by Dennis E. Power
(with much
assistance from
Matthew Baugh, Win Eckert and Chuck Loridans)
Part Two
JOHN (JACK) STUART
GRIFFIN 1894-1922
John Stuart Griffin was the eldest child
of John
Hawley Griffin and Rebecca Grey. Like his father and mother Jack was
handsome
and intelligent. He had only dim shadowy memories of his father and
fond
memories of his mother. His family lived in genteel poverty, having a
home and
servants but always struggling to make ends meet. He was driven to
succeed but
really knew little of the Griffin
legacy. His mother had managed to secure enough income for her three
son's
education. Her only stipulation was that they attend their father's old
alma
mater, University College. At University College Jack began hearing
odd whispers and strange
looks from the older members of the faculty about the odd subjects of Griffin the Albino and Invisibility. His mother
died
suddenly in 1905, leaving Jack as executor of the estate with an access
to some
bank accounts that not even his mother had known about, there were
safety
deposits containing an odd mixture of bank accounts, scientific notes
and
newspaper clippings.
The newspaper
clippings
cleared up the mystery behind the cryptic whispering. The money was
enough to
continue Jack's education, keep his brothers in public school and
provide them
with a university education. Jack specialized in chemistry consciously
following in his Father's chosen profession. He wished to prove that
his Father
had not been a crank as was generally believed as was believed by the
general
public by that time. Through his Uncle Walter Gray, who was also on the
faculty
of University College, Jack Griffin obtained a position immediately
after
graduation, working for Cranley
Preservatives Inc., a
firm specializing in new scientific methods of food preservation. The
head of
the firm and its main researcher, Dr. Cranley
allowed
Jack Griffin the use of the laboratory equipment for his own
experiments after
hours.
Also working at
Cranley Preservatives was a man who
despised Jack Griffin
upon hearing his name. The man was in his early fifties and had also
gotten his
position through his connection with University College. He had been considered a bit unreliable
because he had suffered a bit
of a nervous breakdown and had taken to drink, losing his medical
practice.
Although a dogged researcher he was known to go on a bender every now
and then.
His name was Kemp. Yes, it was the same Kemp once terrorized by Jack
Griffin's
father. Kemp attempted to talk Cranley out
of hiring
Jack Griffin. Cranley, believing Kemp's
attempt at
dissuasion to be nothing more than professional jealousy told Kemp that
his
position was assured.
Another reason
for Dr.
Kemp's antipathy for Jack Griffin was because of the immediate rapport
between Griffin and Cranley's
daughter
Flora. Kemp had nursed a secret affection for Flora for years but had
not
pursued a romance because of his past difficulties and because of the
disparities in their ages. Yet he did not want anyone, especially Griffin to have the pleasure of her company. Jack
and
Flora's relationship developed into a true love affair with the
understanding
that Griffin would one day ask for her hand. This gave
him
additional incentive to follow up on his Father's researches.
Among the items
that Jack
Griffin inherited was one of his father's three missing notebooks. The
one he
possessed was the middle one. A search for the other two proved again
fruitless. It is a testament to Jack Griffin's genius that in five
years of
research he came up with a serum that while not identical to his
Father's
worked in much the same manner. Unlike his father he tested it first on
animals
and then created an antidote. With his antidote in hand, Griffin experimented upon himself. This
invisibility serum
took a long time to act with a month of subcutaneous injections to get
the
invisibility effect.
Jack Griffin
also used monocaine as the catalytic
ingredient of the invisibility
serum, yet his formula had a higher concentration of monocaine
in its composition. His test animals showed almost immediate signs of
psychosis
but this was alleviated upon administration of the antidote. Griffin thought that the insanity factor was
something that
could be worked out after he had achieved invisibility. He also
believed that a
man's superior mind would be able to stave off the psychosis for a
longer
period than the animal mind. Griffin took a leave of absence and began the
treatment with
his serum.
Having achieved
total invisibility,
he then tested the antidote on himself. It did not work on human
physiology.
Desperate Jack Griffin traveled to Iping,
hoping to
locate his father's missing books. He knew from newspaper clippings
that John
Hawley Griffin had stayed in Iping. The
Coach and
Horses Innwhere his father had stayed was now under new management and was now called
The Lion's
Head Inn. Heavily swaddled against the cold he entered the inn and took
a room.
Although the film, The Invisible Man, Universal 1933 is based
on this
portion of Jack Griffin's life, the writers of the film filled gaps of
known
activity with incidents borrowed from the original Invisible Man's
adventure as
presented by H.G. Wells. This then is why the opening sequence of the Invisible
Man film seems similar to the novel. Jack Griffin took a room and
stayed in
it pretty much without incident nor did he run out of money as
portrayed in the
film.
He was racing
against an
unknown deadline and failed to meet it. The original serum caused
psychosis as
toxins built up over a period of time. The toxin levels increased with
intensified hormonal and immune system responses. However the second
serum
created by Jack had a higher concentration of monocaine
and a greater reliance on hormonal stimuli. This caused his toxins to
build up
at a faster rate especially when triggered by increased adrenal
activity as
caused by fear and anger.
As Jack Griffin
worked
desperately on a successful antidote to his invisibility and its
accompanying
growing madness, Flora Cranley was at her
wit's end.
Jack Griffin had disappeared and she was desperate to find him. She
implored
her father to help find him and when Dr. Kemp tried to turn her against
Griffin and point her affections towards him
under the
pretense of comforting her, she turned him down flat. Her response was
a bit
hysterical but as we will see she had a good reason to be so upset.
Dr. Kemp must
have
suspected that Griffin was attempting to recreate his father's
research for
he told Flora that Griffin was delving into things better left alone.
Dr. Cranley,
assisted by Dr. Kemp, searched through Griffin's deserted laboratory. Griffin had packed up much of his equipment and
burned his
non-essential papers. It was only through an exhaustive search that
they
discovered a list of chemicals. One of the chemicals on the list
especially
worried Dr. Cranley; the drug monocaine,
which was derived from a flower from India. It had the ability to draw color out of
anything
that it touched.
Kemp asked why
this drug
was especially worrisome. Cranley
explained that a
German experiment had injected monocaine
into a dog (1) It
had turned the dog
marble white but it had also driven it violently mad. Dr. Kemp
revealed
to Dr. Cranley that Griffin was the son of the legendary Invisible
man and that
he was undoubtedly following in the same steps.(2)Cranley told
Kemp to keep
this between themselves, invoking the name of honor between gentlemen
with the
unspoken threat of job termination if Kemp did not comply.
During the two
weeks that
Jack Griffin spent at the Lion's Head, he paid his bill on time but his
aloofness from the patrons of the Inn and his never
being seen out of his bandages caused some talk. Jack Griffin had grown
extremely short-tempered as his quest for an antidote seemed
increasingly
impossible. He had trouble concentrating as the toxins clouded his
mind, as
paranoia and rage overcame his rationality. The murmur of noise from
the tavern
room below enraged him, as it broke his concentration. He screamed
curses,
broke furniture and smashed glassware. Even though he paid the landlady
for
these outbursts they became tiresome.
As she
served his midday meal, a catalytic agent failed. He blamed
her for
the failed reaction, stating that a whole day's work was ruined because
of her.
He pushed her of the room and threw the tray full of food behind her.
Screaming
she ran to her husband and told her to evict Griffin. When he attempted to do so, Griffin tossed him down a flight of steps,
causing him some
head trauma.
A constable was
sent for.
He asked for a couple of men to accompany him up to take the man into
custody.
Infuriated at another interruption, Griffin swore at them. He told them he would show
them what
they were dealing with and took off his head coverings. Revealing
a headless body. Frightened the Constable and townspeople fled
from the
room. However the constable had some wits about him, remembering the
stories of
twenty years past he realized that the man was invisible and that they
had to
capture him before he got all his clothes off.
The constable
and several
men returned to the room and struggled with the half clothed invisible
man.
However as stated the invisibility formula made Griffin slightly stronger than most men and with
his
chemically induced strength he held them off and knocked out the
constable as
he pulled off his clothes. He fled from the room and exacted a
vengeance on Iping for having disturbed
his work. He broke barware,
smashed windows, pushed people down, turned over a baby carriage, stole
and
threw a bike at a crowd, knocked off hats and created general mayhem
like this.
Jack Griffin made his way
to Dr.
Kemp's home and let himself in. Dr. Kemp was listening to the radio a
report
about a small town nearby suffering from a delusion of having an
invisible man
among them. Kemp was startled but not entirely surprised when a voice
spoke up
calling those people fools. The voice told Kemp to build up a fire, he
was chilled.
Griffin told Kemp that he not to call out he was
strong and
could throttle him.
As Griffin built up a fire, Griffin dressed in some of Kemp's clothing but
mostly to get
warm, not so much for Griffin's
comfort as was depicted in the film. He probably dispensed with the
head
bandage, not really needing it and also because his headless body
helped keep
Kemp uneasy. Griffin told Kemp he had started his research
five years
prior.
Kemp blurted
out that he
had suspected that Griffin had been continuing his father's work. Griffin demanded to know how Kemp knew about
that. Realizing
his possibly fatal error, Kemp admitted that he had known the elder Griffin and had been a friend of his. Griffin's attitude changed towards Kemp becoming
friendlier
and more confiding. He tells Kemp how the drugs had lit up his mind and
showed
him that with this power he could make people grovel at his feet. He
informed
Kemp that they would be partners and that Kemp would help him with his
coming
reign of terror.
First however
he had to
retrieve his notebooks from the Lion's Head Inn. He had Kemp drive to
the
village. Griffin had planned to walk unnoticed through the
noisy,
crowded tavern taproom. However the Inn was quiet as a
Police Inquiry was underway to determine if the stories of the
Invisible Man
were true or not. The head constable was under the opinion that the
stories
were balmy. Griffin slipped past the inquiry and up to his
former room.
He tossed his books and belongings down to Kemp out of his window.
On his way out
of the inn
Jack Griffin could not resist a bit of malicious mischief. This
resulted in him
smashing in the head of the Chief Constable, killing him. Kemp nearly
drove off
the road when Griffin told him that he had killed a policeman.
Returning to Kemp's house, Griffin dressed and ate. He remarked that he had
to hide for
an hour after eating, food remained visible
in his gut
until it was digested. He warned Kemp not to tell anyone of his
presence and
retired.
As Griffin slept the police set up a set up to seal
off the
countryside for twenty miles surrounding Iping.
Radio
broadcasts warned people to lock their doors and not venture out.
Griffin called Cranley
to tell
them that Griffin was back and that he was the Invisible
Man. Cranley wished Kemp to remain silent.
Cranley
told Kemp that he and Flora would be right over. Griffin awakened as the Cranleys
arrived. Griffin accused Kemp of betrayal. Kemp bluffed by
telling Griffin he had told Dr. Cranley
and Flora. Flora had been frantic to find him.
Griffin insisted upon seeing Flora alone. Despite
Kemp and
Dr. Cranley's wishes, she agreed. Flora
was horrified
by Griffin's condition and asked why he had done it.
He told
her he had done if for her; because being so poor he had little to
offer her.
She told him that he just had to find a way to get back to normal, she
was with
his child. (3) As if this were a signal, Griffin began raving about establishing a dynasty
to rule
the world. A world where everyone feared him.
Even the
moon feared him.
As Griffin talked with Flora, he noticed that Police
were
surrounding the house. He stripped out of his clothing and made his way
to Griffin's study. Kemp opened a window to call out
to the
police. Griffin thanked him for opening the window and
vowed to kill
him at 10 P.M the next night.
Griffin managed to elude the police surrounding
the house.
He spent the next day stealing money from a bank and throwing it into a
crowd.
He killed twenty-three men in search parties looking for him and then
as
evening drew close he throttled a switchman at a railroad and sent a
train into
a wrong track, derailing it. Hundreds died in the train wreck,
passengers and
residents of the town below the derailment.
The police in
concert
with Kemp set up an elaborate trap for Griffin. Kemp agreed albeit very reluctantly to
go along
with a police plan to lure Griffin
to the police station. Kemp pretended to seek protection at the police
station
and then slipped out of the back disguised as a police officer. He
would then
drive away to the countryside. Griffin followed the Kemp as he was escorted to
the police
station, waited as Kemp changed his clothing, rode on the running board
of the
car that drove Kemp to his house and sat silently in Kemp's car as he
escaped
to the countryside.
At the
appointed hour Griffin knocked Kemp out and set his car so that
it would
roll down a cliff.
In the end it
was fatigue
and nature that did John Griffin in. During a
snowstorm he took shelter in farmer's barn. The farmer heard his
snoring but
could find no one in the barn. He realized it was the Invisible Man.
The police
surrounded the barn. They sought to drive him out the barn by setting
it afire.
As Griffin's footprints appeared in the snow he was
shot down.
Griffin died in the hospital, shot through both
lungs, not
even the extra bit of stamina provided by the serum could save him.
Flora was
devastated by his death. As his heart slowed down, the serum's
effectiveness
also faded and he gradually regained visibility.
Going against
Dr. Cranley's wishes Kemp revealed that
the Invisible Man was Griffin. Flora would be ruined by the scandal.
Flora Cranley
went away to a sanitarium to get over her grief,
at least
that was the official reason. She bore John Griffin's son, whom
her
father gave over to John Griffin's brother Francis to raise. Flora did
not want
to give up the child. Flora remained in a state of melancholia for
years. Her
father eventually took her to America where she was treated by a famous
psychiatrist named
Caliban. She remained in America and married a man named Forrester. Cranley Preservatives was purchased by Radcliffe
Industries.
Click here for a Griffin family tree graphic
NOTES
JOHN
(JACK) STUART GRIFFIN 1894-1922
1.This German experiment was
probably conducted during the Great
War as an attempt to recreate the experiments of the original Invisible
Man and
make an invisible army. It is possible that one of Griffin's notebooks somehow
make it into Germany. If so it would later
be returned
to England.
2. This
was excised from the film version for legal reasons
3.
Naturally this was also excised from the film for code reasons as well
as legal
ones.
Invisibles Timeline
1897 Invisible Man by H.G.
Well (John Hawley Griffin. OIM Original Invisible
Man)
1898 League of Extraordinary Men (John
Hawley Griffin)
1922 Invisible Man (John
(Jack) Griffin)
1929 Invisible Murderer with William Carpenter as the Invisible Man
1931 Invisible Man's Return (Frank Griffin----- with Geoffrey Radcliffe
as the IM
1935 Invisible Man's Revenge
(Robert Griffin) the IM
1938 Invisible Woman (Kitty
Caroll)
1942 (twenty years after Invisible
Man) Invisible
Agent (Frank Griffin a.k.a. Frank Raymond)
1948 Abbott
and
Costello Meet Frankenstein (Geoffrey Radcliffe
IM)
1949 Abbott
and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (Tommy Nelson IM)
1966 Invisibility Affair
Willard Morthley and Kerry
Griffin inventors
of the OTSMID (Omnidirectional Total
Spectrum
Molecular Interpenetration Device) which can render objects invisible
1974 Daniel Westin
becomes an Invisible Man
1998 Darien Fawkes surgically implanted with
quicksilver gland to
become an Invisible Man
1999 Sebastian Caine has a brief and deadly career as an
Invisible Man
as seen in The Hollow Man
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