Aug 171932
 
three reels

Ivan Igor (Lionel Atwill), a master artist of wax figures, is crippled by a fire that destroyed is greatest works. Unable to use his hands, he now oversees a group of sculptors, but his goal is always to recreate what was lost. Luck comes his way when he sees Charlotte (Fay Wray), who would be the perfect model for his long lost wax figure of Marie Antoinette. Reporter Florence Dempsey (Glenda Farrell) is investigating a murder that also involves body snatching, and she believes that Igor’s wax museum has clues that will break the case.

I love two-strip Technicolor. It produces a dreamlike look that is fitting for horror and fantasy. In the proper hands, it can be used to produce stunning images, and Michael Curtiz, the master director of The Adventures of Robin Hood, Casablanca, and The Sea Hawk had the proper hands. He was an expert of all genres and in all styles. Mystery of the Wax Museum was his follow-up to Doctor X (1931). Both are two-strip Technicolor horror films focusing on a reporter uncovering a mystery, and starring Lionel Atwill and costarring Fay Wray. Unfortunately, only B&W prints of Mystery of the Wax Museum were available for thirty years and the color one that was finally discovered was a copy in Jack Warner’s personal collection. So it is less vibrant than Doctor X. It’s a good looking film, but I can only imagine how beautiful it once was.

There’s no flaws in casting, but it is the cinematography that stands out. Even with the faded film, there are cells that should be hung as art, particularly those of the evil lair. But the script doesn’t match the look. We spend too much time with the reporter. While initially amusing, she grates quickly. Worse, she spends a lot of time away from the main action, including in two poorly conceived romance subplots.

It was remade as House of Wax in 1953, with Vincent Price taking over for the burnt artist. The later version improves on the first by decreasing the reporter/mystery side of things, and increasing the horror. But it loses out both in direction and in the marvelous expressionistic sets. So I’ll call it a draw, but suspect if the original negatives of this version were ever found, it would slip ahead.

Lionel Atwill played mad doctors or police inspectors in and string of horror films, including The Vampire Bat (1933), Mark of the Vampire (1935), Son of Frankenstein (1939), Man Made Monster (1941), The Mad Doctor of Market Street (1942), The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), Night Monster (1942), Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943), House of Frankenstein (1944), House of Dracula (1945).