The Invisible Man is a 1933 American pre-Code science fiction horror film directed by James Whale. Based on H. G. Wells' 1897 science fiction novel The Invisible Man and produced by Universal Pictures, the film stars Claude Rains, in his first American screen appearance, and Gloria Stuart. The film was written by R.C. Sherriff, along with Philip Wylie and Preston Sturges, though the latter duo's work was considered unsatisfactory and they were taken off the project. As an adaptation of a book, the film has been described as a "nearly perfect translation of the spirit of the tale" upon which it is based. The first film in Universal's Invisible Man film series, it spawned a number of sequels and spin-offs which used ideas of an "invisible man" that were largely unrelated to Wells' original story.