Invisible Enemy
Cast & Crew
John H. Auer
Alan Marshall
Tala Birrell
Mady Correll
C. Henry Gordon
Herbert Mundin
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Englishman Jeffrey Clavering is hired in London by The Great Eastern Oil Corporation to go to Paris to prevent unscrupulous industrialist Nikolai Kamarov from gaining control of their oil fields and turning them over to a foreign power. The company wants Jeff, a playboy and former intelligence officer, to make contact with Kamarov through his wife Sandra, with whom Jeff had once had a love affair. At first Jeff is reluctant, but when a gunman breaks into the meeting and steals his records, he accepts the assignment for a badly needed 50,000 pound fee. Jeff finds Sandra by waiting for her at "Le coq bleu," one of their old haunts, and with the help of Princess Stephanie, a fashionable dress shop owner and mutual friend. He then renews his relationship with the materialistic Sandra. When Kamarov learns that his wife is seeing Jeff, and also discovers Jeff's purpose, he decides to kill him. After Jeff's valet Bassett is killed in an encounter with one of Kamarov's men, Jeff gets Sergeant. Alfred M. Higgs, also an intelligence officer, to act as his valet and go with him to a party at Kamarov's estate near Fontainbleau. Stephanie, who has always loved Jeff, goes to the party as well. Sandra warns Jeff of the dangers and also tells him that Kamarov will be leaving for South America that night. During dinner, Kamarov orders one of his men to turn on electrical current that is wired to a chair occupied by Jeff, but Higgs is able to stop the man. A short time later, Jeff and Higgs steal papers that are supposed to incriminate Kamarov, but soon find that the papers are merely stock certificates for Eastern Oil. When they return to complete the job, they discover that Kamarov has gone to Paris to attend a meeting to sell the real papers to representatives of a foreign power. Hoping to infiltrate the meeting, Jeff pretends to be a driver sent to bring one of the men, Signor Bramucci, to the meeting, but is knocked unconscious by the suspicious Bramucci. Higgs rescues him and they summon the police to raid the meeting and photograph the men present. Kamarov escapes capture, but realizing that he has been marked for death by his former cohorts, he returns to his estate, sits in his electric dining chair and turns on the current. With the case settled, Jeff and Higgs go to the airport and send Sandra off alone while Jeff tells Stephanie he loves her.
Director
John H. Auer
Cast
Alan Marshall
Tala Birrell
Mady Correll
C. Henry Gordon
Herbert Mundin
Gerald Oliver Smith
Ivan Simpson
Elsa Buchanan
Dwight Frye
Leonard Willey
Ian Maclaren
Egon Brecher
Frank Puglia
Crew
John H. Auer
Norman Burnstine
Albert J. Cohen
Albert J. Cohen
Alberto Colombo
Alex Gottlieb
Dorothy Hughes
John Victor Mackay
Jack Marta
William Morgan
Irene Saltern
Murray Seldeen
Robert T. Shannon
Joe Walters
Al Wilson
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Pre-release titles of the film were Gentleman from London and Capital Punishment. A news item in Hollywood Reporter on February 25, 1938 states that Caital Punishment was to be the new title of Fire Over the Waterfront (which was later released as Arson Gang Busters), but this was never the case according to information contained in the AMPAS Library files on both films. Although the film and Motion Picture Herald list the PCA certificate number as 2124, this was an error. According to information in the MPAA/PCA collection, and the official studio billing sheet contained in the AMPAS library, the certificate issued was actually number 4124. A production chart in Hollywood Reporter lists Keith Kenneth in the cast, but his participation in the released film has not been confirmed. The chart also lists Joe Walters as the cameraman. Although all reviews and copyright records list only Jack Marta as cameraman, Walters May have started the picture and been replaced by Marta, or May have acted as Marta's second or assistant cameraman. According to a review in New York Times, when the picture was shown at the Criterion Theatre in New York, a real electric chair was placed in the lobby as a promotional gimmick. In its review of the film, Hollywood Reporter noted that the character of Kamarov seemed to be loosely modelled after Sir Basil Zaharoff. Zaharoff, who died in 1936, according to biographical sources, was rumored to have been a secret liaison to arms and oil companies in Germany.
