The Invisible Ray

The Invisible Ray (1936)

Delving into new, strange fields of mystery!

Dr. Janos Rukh discovers a certain type of radium that has almost magical healing properties. But the element has a dangerous side, too, and it has already started affecting Rukh. Consumed by paranoia, he begins to suspect that his wife is having an affair. Wild for revenge, Rukh hatches a deadly plot...using his own poisoned body as a weapon to kill.

Date of release
1936-01-20
TMDB
6.3 / 10 (65)
Runtime
1h 19m
Genres
Science Fiction, Horror, Thriller
Director
Lambert Hillyer

Casting

Interesting facts

The Invisible Ray is a 1936 American science-fiction horror film directed by Lambert Hillyer. It stars Boris Karloff as Dr. Janos Rukh, a scientist who comes in contact with a meteorite composed of an element known as "Radium X". After exposure to its rays begins to make him glow in the dark, his touch becomes deadly, and he begins to be slowly driven mad. Alongside Karloff, the film's cast includes Bela Lugosi, Frances Drake, Frank Lawton, Walter Kingsford, Beulah Bondi, Violet Kemble Cooper, and Nydia Westman.

Production

Producer David Diamond, who teamed up actors Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff for the 1935 film The Raven (1935), had plans to reunite the two actors in an upcoming Karloff film Bluebeard. The script for Bluebeard did not proceed as expected, leading the studio executives at Universal Pictures to put that film on hold and put Lugosi and Karloff in a different film.

At the time of production, Universal Pictures was among reports that the studio was going to be sold. Pressure was put on the first initial director Stuart Walker who was not happy with the original script written by John Colton. Walker requested a three-day delay on the production to work on the script which was refused by Universal Studios which led to Walker leaving the production.

The film was initially given a budget of $166,875, an amount described in the book Universal Horrors as "a fairly lavish budget" for an "upper-class B" film. Filming began on September 17. Filming concluded on October 25 which was over-schedule and $68,000 over-budget.Walker later responded to this, retorting that "the director who did the picture started nine or ten days after I was ordered to start and finished 25 or more days after I was order…

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