The Invisible Woman (1940)

Enjoyable,  11 March 2021

A model named Kitty agrees to become a guinea pig for an eccentric scientist and his experiment.  He intends to use a machine he’s developed to make Kitty invisible.  It works, but the experiment draws the unfortunate attention of a mob boss who has nefarious notions for the professor and his machine.  

I think anyone who’s written about The Invisible Woman begins by pointing out the obvious - it’s a comedy - actually, a screwball comedy.  There’s not a single element of horror to be found.  Other than the fact that The Invisible Woman was made by Universal, includes some nice special effects, and has the word “Invisible” in the title, this movie has nothing at all in common with its predecessor, The Invisible Man.  Instead, The Invisible Woman features a light, engaging, breezy tone that worked on me.  Thanks in large part to a fantastic cast (including John Barrymore, Virginia Bruce, Shemp Howard, Margaret Hamilton, and plethora of other familiar faces) most of the comedy works - highlighted by Kitty’s revenge on her boss.  I might not have laughed out loud, but I had a smile on my face the whole time.  The film’s pacing is also a plus.  The 72 minute runtime flies by.  And while this may have been a “B” film with a “B” budget, you’d never guess by looking at it.  Like a lot of Universal’s output from this period, The Invisible Woman looks far better than it has any right.  The cinematography is on point.

So, comedy that works, solid acting, snappy direction, nice cinematography - sounds like a winner.  If the film were a bit less predictable, I’d easily rate it higher.  Still, a 6/10 from me.

6/10

Jennifer (1953)

So much promise,  10 March 2021

Needing employment, Agnes Langley (Ida Lupino) agrees to take a job as caretaker for an otherwise abandoned estate.  She is told the previous caretaker, the titular Jennifer, went “missing”.  After discovering Jennifer’s diary, Agnes becomes obsessed with unraveling the mystery.  

On the whole, Jennifer left me terribly unsatisfied.  While I love the film’s set-up, I don’t feel the promise of Jennifer is ever realized.  There’s a reasonably interesting mystery, a big old house, and plenty of bumps in the night, but not much else.  If the other characters had just been honest and forthcoming with Agnes from the beginning, there wouldn’t have even been a mystery.  It’s disappointing to discover that, after 73 minutes, Jennifer isn’t really missing, just somewhere else.  

Despite my issues with the plot, I always love seeing Ida Lupino in just about anything she did. She was an amazing, talented woman.  You can see that in Jennifer.  She does so much with such a nothing plot and almost saves the film single handed.  I don’t know why, but I had no idea she was married to Howard Duff.  The pair have some nice chemistry here - another of the film’s highlights.  

4/10