For Once-NOT Seeing is Believing, Thanks to the Amazing Claude Rains in “The Invisible Man”- Tonight!

Tonight on MeTV, with our new extended format, you will see more of our show- but NOT more of our titled terror, as we bring back a truly impressive Universal horror film of the 1930s- based on classic literature and utilizing amazing special effects for its time period. This film is actually a showcase for the acting talent of the great Claude Rains- especially impressive, since, most of the time, it’s his voice and only his voice taking center stage. It’s one of my favorites- the original "The Invisible Man"!

Based on the H G Wells novel- this 1933 classic begins with us seeing a bundled-up stranger struggling against wintry blasts through the snowy countryside of Iping. His dramatic entrance to a local pub, the Lion's Head Inn, stuns the customers and owners into stunned silence! The locals find the completely masked stranger quite disturbing, as this wrapped-up traveler brusquely demands a room. Although it isn’t renting season-the proprietor and his fluttery wife accommodate him – and do their best to comply with his demands for privacy.

It isn’t long before the innkeeper and his wife end up at odds with this bizarre visitor, who always keeps his face covered with bandages and his eyes covered with dark glasses. His odd behavior and demeanor are the talk of the inn and the source of a variety of rumors- as the boozy bar patrons and its staff speculate about why his face is hidden, wondering what he’s up to- especially with all sorts of chemicals and beakers in his room.

Some time passes, and the stranger has not been paying his rent. The innkeeper confronts him about the overdue money he is owed- only to have the mysterious man pay him back by assaulting him and tossing him down the stairs! The patrons who frequent the bar call in the police- but a shock is in store for them all, when the man reveals that beneath his bandages and clothing- there is nothing! He is invisible! The villagers flee in panic as he runs amok!

We learn the identity of this unseen menace-Jack Griffin, a scientist who has been experimenting with an odd chemical mixture known as monocane, which was used in foreign lands to turn cloth white- but unfortunately, it also destroys the cloth in the process. Griffin's employer, along with his daughter –and Griffin’s fiancée-Flora have no idea where he might be- but, in searching his lab, fear the worst when they find a note mentioning monocane. This raises a great deal of concern, since Flora's dad knows only too well that experiments with it on living things have ended in frightening madness and tragedy.

Before long, an assistant to Flora's father, one Dr. Kemp, finds himself with a surprise visitor one night- his former co-worker, the invisible Griffin! He threatens Kemp, and forces him to help him retrieve his notebooks, which he left behind while fleeing from the inn. With Kemp outside to grab the notebooks, Griffin enters the inn, invisible and undetected, as a police inquiry is being held there- but he can’t resist getting further revenge on the crowd-as he goes wild, and kills an officer!

Kemp tries to enlist Flora and her father to help reason with Griffin- but soon, betrayal, paranoia, and his increasing madness set Griffin on a mission of more murder- as he terrifies the entire countryside, leaving the baffled authorities to attempt to stop a deadly enemy who can't be seen!

This is definitely one of the best and most effective of the original Universal classic horror films! Claude Rains' incredible voice makes his work in this film captivating- and we'll tell a little about him and the other cast members, especially the actress who plays Griffin's fiancée Flora- who you probably know from a role she played in her old age! As I mentioned, for the time, the invisible effects are quite remarkable- and we’ll explain, once again, how invisible effects were done in that era. You’ll enjoy a song featuring a duet by Doug Graves AND Anita X. Orcist- a vintage visit with the lovely actress Amanda Wyss, Freddy Krueger’s first on-screen victim- footage from last year’s C2E2 comics and entertainment convention- a look at more “Spawn of Svengoolie” auditions- a sampling of the jokes from “Kerwyn’s Corner”- and some fun from our archives! With this being a movie that we didn’t have to remove time from originally, we’ll have that extra Sven content to keep you entertained!

"The Invisible Man" re-appears on MeTV Saturday night at 8pm eastern/pacific, 7 central, or, if you’re unsure of channel or time, check your local listings or at www.metv.com . Remember that MeTV invites you to join the many fans who live-Tweet on Twitter during the program, using the hashtag #svengoolie. Last week, we were trending among the most-Tweeted topics for the entire time of our show! In Chicago, viewers get the encore of the Vincent Price/ Karloff version of “The Raven” on our main local station CW26 at 11 am.

Talking about last week’s show- we had a great reaction to our expanded program, and we want to thank our loyal fans for the ongoing support.

Be with us tonight for a classic that I personally could see- or not see- over and over again!