Another really big-budget sequel to the original Invisible Man, this one has a screenplay that's witty yet adventurous and packed with hair's-breadth escapes. It also provides great opportunities for some of our favorite character players including a delightful trio of treacherous heavies: Peter Lorre, J. Edward Bromberg and Sir Cedric Hardwicke. It's also good to see the lovely Ilona Massey, who made only eleven Hollywood movies between 1937 and 1960 (this is the fifth),though it's disappointing that she doesn't get to sing. Never mind, she does wear some really lovely gowns. Jon Hall is personable enough as the reluctant hero, though he fails to handle the switch in his feelings towards the heroine with complete conviction.

Marin's direction is admirably fast-paced (we suspect producer Frank Lloyd took a hand in the action sequences) and other credits, including Lester White's attractive photography, are equally outstanding. Special effects fans will not go away unhappy either.

I wonder why this film has a 6.0 rating on IMDb. Is it possible people saw this bad film and actually thought it was good?! The world is a strange place, indeed.

Now I started watching this film strongly predisposed to liking it. After all, I adore the Universal horror films of the 30s and 40s and the Invisible Man series is among the best. Plus, the idea of the Allies using the invisibility formula to infiltrate Nazi territory to do some spying is an inspired plot idea. Yet, almost miraculously, the Universal folks produced a very bad film.

Most of the problem is that unlike most other horror films of the time, this one was very often played for laughs. Considering that the guy is supposed to get important information and get out, his sticking around to play tricks on the incredibly stupid Nazis was really dumb--and not in a good way! Plus, after a while, it was obvious that there was an invisible guy running about--talk about a great way to maintain your cover! Additionally, instead of the usual conniving and evil Nazis like you'd see in an American wartime propaganda film, here they are complete morons--almost like what you'd see in a Three Stooges film. If it were a Stooges film that would be great...but not in a horror film. Making it a straight drama would have improved the film tremendously.

Additionally, it's obvious Universal simply didn't care when they made this film. Even for a B-movie, it is cheap and has a slapped together look. The models used for airplanes for the film were pathetically unrealistic and it was obvious they were bad models. Also, having Peter Lorre (whose heritage in reality was German) playing a Japanese man was ridiculous. In fact, it wasn't until later in the film that you even realized he was supposed to be Japanese! Now I understand that Lorre played the lead in the Mr. Moto films (where he was supposed to be Japanese),but here he didn't even try to look or sound Asian. Mantan Moreland would have been just as fitting an actor to play this role. Finally, throw in an unimportant and ridiculous love story that comes out of no where and you have the ingredients for a truly awful film.

Exceptionally poor writing, indifferent direction and actors who couldn't have possibly made this material work and you have INVISIBLE AGENT in a nut shell. Don't say I didn't warn you! Fortunately, the next film in the series (THE INVISIBLE MAN'S REVENGE) is quite a bit better.

When a bunch of Nazis come calling on Jon Hall at his print shop in New York City, they seem to know all about him and the background he has tried to hide. Seems as though an ancestor of his was none other than Claude Rains who as John Griffin invented that invisibility formula that had the entire United Kingdom on edge. Hall barely escapes from the agents who include Cedric Hardwicke for the Nazis and Peter Lorre as a visiting ally from Japan.

Right after Pearl Harbor like Wonder Woman, Hall decides his talents are best put to use in the Allied Cause. His condition is that he alone will be given the invisibility drug, mindful of the bad side effects it has including causing the madness that killed Claude Rains back in the day.

Hall finds out some vital information, like the day the Axis is going to invade the USA and who their agents are in America. He has the help of the beautiful Ilona Massey, but he's not quite sure what side of the fence she's playing.

The Nazis are stupid, even more stupid than usual in these films, but they've also got a lot of intrigues going among each other, between Cedric Hardwicke and J. Edward Bromberg to see who will be top dog under Himmler in the S.S. And Peter Lorre does not think terribly much of German efficiency and with these two around who could blame him. Maybe the Japanese ought to gain the secret of invisibility and they might be calling the tune in the Axis.

It all makes for one horrific wartime propaganda flick that would be hooted off the screen by some and would offend others. Peter Lorre who was Jewish Hungarian, gets to do his Mr. Moto act with malevolence saying such things as you occidentals have this really big fetish about your white women and Hall coming back that he can't tell any of you monkeys apart.

To be fare to Hardwicke, Lorre, and Bromberg, it's not easy dealing with an invisible man. Too bad they were at war with the British or they could find out how Claude Rains ultimately met his end.