this time of year.
It may be gone in a few hours.
Norton, find out if the snow
is yet all over the country.
Send out a broadcast message.
He can't stay out in this bitter cold.
He'll seek shelter.
Excuse me, sir.
There's breathing in my barn.
What do you mean,
breathing in your barn?
The invisible man, sir.
Sure as l stand here.
The farmer may have imagined it,
but we can't leave it to chance.
Surround the barn.
No use trying to take him on the inside.
Force him out into the snow. Take
some wood and gasoline and set fire to it.
That's it, sir. He's in there
under a pile of straw, sir.
Are there any windows
he can watch from?
No, sir. Only the door, sir.
(yawning)
There's a reward of Ј1,000
waiting for you if we're successful.
We're lucky to have the open country.
Take your men and cover the country
from the road to the hill.
Line the ridge through those trees.
There's no time to lose. We can't wait
till he comes out to search for food.
We must fire the barn at once
and drive him out into the snow.
Keep in single file. We don't want
a lot of your footprints around the barn.
We want to keep the snow
for his feet alone.
Get that searchlight
on the door of that barn.
He's out! Look!
Shall l give the signal to advance?
(gunshots)
I don't think your guard
is needed any longer.
- How is he?
- He's very near the end.
- Are you Dr Cranley?
- Yes. I got word to come immediately.
Towards dawn this morning
he grew quiet.
He called the name of a girl -
l understand, your daughter.
She's waiting below. Is there any chance?
The bullet passed through both lungs.
It's impossible to treat the wound.
Do you think your daughter
could bear to go to him?
I'm afraid the end may be rather terrible.
The effect of the drugs will die with him.
His body will become visible as life goes.
I'll bring her now.
- Is Flora there?
- She's coming now.
I knew you would come to me, Flora.
I wanted to come back to you.
My darling.
I failed.
I meddled in things...
that man must leave alone.
(moans)
Father, come quickly.This is Rudy Behlmer speaking.
For the next 71 minutes,
I'll be talking about
the background and making of
the 1933 film version of HG Wells's
novel The Invisible Man,
a film that still plays remarkably well.
Various outlines, treatments and scripts
were submitted by 12 writers,
before RC Sherriffs approach was
accepted by all involved,
including author HG Wells.
Four different directors were slated at
various times to handle the production,
before James Whale was set.
Boris Karloff was definitely
the studio's choice for the title role
until late in preproduction.
The amazing special effects
of 1933 by John Fulton
are still amazing in this day of
seemingly boundless effects technology,
but details on all this and much more
will follow as we go along.
No, the music you are hearing
is not Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake,
which was used under the main title
for four Universal horror films,
beginning with Dracula in 1931,
but this is an original score
by Heinz Roemheld.
It's a sparse score, to say the least.
After the opening,
you won't hear any more of it
until the last seven minutes of the film.
The film and HG Wells' novel
open in the exact same way.
I quote from the beginning
of chapter one in the book:
"The stranger came early
in February one wintry day,
through a biting wind and a driving snow,
the last snowfall of the year,
over the down, walking as it seemed
from Bramblehurst railway station."
"He was wrapped up from head to foot,
and the brim of his soft felt hat
hid every inch of his face
but the shiny tip of his nose;
the snow had piled itself
against his shoulders and chest,
and added a white crest
to the burden he carried."
Wells's story took place in the West
Sussex village of lping in England,
but British director James Whale
drew upon his memories
of growing up in the town of