Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

This straight forward drama from Universal is considered a war-time propaganda piece. Another sequel following H.G. Welles' "THE INVISIBLE MAN". Jon Hall plays Frank Raymond, the grandson of the original invisible man, who volunteers his service to Axis and uses a strong formula that makes him invisible. Raymond's assignment is to invade German troops to obtain a list of German and Japanese spies doing business in America. Frank manages assistance in his task from the lovely Maria Sorenson (Iiona Massey), a German espionage agent, who is involved with two well-connected German officers.There are elements of humor as the American spy is invisible and antagonizing Nazi officers and troops. The Third Reich is stymied trying to protect their secrets.Other players include: Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Peter Lorre, J. Edward Bromberg, John Litel, Holmes Herbert, Mabel Colcord, Keye Luke, Albert Basserman and Milburn Stone.

I love this movie more every time I see it. Sure, there are little gaffes (they get original Invisible Man Jack Griffin's name wrong, and Jon Hall's teeth show up when only his skin is supposed to be visible with cold cream) and there's a regrettable, dated crack about how "Japs all look alike" (especially ironic since Hungarian Peter Lorre looks nothing like Keye Luke (who was Chinese) nor any Japanese you ever met) but in the main, it's one of Universal's best wartime efforts, with some terrific John P. Fulton invisibility tricks. Curtis (Curt) Siodmak's script is surprising, funny and even scary (Lorre and that guillotine paper cutter!) and it moves like lightning. Betrayal is a constant theme, with witty commentary on the treacherous relationship of the Axis "partners" and the mutual backstabbing by the two Nazis played by Cedric Hardwicke and J. Edward Bromberg. ("I pity the Devil when you boys start showing up in bunches," cracks the hero.)The invisibility drug still seems to lead to some kind of madness (its users often have to be "liquidated", per Hardwicke) but apparently the insanity is not as severe as that suffered by Claude Rains or Vincent Price in the previous entries. It makes hero Frank Raymond (née Griffin) both manic and reckless, as well as extremely suspicious of Ilona Massey, an irresistible Mata Hari-type in that negligee...!Siodmak pulls out all the stops for the remarkably violent climax, with a prison break, a nasty fish-hook trap, a Nazi-Japanese brawl, all the villains getting machine-gunned or stabbed or self-disemboweled, a car chase, an air field set ablaze and then bombed, and that parachute escape from the crashing plane...man, wartime audiences must have cheered this thing!

Frank Raymond is the grandson of the original Invisible Man Jack Griffin. He is happily and safely living in the United States. World War breaks out and the German agents are wanting the information for invisibility. Frank gets away from the German agents and becomes an invisible secret agent for the U.S. government. He ends up falling in-love with a beautiful double agent.This is a fun war-drama. It's comical in a way but makes for an exciting game of spy vs. spy, cat-n-mouse film. A few fun things happen when the Invisible Agent shows up.The opening scene is great - I wish they would have kept the rest of the film this eerie but I still enjoyed the fun of the movie.Worth watching if you like the older war films and/or the Universal Horror Invisible Man series.8/10

Invisible Agent has had a pretty low reputation for years amongst horror fans, but that is probably to do with the type of story on display here rather than the quality of the film itself. It's a good, enjoyable adventure movie, a world away from H.G. Wells perhaps; but one only has to look at Universal's identi-kit Mummy series to realise that can only be a good thing. This is a welcome change of pace from the usual formula.Jon Hall plays Frank Griffin, Grandson of Claude Raines' original Invisible Man (and like Lon Chaney Jr in The Wolfman about a foot taller than his progenitor!) Guardian of the secret formula for invisibility he's approached first by the Nazis and then the Allies for aid in the war effort. Guess whom he chooses? In a quite startling opening sequence the head Nazi, played by Sir Cedric Hardwicke in his usual phoned-in style, prepares to use torture to get what he wants, ably aided by Peter Lorre's sinister Japanese Baron, who wants to rid Griffin of several of his fingers...Escaping and later Parachuting into Germany, Griffin, now invisible himself, stumbles on a plot to invade America. With the help of a double agent, the gorgeous Ilona Massey, he sets about turning the tables on Hitler's henchmen.It's slightly curious that the film features both comic and genuinely sinister Nazis who commit torture, shoot people, break old men's fingers etc. But the only real fault is the inclusion of a comedy dinner sequence where the Invisible One mocks J.Edward Bromberg's attempts to woo Massey during a cosy meal for two. It goes on much too long and isn't funny at all.That aside, this is a rewarding and entertaining sci-fi spy thriller, which builds to a rousing climax and is graced by John P Fulton's engaging special effects and the ever brilliant Lorre, possibly the only Hungarian who could convincingly play Japanese. A unique, immensely talented, and fascinating actor; Invisible Agent is worth seeing for him alone.