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Black velvet special-effects “Invisibility Suit” from The Invisible Man

Currency:USD Category:Memorabilia Start Price:80,000.00 USD Estimated At:80,000.00 - 120,000.00 USD
Black velvet special-effects “Invisibility Suit” from The Invisible Man
Condition Reports: If you wish to obtain additional information on a particular lot, or cannot appear at the viewing, Profiles may provide, upon request, a condition report. We remind prospective buyers that descriptions of property are not warranted and that each lot is sold “as is” in accordance with the terms of the limited warranty. Condition reports, as other descriptions of property, are not warranted; they are only provided as a service to interested clients.
(Universal, 1933) Following the enormous success of Frankenstein in 1931, Universal Studios wanted more. The powers-that-be urged famed Director James Whale to turn his attention to another novel of the fantastique, H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man and these two films, both with mad scientists, became genre-defining horror masterpieces. The creation of The Invisible Man presented a far greater challenge than Frankenstein since the "creature" in this film is invisible.  John P. Fulton, who was head of Universal’s special effects department, immediately went to work devising an impressive armada of dazzling visuals largely relying on black screen effects. He devised a method where a scene would be filmed several times, once with Claude Rains in a special black velvet costume. Over this costume, which consists of a shirt, pants, and hood, Rains would wear his trademark robe, gloves, and bandages. Then standing against the velvet backdrop he would remove those costume pieces and completely disappear thanks to his non-reflective black velvet costume. The black velvet costume offered here was used to create effects for the original Invisible Man and ALL subsequent sequels. It consists of a hood, sleeveless cape, long-sleeve tunic with zipper front closure, and drawstring pants.  The tunic and pants each have Universal International labels (added later) handwritten “Billy” and “Arthur” respectively.  The name “Arthur” is most certainly Arthur Franz, who played the Invisible Man in the 1951 film Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man.  The tunic also has a Universal cleaning tag on the inside underneath the right arm”. The costume is fantastically showcased on a one-of-a-kind display created by Tom Spina Designs showing the Invisible Man unwrapping his bandages in one hand, his trademark robe (with sunglasses) hanging in the other, and his ascot hanging from his neck. The display has a handsome custom wood base and of course the black velvet background to make it disappear. Costumes from Universal horror are incredibly rare, and this historic, special effects black velvet suit is arguably among the most complete and important artifacts from the golden age of horror cinema ever offered for sale.