Griffin only has a slight wound to his wrist, but he tells Kemp that he needs his help because his assistant Marvel has stolen all of his money. He is willing to tell Kemp his story, but says that he hasn't slept in quite a while and needs to rest first. He settles himself in Kemp's bed to sleep after making his former schoolmate promise that he won't tell anyone he's there.
Naturally enough, Kemp panics at being addressed by an invisible man who is bleeding all over the place, but he is wrestled down by the unseen fellow when he tries to flee. T.I.M. identifies himself as Griffin, a chemist who went to the same school as Kemp, though they were not in the same year. Kemp calms down enough to give Griffin some clothes, a drink, and a cigar, all of which appear to be floating in mid air. Griffin only has a slight wound to his wrist, but he tells Kemp that he needs his help because his assistant Marvel has stolen all of his money. He is willing to tell Kemp his story, but says that he hasn't slept in quite a while and needs to rest first. He settles himself in Kemp's bed to sleep after making his former schoolmate promise that he won't tell anyone he's there. Kemp goes downstairs and reads the day's newspaper which is full of reports of the havoc wreaked by the Invisible Man. Despite his promise Kemp worries that Griffin is dangerously unstable and writes a note to a Colonel Adye. As if to confirm his concerns, Griffin awakens and throws about some of Kemp's furniture to give vent to his frustrations. After calming down, Griffin tells his story. Originally a medical student like Kemp, Griffin became fascinated with the study of light and changed his major. While studying light refraction and absorption, he became convinced that it was possible to make things become invisible. This all seems questionable to me, but hey- I'm no scientist. After leaving school Griffin becomes a teacher to pay the bills while continuing his studies under a Professor Oliver. He's not happy, however: he despises his students, thinks the teaching proffession is beneath him, and suspects Oliver of trying to steal his research. Then, after three years of this, Griffin discovers the method of turning objects invisible. Unfortunately, he lacks the necessary funds to complete his experiments and doesn't want to share his findings with- or accept funding from- any scientific organization because he wants all the recognition and glory for himself. Broke, Griffin visits his father in the small town he grew up in and solves his money problems by stealing from his Dad. Worse, the money he takes isn't actually his father's but belongs to others in the community. This isn't explained, but presumably Griffin Sr. must have been an investor who had access to their money. It is assumed that his father has misappropriated funds and Griffin does nothing to clear his Dad's name. Unable to live with the shame, his father shoots himself. Griffin feels no guilt over this: after all, he needed the money. He uses it to rent rooms in a boarding house in London and continue his experiments. He writes all of his findings in his notebooks in code so that no one will be able to steal his work. Eventually he manages to turn some wool invisible and, after a few failed attempts, a stray cat. The cat didn't take too kindly to this, and its noise draws the attention of an old woman who also lives in the boarding house. Already convinced that he's a creepy weirdo, she suspects that Griffin is dissecting animals in his room and complains to their landlord. Griffin has already let the noisy- and invisible- cat out of his window when the landlord arrives at the door wanting to know what's going on in there. They have a bit of a scuffle and Griffin manages to push the other man out, locking his door. He realizes, though, that the landlord will no doubt return and decides to disappear- literally. He mails his notebooks to an address where he can pick them up later and then starts the invisibility process on himself. It hurts dreadfully, and while Griffin is suffering through it, his landlord arrives with an eviction notice but is frightened away by Griffin's awful appearance. When he later returns with his stepsons for moral support, they find the room supposedly empty and assume Griffin managed to sneak out somehow. Of course, Griffin is actually invisible and, after the others leave, he destroys his equipment and sets fire to the room so that no one will know what he's been up to. Having literally burned his bridges behind him, Griffin hits the road, ready to embark upon his life as the Invisible Man.
Comments
This film clip is from the 1945 film My Name Is Julia Ross. An enjoyably gothic B movie, it stars Nina Foch as the titular Julia Ross, a young woman who accepts a job as private secretary to a wealthy widow named Mrs. Hughes. She moves into Mrs. Hughes' London home, which is the last thing she remembers before she awakens two days later in Mrs. Hughes' remote Cornwall mansion. All of Julia's personal belongings are gone and Mrs. Hughes- as well as everyone else on the estate- insists that her name is actually Marion Hughes and that she's married to her employer's creepy son Ralph. Cut off from everyone and everything she knows and surrounded by people who insist that she's someone else, Julia begins to wonder if she actually is losing her mind, as they suggest. Nina Foch does a fine job as Julia, and Mrs. Hughes is played by the always excellent Dame May Whitty (The Lady Vanishes, Mrs. Miniver). The best performance in the film, though, is given by George Macready as the psycho son Ralph, soft spoken but given to sudden violent fits of rage.
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