Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933)

The disappearance of people and corpses leads a reporter to a wax museum and a sinister sculptor.

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Don Mullaly (screen play), Carl Erickson (screen play)

Stars:

Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Glenda Farrell

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Lionel Atwill	...	Ivan Igor
Fay Wray	...	Charlotte Duncan
Glenda Farrell	...	Florence Dempsey
Frank McHugh	...	Jim
Allen Vincent	...	Ralph Burton
Gavin Gordon	...	George Winton
Edwin Maxwell	...	Joe Worth
Holmes Herbert	...	Dr. Rasmussen
Claude King	...	Mr. Galatalin
Arthur Edmund Carewe	...	Sparrow - Professor Darcy
Thomas E. Jackson	...	Detective (as Thomas Jackson)
DeWitt Jennings	...	Police Captain
Matthew Betz	...	Hugo
Monica Bannister	...	Joan Gale

Storyline

In London, sculptor Ivan Igor struggles in vain to prevent his partner Worth from burning his wax museum...and his 'children.' Years later, Igor starts a new museum in New York, but his maimed hands confine him to directing lesser artists. People begin disappearing (including a corpse from the morgue); Igor takes a sinister interest in Charlotte Duncan, fiancée of his assistant Ralph, but arouses the suspicions of Charlotte's roommate, wisecracking reporter Florence.

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Plot Keywords:

queen victoria character | wax | sculptor | reporter | wax figure | 

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Taglines:

Women of FLESH become WAX in his hands... women of wax become flesh!

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 February 1933 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Mystery of the Wax Museum

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

77 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Vitaphone)

Color:

Color (2-strip Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The wax figures look like real people because they ARE real people. The original plan was to use actual wax figures, but they melted under the heat of the lights used at the time to film two-strip Technicolor.

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Goofs

Florence's scarf goes from being buttoned in the editors office to unbuttoned in the police station, and the button on her scarf changes sides at least once.

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Quotes

Charlotte Duncan: You fiend.
Ivan Igor: My Marie Antoinette, you must not say that to me.
Charlotte Duncan: You fiend!
Ivan Igor: My dear, why are you so pitifully afraid?

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Connections

Referenced in House of Wax (2005)

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Soundtracks

Agitato
(uncredited)
Music by Bernhard Kaun
Stock cue played over main titles

User Reviews

Enjoyable Horror Mystery

This film is full of unexpected twists and turns as should be any good mystery. When bodies begin disappearing, a desperate reporter finally hopes to get the break she needs to keep her job by attempting to unravel the mystery. She soon finds herself investigating a new wax museum which just happens to have a woman figurine of Joan of Arc which greatly resembles one of the missing bodies named Joan Gale. From there things continue to unravel and conclude in surprisingly horrific fashion for the time and era.

The Horror is there in terms of the mysterious burnt figure we see snatching the bodies as well as many other strange figures often seen only in menacing shadow.

The acting is superb. Lionel Atwill is outstanding in the role of Ivan Igor-the owner of the new wax museum who is trying to recapture his past loss. Fay Wray is stunningly beautiful in her short role as Charlotte who finds herself in a whole lot of unexpected trouble. Glenda Farrell also adds considerable energy as the female reporter--a character which unfortunately became much too common and stereotypical in this period of film. Nonetheless Farrell is quite competent in the role and definitely adds her own stamp to it.