be a distinctive one because of the unusual nature of the role. He also wanted a highly-trained and consummate actor, who would be able to give extra dimensions to what might be regarded as merely a highly-charged, melodramatic role. Rains had played a vast range of roles in his many years in the theatre, and was never typecast. So far, the film has been following the HG Wells novel very closely, but RC Sherriff quite rightly felt that some changes in Wells's novel were necessary in order to present a more unified structure for a 70-minute film and to give the mysterious stranger certain sympathetic qualities for contrast. Sherriffs modifications were thoughtful and not capricious. A change of scene. We are introduced in this sequence to two characters not in the novel at all, but very much a strong presence in the screenplay. Dr Cranley, played by Henry Travers, is obviously a scientist or medical man, and we shortly find out that the mysterious man at the inn is probably Jack Griffin, a scientist employed by Dr Cranley who has been gone for a month, working on a private experiment. But his whereabouts are unknown. Flora, played by Gloria Stuart, is Dr Cranley's distressed daughter, who, we can tell, is very much in love with Jack Griffin, the stranger at the inn. To get maximum mileage from this character introduction and exposition, we learn a bit about Griffin's secretive experiments, which, combined with what we've seen of his actions previously at the inn, and the film's title, The Invisible Man, leaves little doubt about what he's been up to. The gradual revealment is a necessary dramatic setup for the events that will follow. This exposition of character relationships is expanded by the introduction of Dr Kemp, played by William Harrigan, a character in the novel whose role is greatly enlarged for dramatic purposes in the film. He obviously is in the employ of Flora's father, as is Jack Griffin, the Rains character. It's necessary to get Flora and Kemp to another area, via Whale's use of the lateral camera move, which, as in the theatre, breaks away walls and leads us to another room. Now Kemp is able to have a more intimate discussion with Flora. He's presented here as a romantic rival for Flora, and as a not particularly charming suitor. While under contract to Universal Pictures for four years, Gloria Stuart, who plays Flora, did two other films for director James Whale: The Old Dark House in 1932 and The Kiss Before the Mirror in 1933. Stuart has said that Whale was an exceptionally well prepared and enthusiastic director. On his script, he had each camera setup for the day's shooting noted in his own handwriting opposite the dialogue. Many other performers and technicians have noted Whale's meticulous approach. William Harrigan had been an actor on the stage since the age of five. In 1929, he went to Hollywood with the advent of talking pictures, and the mass exodus of many Broadway players. Now, Dr Kemp is declaring, quite emphatically, his feelings for Flora, who, not too subtly, is surrounded by flowers in the photographic compositions. Flora, flowers. Anyway, Flora amply demonstrates a definitive example of the attraction/repulsion theory by her reaction to Kemp's romantic overture. In this instance, repulsion wins hands down. Meanwhile, back at the inn, the mysterious stranger is trying desperately to find a solution to an aspect of his experiment, one of many, that we're not too clear about as yet. We wonder about his intense frustration. Una O'Connor, whose real name was Agnes McGlade, was born in Belfast, Ireland in 1880. She attended convent school, and joined the school of the Abbey Players in Dublin. She made her official debut in 1911. Una acted with the Abbey Players, the Irish Repertory Company, and the Irish Literary Theatre, in plays by Shakespeare, O'Casey, ------------------------------ Читайте также: - текст Патруль времени на английском - текст Звёздный путь: Поколения на английском - текст Живой на английском - текст Стюарт Литтл 2 на английском - текст Рэмбо 3 на английском |