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Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933)Rate Movie
                                     
Directed by | Michael
Curtiz
Mystery of the Wax Museum is a
mystery/horror Technicolor film
released in 1933, and directed by
Michael Curtiz.
Plot Ivan Igor (Lionel Atwill) is a sculptor who operates a wax museum in 1921 London. When business was failing due to people's most facination in the macabre, Igor's investment partner, Joe Worth (Edwin Maxwell), tries to burn the museum down for the insurance money of ₤10,000. But Igor wouldn't have it, so, in the process of the burning, both he and Worth get into a fight. Once Igor is knocked unconscious, Worth feeling that Igor is a liability, leaves the sculptor to die. Yet, Igor is not killed and reemerges twelve years later in New York City, reopening a new wax museum. His hands and legs have been badly crippled in the fire, and he must rely on assistants to create his new sculptures. Meanwhile, reporter Florence Dempsey is sent out by her editor, Jim (Frank McHugh) to investigating the suicide of a model named Joan Gale (Monica Bannister). During this time, a hideous monster steals the body of Joan Gale from the morgue. When investigators find that her body has been stolen, they suspect murder. The finger initially points to George Winton (Gavin Gordon), son of a powerful industrialist, but after visiting him in jail, Florence thinks differently.
Florence's roommate is Charlotte Duncan (Fay Wray) whose finance Ralph (Allen Vincent) works at Igor's newly
opened museum. Igor employs several shady characters: Prof. Darcy (Arthur Edmund Carewe), a doper, and Hugo, a deaf-mute (Matthew Betz). Darcy, at the same time, is working for Joe Worth, who is still alive and working as a bootlegger in the city. Winton also purchases liquor from him. While investigating at an old house where Worth keeps his bootlegged alcohol, Florence discovers a monster who is connected with the museum, but cannot prove any connection with the disappearance of Joan Gale's body. Darcy is seen running from the house and is caught by the police. When brought to the station, he breaks down and admits that Igor is in fact the killer and that he has been murdering people, stealing their bodies, and dipping them in wax to create life-like statues. Charlotte, going to visit Ralph at the museum, is trapped by Igor. When Charlotte tries to get away, she pounds away at his face, breaking a wax mask that he has made of himself, and reveals that he is the horribly mutilated monster. He also shows her the dead body of Joe Worth, who Darcy has been tracking down for him. When she faints, he ties her up and sets her on a table, awaiting her to become his lost Marie Antoinette when she is doused with wax. Florence leads the police to the museum just in time: Charlotte is saved, and Igor is gunned down into a giant vat of wax. When Florence reports her story in, Jim proposes to her. Having to finally choose between money (Winton) and happiness (Jim), she picks the latter.
Production A similar storyline was also used for an episode of the hit radio mystery drama The Shadow, with Orson Welles. It was entitled The Murders In Wax and first aired on July 24, 1938. The film was remade as House of Wax (1953), directed by Andre De Toth and starring Vincent Price. Whereas the original was more of a mystery film, the remake focused more on the horror film elements. However, the two films shared a common theme-- while Mystery was shot in the early two-color Technicolor system, House of Wax pioneered two other film making techniques: 3-Dimension and stereophonic sound. In 2005, a film called House of Wax was released, but had nothing to do with the initial Belden story. Mystery of the Wax Museum was the third (and last) Warner Bros. feature film to be filmed in the improved Technicolor process which removed grain and improved both the color and clarity of the film. This improved process had first been used on The Runaround (1931) and resulted in an attempt at a color revival by the studios late in 1931. Due to public apathy, however, the studios quickly retreated from their ambitious plans for color films, late in 1932. Consequently, Mystery of the Wax Museum was the last picture from a major studio in the two-color Technicolor system. Primarily shot in the system in order to fulfill their contract with the company, the process combined red and green dyes to create a color image with a reduced spectrum. But to the credit of the cinematographer, the result is pleasing if not accurate. The film was once thought lost as the elements to the film were lost in a fire. With no Technicolor negative or print available, it was fortunate that a slightly used, but otherwise complete print was discovered in Jack Warner's private vault. In the 1980s the UCLA Film and Television Archive restored the film so it can be seen as intended, although the 2004 DVD from Warner Bros. maladjusts the colors to give most of the film a blue, rather than green, bias. The film makes fine use of elaborate modern Gothic settings and is essential viewing as a landmark of early color and the early 1930s horror cycle.
Cast modified: 2007-12-14 04:10:49
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