THE INVISIBLE MAN (1933) THEN AND NOW | Claude Rains & Gloria Stuart

In 1933, Universal Pictures let a monster loose that no one could see. The Invisible Man is the story of Dr. Jack Griffin, a brilliant chemist whose discovery of invisibility curdles into madness and murder, told by director James Whale with a mischievous grin and groundbreaking effects by John P. Fulton. For nearly the entire film, its star is invisible: Claude Rains plays Griffin almost entirely with his voice, bandaged and goggled, until the famous final reveal. This then-and-now tribute follows its four unforgettable stars: Claude Rains (1889-1967), the great stage actor whose voice made him a star without ever showing his face, later Captain Renault in Casablanca; Gloria Stuart (1910-2010), the twenty-three-year-old Flora Cranley who loved the monster, later the elderly Rose in Titanic at eighty-seven; William Harrigan (1894-1966), the Broadway leading man as Dr. Kemp, the colleague who betrays Griffin; and Henry Travers (1874-1965), the gentle Dr. Cranley, later the angel Clarence in It's a Wonderful Life. From the snowbound inn to the footprints in the snow, this is the full story of the cast of The Invisible Man, then and now. Rest in peace: Claude Rains (1889-1967), Gloria Stuart (1910-2010), William Harrigan (1894-1966), Henry Travers (1874-1965). Photo credits: all photos public domain via Wikimedia Commons. Honesty notes: the Rains portrait in the later-life slot is a 1938 Elmer Fryer studio portrait; the Stuart portrait in the later-life slot is a 1937 publicity photo; the Harrigan image in the later-life slot is a 1929 Nix on Dames film still; the Travers image in the later-life slot is a genuine 1945 later-life portrait. No genuine later-life public-domain portraits were found for Rains, Stuart or Harrigan, and none is described as later-life. Film clips: The Invisible Man (1933), archive.org item the-invisible-man-1933_202303, public domain. CHAPTERS 00:00 The Man Who Wasn't There 01:27 Claude Rains, the Voice in the Dark 03:26 Gloria Stuart, the Girl Who Faced the Unseen 05:12 William Harrigan, the Doctor Who Sold Him Out 06:54 Henry Travers, the Kindest Man in Iping 08:39 James Whale and the Coldest Masterpiece 10:35 The Trick They Said Couldn't Be Done 12:29 H. G. Wells and the Monster on the Page 14:17 1933, the Year Horror Found Its Teeth 16:04 Rains After Griffin, From Invisible to Unforgettable 17:46 Gloria Stuart, the Hundred-Year Journey 19:36 Harrigan and Travers, the Quiet Twilights 21:21 Why the Invisible Man Still Walks Among Us 23:01 Then and Now, Rest in Peace If you love classic cinema, please like, share and subscribe to Reel To Real Cast for more then-and-now journeys through the golden age of film. Tell us in the comments: which Universal monster should we visit next? #TheInvisibleMan #InvisibleMan1933 #ClaudeRains #GloriaStuart #WilliamHarrigan #HenryTravers #ThenAndNow #UniversalHorror #OldHollywood #ClassicMovies #FilmLegends #JamesWhale #1933 #ReelToRealCast