Hollywood Studios Year-by-Year – Universal – 1940: THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES and THE INVISIBLE MAN RETURNS

There's Sometimes a Buggy

For this Universal 1940 Studios Year by Year episode, we look at a Vincent Price double feature that also features the same director (Joe May), cinematographer (Milton Krasner), and key screenwriter (Lester Cole, who will become one of the Hollywood Ten): The House of the Seven Gables, an adaptation of the Nathaniel Hawthorne novel, and The Invisible Man Returns, the first sequel to James Whale's adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel. We talk non-naturalistic acting, the genius of Vincent Price, and the progressive moment of 1940, when anti-fascism gives courage to Hollywood's leftists.

Time Codes:

0h 01m 00s: THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES [dir. Joe May]

0h 45m 28s: THE INVISIBLE MAN RETURNS [dir. Joe May]

Studio Film Capsules provided by The Universal Story by Clive Hirschhorn

Additional studio information from: The Hollywood Story by Joel W. Finler

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* Marvel at our meticulously ridiculous Complete Viewing Schedule for the 2020s

* Intro Song: "Sunday" by Jean Goldkette Orchestra with the Keller Sisters (courtesy of The Internet Archive)

* Read Elise's latest film piece on Preston Sturges, Unfaithfully Yours, and the Narrative role of comedic scapegoating.

* Check out Dave's new Robert Benchley blog – an attempt to annotate and reflect upon as many of the master humorist's 2000+ pieces as he can locate – Benchley Data: A Wayward Annotation Project!

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