Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) & House of Wax (1953)

Go to some nice, warm place, and I don't mean California! - Florence in Mystery of the Wax Museum

Welcome to the Week of Wax!  A week's worth of films that center around that infamous entertainment duo, museums and wax figures.  While today I love a good wax museum, in my youth I was a bit scared of them.  There was a trip we took to Newport, Oregon that was intended for us to go through a museum called the Wax Works there.  Well, we get there at opening time and in the entryway was a mermaid sitting on a growling, animated sea dragon.  That was a bit too much for my young mind and I ended up sitting in the ticket booth while my mom and her friend went through without me.  I've since gone through the museum, and the neighboring Ripley's Believe It or Not multiple times.

So, since I sort of tripped up on my postings this week, I thought I'd do a twofer article and compare 1933's Mystery of the Wax Museum with its remake, 1953's House of Wax.  They have the same storyline, the same characters, almost, and both starred a famous actor as the genius museum owner.  This way, I can avoid repetition between articles because the two films are extremely close.

Here's the general storyline: a genius wax sculptor (Lionel Atwill in 1933, Vincent Price in 1953) has a museum which focuses more on beauty than grotesquery, with such historical figures as Joan of Arc and Marie Antoinette.  In both, he receives promising news from a possible investor, but his business partner, who's had the wax figures insured, decides to take a shortcut to riches and sets the figures on fire.  The sculptor tries to stop him, but ends up beaten unconscious and left for dead.

Later, a surprisingly alive sculptor reopens a new museum with a more grotesque bent, countered by the beauty works he's more known for.  But for some reason, his new Joan of Arc looks a little too real!

Both films feature excellent performances, especially from their lead actors.  Lionel Atwill played Ivan Igor in his film.  He was also in Doctor X (with Museum costar Fay Wray, who was better known for the original, classic King Kong), The Vampire Bat and his other well-known role, Inspector Krogh in Son of Frankenstein.  The other major part in Wax Museum was Glenda Farrell who played constantly wise-cracking reporter Florence.  I really enjoyed her jabs and jokes.  Turning to House, we have the great Vincent Price, one of my all-time favorite classic horror actors, as Professor Henry Jarrod in the role that solidified him as a great horror actor.  Other notable (or soon to be notable) actors were Charles Buchinsky (aka Charles Bronson of Death Wish fame) as Jarrod's assistant Igor, and future Addams Family star Carolyn Jones as Cathy Gray.

Both films are equally good, but the role of best is determined buy what your looking for.  If you want more of a mystery, with some great comic relief, the older film is for you.  If you want a more serious horror film, then House of Wax is your ticket.  I hereby grant both films 5 out of 5.  We're rushing through the week, so stay tuned for more!  This is Red Hawk signing out!