The Mystery of the Wax Museum
| Mystery of the Wax Museum | |
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theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Michael Curtiz |
| Produced by |
Henry Blanke (uncredited) Hal B. Wallis (uncredited) |
| Screenplay by | Don Mullaly Carl Erickson |
| Based on | "The Wax Works" (unpublished short story) by Charles S. Belden |
| Starring |
Lionel Atwill Fay Wray Glenda Farrell Frank McHugh |
| Music by | Cliff Hess (uncredited) |
| Cinematography | Ray Rennahan |
| Edited by | George Amy |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
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Release date
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Running time
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77 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $229,000 |
Mystery of the Wax Museum is a 1933 American pre-Code mystery-horror film directed by Michael Curtiz and released by Warner Bros. in two-color Technicolor. The film stars Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Glenda Farrell, and Frank McHugh.
The film, along with Warner's Doctor X, was the last dramatic fiction film made using the two-color Technicolor process.
Ivan Igor (Lionel Atwill) is a sculptor who operates a wax museum in 1921 London. He gives a private tour to a friend and an investor, showing them sculptures of Joan of Arc, Voltaire, and his favorite, Marie Antoinette. Formerly a stone sculptor who did wax modeling as a hobby, he explains he turned to wax sculpting completely because he felt more "satisfied" that he could reproduce "the warmth, flesh, and blood of life far better in wax than in cold stone". The investor, impressed by his sculptures, offers to submit Igor's work to the Royal Academy after he returns from a trip.
Unfortunately business at the museum is failing due to people's attraction to the macabre (a nearby wax museum caters to that). Igor's partner Joe Worth (Edwin Maxwell) proposes to burn the museum down for the insurance money of £10,000. Igor won't have it, but Worth starts a fire anyway. Igor tries to stop him, and he and Worth get into a fight. As they fight, wax masterworks are melting in the flames. Worth knocks Igor unconscious, leaving the sculptor to die in the fire. Igor survives, however, and reemerges 12 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.
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Wikipedia