The INVISIBLE MAN

   1) Film (1933). Universal. Dir James Whale, starring Claude Rains, Gloria Stuart, Henry Travers, William Harrigan, Una O'Connor. Screenplay R.C. SHERRIFF, Philip WYLIE, based on The Invisible Man (1897) by H.G. WELLS. 71 mins, cut to 56 mins. B/w.

   This excellent black comedy tells of a scientist who discovers a drug that causes INVISIBILITY but whose side-effect is megalomania. Wearing black goggles over a face wrapped in bandages, he is memorably menacing. After a series of crimes he is trapped by police (his footprints in the snow betray his presence) and shot, slowly regaining visibility as his life ebbs away. Whale's direction is full of his usual idiosyncratic touches, with much humour derived from baffled minor characters. John Fulton's special effects are very sophisticated for the period, and were widely imitated. One of the most successful Wells adaptations, this made Claude Rains a star almost purely on the basis of his mellifluous voice. TIM is archetypal in its not-unsympathetic portrait of the SCIENTIST as over-reacher - it contains the much-copied line: "I meddled in things that Man must leave alone."

   2) Universal's progressively inferior and silly variations on the theme - nottrue sequels - were The Invisible Man Returns (1940), The Invisible Woman (1940), The Invisible Agent (1942), The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944) andAbbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951). Over 30 other films use the invisibility theme, some crediting Wells's novel as a source.

   3) UK tv series (1958-9). ATV. Created and prod Ralph Smart, starring the voice of Tim Turner. 2 seasons, 26 25min episodes. B/w.

   In this un-Wells-likeversion, the unfortunate hero divides his time between seeking an antidote for his condition and fighting crime. Lisa Daniely and Deborah Watling played the hero's sister and niece.

   4) US tv series (1975-6). Universal TV for NBC. Created and prod Harve Bennett, Steve Bochco. Dirs included Robert Michael Lewis, Alan Levi, Sigmund Neufeld Jr. Writers includedBochco, James D. Parriott. 1 season, 75min pilot plus 12 50min episodes. Colour.

   David McCallum stars as a scientist who discovers a way of turning himself invisible but cannot regain visibility. A plastic-surgeon friend makes him a skin-coloured mask identical with his pre-invisibility face. The pilot episode concerns his attempts to keep the formula from themilitary; in later episodes the plots revolve, tepidly, around his work as a secret agent.

   5) The above series had mediocre ratings, so in 1976 Universal replaced McCallum with Ben Murphy, changed the title to GeminiMan, and started the story again from the beginning. 1 season, 75min pilot plus 11 50min episodes (only 5 broadcast by NBC). Colour.

    Murphy plays a secret agent who can control his invisibility with a wristwatch-like device, but can remain safely invisible for only 15 minutes a day. This version flopped, too, and was cancelled before all completed episodes were shown. The producer, Harve Bennett, was having greater success elsewhere with The SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN .

   PN/JB