Movies - Mystery of the Wax Museum

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	Movies - Mystery of the Wax Museum

Mystery of the Wax Museum is a mystery/horror film from 1933, directed by Michael Curtiz for Warner Brothers, starring Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, and Glenda Farrell.

Plot

Ivan Igor (Lionell Atwill) is a sculptor who operates a wax museum in 1921 London. When the business fails, Igor's investment partner, Joe Worth (Edwin Maxwell) burns the museum down for the insurance money, leaving Igor for dead. Igor is not killed, however, and reemerges 12 years later in 1933 New York City, reopening a new wax museum. He has been badly crippled in the fire, and must rely on assistants to create his new sculptures.

Meanwhile, reporter Florence Dempsey is investigating the possible murder of a model named Joan Gale, whose body has been stolen from the city morgue. Her roommate is Charlotte Duncan (Fay Wray), who's boyfriend Jim (Frank McHugh) works in Igor's museum. While visiting the museum, Florence notices an uncanny resemblance between a wax figure of Joan of Arc and the dead model. At the same time, Igor spots Charlotte and remarks that she looks similar to his favorite figure in his original museum, a sculpture of Marie Antoinette.

Investigating further, Florence discovers a mysterious disfigured man who is connected with the museum, but cannot prove any connection with the disappearence of Joan Hale's body. Charlotte, going to visit Jim at the museum, is trapped by Igor, who is unmasked to be the disfigured man seen earlier by Florence. He has gone mad, and taken to murdering people and stealing bodies, dipping them in wax to create his life-like sculptures. He ties up Charlotte and announces his intent to pour wax on her and recreate Marie Antoinette. Florence leads the police to the museum just in time: Charlotte is saved, and Igor falls to his death in a giant vat of wax.

History

This film was the last major release photographed in two component Technicolor. The process combined red/orange and blue/green dyes to create a color image with a reduced spectrum. The result is pleasing if not accurate. The film was once thought lost as the last known print was destroyed in 1953. With no technicolor negative or b/w print, it was fortunate that a slightly damaged, but complete print was discovered in Jack Warner's private vault. This was copied for television use, but with little care, reducing the subtle color to tones of pink and blue. In the 1980's a proper restoration was made by UCLA and the film can now be seen as intended. The film makes fine use of elaborate modern gothic settings and is essential viewing as a landmark of early color and the early 1930's horror cycle.

The film was remade twice, in 1953 as House of Wax
(directed by Andre De Toth and starring Vincent Price, and in 2005, again as House of Wax
. Whereas the original was more of a mystery film, the remakes focused more on the horror elements.

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