House of Wax
Short description
A sculptor named Henry Jarrod runs a wax museum filled with figures of historical figures, from ancient rulers to Abraham Lincoln. When his business partner, Matthew Burke, decides the exhibits need to be more sensational to draw crowds and threatens to burn the museum down for the insurance money, Jarrod tries to save his creations and is caught in the fire. Some years later a new museum opens in New York, this one devoted to crime, violence and torture, and its figures look disturbingly lifelike. The disappearance of people near the museum draws the attention of those close to it.
André de Toth directed this 1953 crime and horror film for Warner Bros., working from a screenplay by Crane Wilbur. It was the third of the six features he made between 1939 and 1961, arriving in the same year as Crime Wave. Vincent Price plays Jarrod, with Frank Lovejoy, Phyllis Kirk, Carolyn Jones, Paul Picerni and Roy Roberts among a credited cast of 43. The film was made for about 1 million dollars and took roughly 24 million worldwide, a strong return.
On IMDb it holds 7 out of 10 from around 22,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.9 out of 10 from a much smaller group of 396. A critics' rating of 7.5 out of 10 from 45 reviews places it slightly above the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- It was not difficult for Vincent Price (1911-1993) to portray alarm in the scene of the museum burning. Before the start of filming, director André De Toth (1912-2002) ordered the placement of “ignition points” in three specifically chosen locations, and then filming began, with the flames quickly getting out of control. The initially scattered ignition points merged into one large blaze, burning through the roof of the soundstage and singeing Price's eyebrows. The wax figures began to melt quickly, but De Toth continued filming anyway (since replacing the wax figures was not difficult), even after the firefighters arrived.
- The first film from Warner studio shot using 3D effects.
- Nedrik Young (1914-1968) played the role of Leon's assistant, but he was not credited because he was blacklisted during the "witch hunt" era, or McCarthyism, in Hollywood.
- The scene in which the character played by Frank Lavdjoy (1912-1962) saves the hero Paul Picerni (1922-2011) from the guillotine blade was filmed in one take, and the guillotine was real. Picerni and director André De Toth had a falling out when the stuntmen working on the film dissuaded Picerni from filming the scene, stating it was too dangerous (an assistant held the guillotine blade out of camera view and was supposed to release it after giving a warning so Picerni could pull away). André De Toth was reprimanded by Jack L. Warner (1892-1978), head of the film company, and ordered the guillotine to be made safe. Picerni, who De Toth had already fired in the heat of the moment, returned to the cast, inspected the blade and said he would only perform in one take. Fortunately, no more were needed.
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