The Invisible Man (film)

The Invisible Man is a 1933 film about a scientist who finds a means of achieving invisibility but, in doing so, becomes murderously insane.

Directed by James Whale. Written by R. C. Sherrif, based on H. G. Wells' 1897 science fiction novel.

H.G. Well's Fantastic Sensation (taglines)

Dr. Jack Griffin

All right, you fools. You've brought it on yourselves! Everything would've come right if you'd only left me alone. You've driven me near madness with your peering through the keyholes and gaping through the curtains, and now you'll suffer for it! You're crazy to know who I am, aren't you?! All right! I'll show you! Here is a souvenir for you! And one for you! I'll show you who I am, and what I am! [laughs madly]
[as he takes off his clothes] They've asked for it, the country bumpkins. This will give them a bit of a shock, something to write home about. A nice bedtime story for the kids, too, if they want it.
Are you satisfied now, you fools?! It's easy, really, if you're clever. A few chemicals mixed together, that's all, and flesh and blood and bone just fade away! [lifts a bottle filled with a serum] A little of this injected under the skin of the arm every day for a month. An invisible man can rule the world! Nobody will see him come, nobody will see him go. He can hear every secret! He can rob, and wreck, and kill! [laughs madly]
Just a scientific experiment at first, that's all. To do something no other man in the world had done. But there's more to it than that, Kemp - I know now. It came to me suddenly. The drugs I took seemed to light up my brain. Suddenly I realized the power I held. The power to rule, to make the world grovel at my feet! [laughs] We'll soon put the world right now, Kemp, you and I.
I must have a partner, Kemp. A visible partner, to help me in the little things. You're my partner, Kemp. We'll begin with a reign of terror. A few murders here and there. Murders of great men, murders of little men, just to show we make no distinction. We might even wreck a train or two - just these fingers around the signalman's throat, that's all...
Put a warm rug in the car. It's cold outside when you have to go about naked.
The secret of invisibility lies there in my books. I shall work in Kemp's laboratory till I find the way back. There is a way back, Flora! And then I shall come to you. I shall offer my secret to the world, with all its terrible power! The nations of the world will bid for it - thousands, millions! The nation that wins my secret can sweep the world with invisible armies!
Power, I said! Power to walk into the gold vaults of the nations, into the secrets of kings, into the Holy of Holies. Power to make multitudes run squealing in terror at the touch of my little invisible finger. Even the moon's frightened of me! Frightened to death! The whole world's frightened to death!
Thank you, Kemp, for opening the window. You're a true friend, Kemp. A man of trust. I've no time now, but believe me, as surely as the moon will set and the sun will rise, I shall kill you tomorrow night. I shall kill you even if you hide in the deepest cave of the Earth. At ten o'clock tomorrow night, I shall kill you.
[his last words] I knew you would come to me, Flora. I wanted to come back to you. My darling... I failed. I meddled in things... that man must leave alone...

Other

Constable Jaffers: He's invisible, that's what's the matter with him. If he gets the rest of them clothes off, we'll never catch him in a thousand years.

Dialogue

Dr. Cranley: Here's something, Kemp.

Dr. Kemp: What is it? Bad news?

Dr. Cranley: It's only a rough note. A list of chemicals. And the last on the list is monocane.

Dr. Kemp: Monocane? What is monocane?

Dr. Cranley: Monocane's a terrible drug.

Dr. Kemp: I never heard of it.

Dr. Cranley: You wouldn't, Kemp. It's never used now. I didn't know it was even made. It's a drug that's made from a flower that's grown in India. It draws colour from everything it touches. Years ago, they tried it for bleaching cloth. They gave it up because it destroyed the material.

Dr. Kemp: That doesn't sound very terrible.

Dr. Cranley: I know, but it does something else. It was tried out on some poor animal. A dog, I believe. It was injected under the skin, and it turned the dog dead white, like a marble statue.

Dr. Kemp: Is that so?

Dr. Cranley: Yes, and it also sent it raving mad.

Dr. Kemp: You surely don't think...?

Dr. Cranley: I only pray to God that Griffin hasn't been meddling with this ghastly stuff.

Dr. Kemp: He'd never touch a thing with madness!

Dr. Cranley: He might not know. I found that experiment in an old German book just by chance. The English books only describe the bleaching power.

Villager: I was walkin' home to me lunch, sir, when, all of a sudden, something takes hold of me hat and throws it in the pond.

Insp. Bird: How many drinks did you have on your way home?

Villager: Only a couple, sir. That's all.

Insp. Bird: A couple of drinks and a gust of wind. So much for you!

Policeman: Something smacked my face!

Dr. Jack Griffin: [laughs] Naughty boy!

Dr. Jack Griffin: I hope your car's insured, Kemp. I'm afraid there's going to be a nasty accident in a minute. A very nasty accident.

Dr. Kemp: Griffin, I'll do anything! Anything you ask me!

Dr. Jack Griffin: You will? That's fine. Just sit where you are. I'll get out and take the handbrake off and give you a little shove to help you on. You'll run gently down and through the railings. Then you'll have a big thrill for a hundred yards or so till you hit a boulder. Then you'll do a somersault and probably break your arms. Then a grand finish up with a broken neck. Well, goodbye, Kemp. I always said you were a dirty little coward. You're a dirty, sneaking little rat as well. Goodbye.