, "I can't tell you Japs apart." Which is especially ludicrous given that the Austro-Hungarian-born Peter Lorre, seemingly preparing for his future Mr. Moto role, plays the main Japanese antagonist. At first, I assumed he was playing a German. Moreover, with Frank's creepy behavior and unjustified suspicions towards Maria, her comment about women being treated like dogs by the Nazis rings hollow.
None of this is to say that making a mockery of Nazis couldn't be both effective ideologically and artistically. Charlie Chaplin did it in "The Great Dictator" (1940), and Ernst Lubitsch did it earlier in 1942 with "To Be or Not to Be," to name two of the earliest and most successful examples. "Invisible Agent," on the other hand, undermines its own propaganda with the stupidity of its hero and the unevenness of its comedic treatment. Jon Hall is also a pitiful successor to the Invisible Men of Claude Rains and Vincent Price, or, heck, even Virginia Bruce in the surprisingly funny "The Invisible Woman" (1940). Although there was some potential to this scenario, it seems that writer Curt Siodmak, who himself escaped Nazi Germany, didn't have a good sense for comedy. "Invisible Agent" probably would've worked better had he stuck to the procedural elements and detective plots that were effective in his other Universal horror films such as the "The Invisible Man Returns" (1940) and "The Wolf Man" (1941).
The one thing this and most transparent man films have going for them are the visual effects. For the third time, John P. Fulton received an Oscar nomination for his traveling matte work on one of Universal's invisibility films, and he surely would've received another had the category existed at the time of the original "The Invisible Man" (1933). For "Invisible Agent," Fulton portrayed the usual gimmicks for drinking and smoking, as well as those involving clothes, but he also showed the Invisible Man taking a bath and applying cold cream to his face, which with a towel and shades, restore part of his appearance.
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