The Invisible Man (1933 film) The Invisible Man (1933 film) The Invisible Man is an American 1933 Pre-Code science fiction horror film directed by James Whale. It was based on H. G. Wells' science fiction novel "The Invisible Man", published in 1897, as adapted by R.C. Sherriff, Philip Wylie and Preston Sturges, whose work was considered unsatisfactory and who was taken off the project. Produced by Universal Pictures, the film stars Claude Rains, in his first American screen appearance, and Gloria Stuart. The film has been described as a "nearly perfect translation of the spirit of the book". It spawned a number of sequels, plus
Invisible Man from the Merchant Marine. The book took five years to complete with one year off for what Ellison termed an "ill-conceived short novel." "Invisible Man" was published as a whole in 1952. Ellison had published a section of the book in 1947, the famous "Battle Royal" scene, which had been shown to Cyril Connolly, the editor of "Horizon" magazine by Frank Taylor, one of Ellison's early supporters. In his speech accepting the 1953 National Book Award, Ellison said that he considered the novel's chief significance to be its "experimental attitude." Before Invisible Man, many (if not most) novels dealing with