Product Review

Spurred by an unfriendly visit from Axis reps, Frank Raymond (Jon Hall), the grandson of the original invisible fella, realizes his duty is clear. That is, he must turn over the formula for his grandfather's invisibility serum to the U.S. government before the Nazis get hold of it, and volunteer his invisible self as a secret weapon to obtain classified Nazi secrets. So The Invisible Heir turns Invisible Paratrooper and jumps behind enemy lines to wrangle with their high command, make time with delectable counterintelligence agent Ilona Massey, make monkeys out of a gaggle of Nazis, and uncover the Axis plans to bomb New York City! Tonight! With or without Giuliani! This is the third in Universal's series of '40s takes on the invisibility theme, and a dandy one it is. While the dialogue may strike some as being afflicted with flattened affectation, and the antics invisibility is wont to entice may seem silly, this flick is done up in the atmospheric horror mode that Universal perfected in the mid-'30s to mid-'40s, sporting many finely tuned moments of dark intrigue to complement the screwy business. Cedric Hardwicke adds weight and style to the Nazi side, while Peter Lorre portrays an agent of the Japanese (!)--amazing to say, he looks quite the part, but he sounds for all the world just like the child-killer he played in M. And Ilona Massey is supreme Nazi-bait. --Jim Gay