Alexandre Dumas’ 1847 novel of wrongful imprisonment and swashbuckling adventure with the Three Musketeers has been often filmed, but Whale’s version remains a favorite. Independent producer Edward Small made the film as a follow up to his 1934 Count of Monte Cristo and hired Whale at a time when the latter was looking for work after leaving Universal. Small was known for keeping his directors on a tight leash, and The Man in the Iron Mask was no exception. Yet while the film bears relatively few traces of Whale’s signature – no dark humor or satiric impulses, no Expressionist lighting or jump cuts – it clearly demonstrates his strong command of fleet cinematic storytelling.

Like Frankenstein, The Invisible Man offers an unsettling cautionary tale of scientific hubris run amok. The film’s story of a mild-mannered scientist transformed by his fantastical invention into a raving megalomaniac is less an ethical debate about man playing God than an existential allegory about the seductive nature of power. Although Whale cast Claude Rains as Griffin because of Rains' extraordinarily expressive voice, the actor was chagrined to learn that his face would remain unseen for almost the entirety of his first Hollywood film. Destined for a place in film history due to its special effects, The Invisible Man's success vindicated Whale's effort to tie dark humor to shocking violence.