Movie Review: The Invisible Ray (1936)
Synopsis: After inventing a telescope that lets him see deep enough into space to see the distant past and a meteorite crashing in Africa long before human life, Dr. Janos Rukh leads an expedition to find the meteorite and after doing so, harvest an element dubbed Radium X. Rukh correctly believes Radium X can be used to heal people, but his exposure causes him to become infected and kill anything he touches. He is able to get his condition under control with the help of his colleague, Dr. Felix Benet. However, his obsession grows to the point his wife, Diana, leaves him for another man, and he grows even more isolated. When he learns Benet and another colleague, Sir Francis Stevens, have used his research for their own gain, he fakes his death and seeks revenge.
Who's in it? The movie stars Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Frances Drake, Frank Lawton and Walter Kingsford.
Review: I started watching The Invisible Ray a couple years ago but got interrupted after the first 15 minutes and never got around to finishing it. I finally got around to doing that this morning and, overall, I do have to say this was a decent film.
I think the thing I liked best about this movie was Rukh (Karloff) was a solid antagonist. His exposure to the Radium X made him a killing machine on his own and corrupted his mind just enough to know the ray gun he created to heal people could also be used to destroy, adding a potentially ultra-deadly weapon to his arsenal. At the same time, unlike many other movie monsters that do things purely by instinct, he proved to be cold and calculating too, knowing exactly what he was trying to accomplish. This kept him much more unpredictable.
And to be fair, he wasn't completely wrong in being upset. Even though Benet (Lugosi) and Stevens (Kingsford) were trying to do good and did make sure he got credit, I think you could argue they also did steal from him. Plus, while some people might call it a love story, it felt a lot like one of the others on the expedition, Ronald Drake (Lawton) took full advantage of Rukh"s absence when pursuing Diana (Drake). I'm still not completely convinced she was in love with Drake, just lonely and heartbroken, especially since she seemed to hold out hope for her marriage up until she thought Rukh was dead.
On the topic of that love triangle, I thought that added an additional intriguing element to the movie. Rukh clearly loved Diana, even after his mind began to get warped. As a result, I wasn't sure if he would attempt to get revenge on her or if she would be the only person he would eventually end up listening to. This kept the ending from being as obvious as it could have been.
My only real complaint about this film is it does seem to be a bit drawn out, especially in the beginning. It's an 80-minute movie but the story could have easily been told in an hour. That said, at least this movie did use the extra time to add a bit more (albeit arguably unneeded) depth to the story rather than just fill time for the sake of filling time.
Final Opinion: In total, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi starred in eight movies together. This is an example of why that number should have been higher.
My Grade: A
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Here are some reviews of other movies from 1936:
Movie Review: The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1936)
Movie Review: Mad Holiday (1936)
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