Book Review: The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells

The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells

Griffin is a scientist who is working on a way to turn living things invisible. He has two problems: his lack of funds and his lack of morals. To finance his research, he steals from his father. Griffin is afraid of "thieving" professors at his university and wants to work alone so he gets all the credit. He sets up his own lab in London. He turna a cat invisible just as his money is running out. With the landlord breathing down his neck, he decides to turn himself invisible, imaging all the freedom and possibilities he will have. To cover his escape and ensure no one steals his method, he burns down the home where he's renting rooms. He has a lot of misadventures in London, finding it hard to steal money that doesn't turn invisible like him or keep warm with no clothes (being science fiction, only his body becomes invisible). He flees to the countryside where he works on a formula to restore himself while he is wrapped up from head to foot. The locals are suspicious of the heavily bandaged and taciturn stranger. They are right to be concerned, because he has quite a temper and, for all his brilliance, not enough practical foresight to resolve his situation in a happy manner.

Wells does a great job building up suspense, starting the story in the small town inn where Griffin frantically tries to undo his experiment. His backstory is slowly revealed. The narrative focuses on eyewitness accounts, giving it a "police procedural" style long before such a genre existed. The real genre is science fiction, with an extended explanation of the mechanics of his invisibility, which is not quite convincing over a hundred years later. There's an element of horror, too, as he terrorizes people into doing what he wants. His evil streak is more his own than a result of the experiment (though one of the characters does say that the drugs involved cause mental problems). The situation serves to highlight his corruption. The story is compelling and has become a classic for a good reason.

Highly recommended--it's a quick read and Griffin is an interesting if unlikeable character.

This story was covered in Episode 311 of A Good Story is Hard to Find Podcast, go check it out!

Movie Review: Island of Lost Souls (1932)

Island of Lost Souls (1932) directed by Eric C. Kenton

Edward (Richard Arlen) is shipwrecked and then picked up by a passing cargo boat. The captain of that boat is a lout and dumps the man at his next stop. They are delivering a bunch of supplies and animals to a small, non-descript island. Edward is mad about being left there but the man in charge on the island promises to send him out the next day. Edward has to spend the night. The man in charge is Doctor Moreau, a doctor who has been performing experimental operations in what is uneuphemistically called "the House of Pain." The operations are attempts to transform animals into human beings. Moreau has created a lot of "men." He is most interested in having Edward spend time with his one female creation, Lota.  Viewers immediately guess the trip back home probably won't happen. While he was on the cargo boat, Edward sent a message to his fiancee that he'd be arriving soon. When he doesn't arrive, the fiancee (Leila Hyams) gets a rescue mission going from her end of things. Can help arrive before Edward is consumed (maybe literally) by the island's horrors?

The story is based on H. G. Wells's novel The Island of Doctor Moreau. The plot moves quickly and focuses on themes of the abuse of authority. The cargo boat captain is a jerk who bandies his authority about like a petty tyrant. He's called to account for himself when the fiancee gets the American ambassador involved. The captain is very subservient to the ambassador's demands. Moreau, for his part, is the god-like master of the island and treats everyone (i.e. his surgically-altered abominations, his medical partner who is on the run from the law, and Edward) as chattel to be used for Moreau's own ends. He clearly wants to prove how definitive his surgical transformations are by having Edward become a mate to Lota. He wants proof that he is a god-like figure who has created man (much like Doctor Frankenstein).  The thematic elements are both fascinating and horrifying.

The production values are great. The makeup effects are very impressive. Lugosi is only recognizable thanks to his distinctive voice and penetrating eyes. The other animal-men are in a variety of states. Some are recognizably from pigs or apes, others are unrecognizable misshapen horrors. Laughton gives a great performance. He's domineering and calculating with little interest in others' well being. The production only has a few island sets (the doctor's compound, the village of the animal-men, and some jungle areas) but makes great use of them. I didn't realize how limited the locations were until after the film was over. Good camera work makes up for limited resources. Considering it was made in the 1930s, it is amazing to see.

Highly recommended.

Movie Review: The War of the Worlds (1953)

The War of the Worlds (1953) directed by Byron Haskin

A meteor crash lands outside a small town in California. The residents are excited for a new road-side attraction. The local authorities bring in some scientists who happen to be fishing in the hills nearby. Dr. Clayton Forrester (Gene Barry) knows enough to be cautious about an object that came skidding across a field rather than creating a crater. Something is fishy, he thinks. The meteorite is too hot to investigate and too radioactive to leave alone, so the local sheriff leaves three men to guard it while the scientist heads into town for square dancing with Sylvia Van Buren (Ann Robinson), a local who quickly grows attached to Forrester. The dance is cut short when the power goes out, along with all other mechanical devices. The meteorite has opened up and stuff is starting to come out! At first, just a weird periscope sticks up, but soon enough ships emerge with heat rays and energy weapons to conquer the Earth.

The movie is more of a disaster flick with science-fictional causes. Scientists are called upon to discover what the Martians are like (everyone guesses they are from Mars since the red planet was so close to Earth in its solar orbit). The scientists are hampered by the ongoing attacks by the Martians, which are world-wide, and the utter lack of success on the military's part. Science doesn't really save the day against the Martians. The fact that neither science nor the military saves humanity is striking in a 1950s movie, an era when one or the other (sometimes both working hand-in-hand) would always win against the enemy. Humanity winds up fleeing in helplessness, often getting in their own way as riots break out.

The movie is a bit uneven. The special effects are all over the place. Some are excellent, like the Martian ships flying through the air and the little bit of their technology that viewers see. Some of the destruction looks a bit cheesy by today's standards. The acting is good for the most part. The script follows the spirit of the original novel while successfully moving the situation to the (then) modern day. Overall, there's more good than bad to this film.

Recommended.

Book Review: The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells

The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells and others

H. G. Wells's classic novel is wedded to Orson Welles's classic radio broadcast in this two-for-one book. The book has the complete script of Welles's show and a CD with the show and some clips of Orson Welles commenting on the show (including a meeting between Wells and Welles!). The complete Wells novel includes the art that accompanied the serialization of the novel in Pearson's magazine back in 1897.

Both are well worth revisiting. H. G. Wells's story of an invasion from Mars at the end of the 19th century in England is an exciting tale of one man fleeing from the attack. He describes what he sees of the Martians, and more interestingly, what he sees of the locals' reactions. At first, people are mildly curious if not completely aloof. Once the Martians make it out of their crater and start causing mayhem, people flee and civilization starts to break down. A lot of time is spent describing people trying to escape from the trouble. The main character reflects on the superiority of the Martians and how humans are to them like ants are to us--easy to squash and in no way equals. He also hints that the British are a bit like the Martians in their attitudes towards the conquered. The science is outdated but is not the main point of the story anyway.

Welles's broadcast was more an experiment in entertainment that turned into a panic. The broadcast starts with a music program that is interrupted by news bulletins of the aliens invading New Jersey. Listeners took it seriously and many fled their homes. It's easy to say from nearly a hundred years later that it sounds too implausible to be believed, but even today people are falling for fake journalism that is much less well-intentioned. And this book chronicles many other subsequent imitation broadcasts in America and abroad, some of which did inspire local panics. This also is still relevant today.

Recommended.

The H. G. Wells novel is discussed on A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast #188.