Strong and Moving!

Fantastic!

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

"Mystery of the Wax Museum" isn't particularly appreciated for the masterpiece of horror that it is. The acting,direction,photography and plot are first class. There is a feeling of entering a nightmarish world when the film focuses on the scenes in the wax museum in question. Outside amongst the streets of then modern day New York, the citizens have little idea as to what they are witnessing when Lionel Atwill (in a defining performance) guides them on a tour of his latest exhibits - actually being corpses that have been embalmed in wax.Glenda Farrell scores as the wise-cracking journalist who's on the case after various bodies have been disappearing from the local morgue.The opening scene is brilliantly made but that is only the beginning of what proves to be a classic horror film. The latest DVD release recreates the films two colour technicolour process after the video release failed to do this.Watch this one with the lights out - you won't be disappointed!

I watch a lot of classic films, particularly classic horror, and Mysteries of the Wax Museum had been on my watchlist for a long time. I was familiar with the work of Fay Wray and Lionel Atwill, and had seen the remake starring Vincent Price. For those of you unfamiliar with the story; Atwill plays a wax sculpter in London whose gifted hands are maimed in a fire that destroys his failing wax museum. Years later, he sets up shop in New York, and resorts to (spoilers) more grisly methods of making new figures: casting molds from dead bodies.Meanwhile there's a snappy reporter (Florence, played annoyingly by Glenda Farell) who is one bad story away from getting fired. She investigates a recent "suicide" that happened over New Years' and lo and behold, suspects that the dead woman ended up as Atwill's Joan of Arc wax figure. Atwill takes a liking to her roommate Charlotte (Fay Wray) who resembles the figure of Marie Antionette from his former museum. He then plans to use her body as the mold for it.I'll skip to the climax, because there's really not a lot worth mentioning before it. Atwill manages to trap Charlotte in the lower chambers of his building. In the standout scene of the film, he gets up from his wheelchair, and moves closer toward Charlotte, telling her that as his Marie Antoinette, she will always be beautiful. She hits him in the face, and his "face" crumbles off, revealing his startling burned visage (wow!). The good guys and the cops corner Atwill in his chamber, about to douse the now-manacled Charlotte with boiling wax. The heroes break in and shoot him dead, and he falls into the vat of wax.Forgive me if my summary was a bit choppy. It was hard to separate the main narrative from all the boring subplots in my head. This film is, as the title of my review suggests, a mixed bag. The story is pretty solid, and the opening scene where Atwill's business partner burns his old museum down (for insurance money) is pretty good. Afterwards, screen time (for a while) is mostly given to the supporting characters. This is where I started to lose interest. Glenda Farrell's character was, in my opinion, annoying. She talks way too frequently, and too quickly, and with too much 1930s slang for my taste. Any scene with her in it really slows the movie down for me. The other supporting characters are pretty dry, save for Fay Wray, who does an impeccable job in this film. Also worth mentioning is Arthur Edmund Carewe, who plays one of Atwill's thugs.The film spends too much time with dry, poorly acted characters, thus taking away the seriousness of the picture. Until the end, I felt hardly a moment of suspense. There are good scenes in the film, I just think that the boring scenes outweigh them. The set design is worth mentioning though, and adds an air of creepy atmosphere. Unfortunately, most of the actors inhabiting the sets were not as good.I was disappointed by this film. Other horror films of the era surpass it in both quality and performances. Atwill, though gives a good performance and I will be definitely checking out other starring roles he did. Final word: watch if you're curious, but don't expect much.

On a dark and stormy night in 1921 London, "Wax Museum" sculptor Lionel Atwill (as Ivan Igor) shows potential investors his incredibly lifelike wax figures (played by real people). He hopes for a major exhibit, but Mr. Atwill's partner says they can't pay the rent on their museum and burns the place down. Tragically, Atwill is believed to have gone up in flames, while partner Edwin Maxwell (as Joe Worth) takes the insurance payoff. Twelve years later, Atwill turns up in New York City. He has decided to recreate his beloved wax museum. In a wheelchair and unable to sculpt due to injuries sustained in the fire, Atwill resorts to highly unethical methods to recreate his waxworks. When dead bodies mysteriously disappear, snoopy blonde reporter Glenda Farrell (as Florence Dempsey) begins to investigate...Early "Technicolor" gives this Monster "Mystery of the Wax Museum" a distinctive look. With Ms. Farrell's enterprising reporter, this version also has a stronger female lead, and famed "King Kong" (1933) screamer Fay Wray (as Charlotte Duncan) also appears. The women have a sexy scene, after about a half hour of running time. Watch for Ms. Wray to show off her legs in shorts and stockings while roommate Farrell slinks around in bed. Anton Grot's stylish sets and Ray Rennahan's photography, as directed by Michael Curtiz, enables this version to hold up well against the re-make "House of Wax" (1953). Interestingly, both "houses of wax" successfully employed visual gimmicks to entice viewers. The 1953 revision (starring Vincent Price) appeared in "3-D" while this 1933 version employed Technicolor.******** Mystery of the Wax Museum (2/16/33) Michael Curtiz ~ Lionel Atwill, Glenda Farrell, Fay Wray, Allen Vincent

Michael Curtiz directed this first version of the story about mad and disfigured wax sculptor Ivan Igor(played by Lionel Atwill) who has just reopened a wax museum after his first one was destroyed in a fire. There have been mysterious disappearances of local citizens, and Ivan has taken a particular interest in his assistant's fiancée Charlotte(played by Fay Wray) whose roommate Florence(played by Glenda Farrell) is a reporter on the case. Does Ivan have anything to do with the crimes? Despite a good cast and director, this film has not aged well, being far too talky, and that wisecracking reporter is overbearing. Mostly overshadowed by the 1953 remake.