Producer: Hal B. Wallis. Executive producer: Jack L. Warner. Associate producer: Henry Blanke. Copyright 3 February 1933 by Warner Brothers Pictures, Inc. Presented by Warner Brothers Pictures, Inc. and the Vitaphone Corp. New York opening at the Strand, 17 February 1933. U.S. release: February 1933. 7,184 feet. 79 minutes 49 seconds.SYNOPSIS: Mad sculptor runs amuck, modelling wax figures out of his murder victims.NOTES: Remade by Andre De Toth in 1953 in 3-D as House of Wax with Vincent Price, Phyllis Kirk and Carolyn Jones. It's true there was a stage play (presumably unproduced) by Belden entitled The Wax Museum. However, Belden also wrote a twelve-page scenario which Warners purchased for $1,000 on 22 July 1932.COMMENT: One of the great show-stoppers of its day, The Mystery of the Wax Museum has suffered doubly at the hands of critics and so-called film historians. Believed to be a lost masterpiece, the film gained a vast reputation launched by De Toth's re-make House of Wax. When a print finally did become available, the critics were disappointed. The original movie wasn't half as good as they remembered it, they complained. But I found this movie most entertaining. The pace is fast, Curtiz jams the horror across with flair and style, whilst Atwill gives a stand-out performance. He's even more fascinating here than in his initial outing with Curtiz in Doctor X.OTHER VIEWS: Exciting as the 1953 re-make House of Wax is (especially in 3-D), the original is even more engagingly horrific. It also boasts Arthur Edmund Carewe's portrait of a dissipated junkie which ranks with Dooley Wilson's Sam as one of the most memorable support portrayals in a Curtiz film. Some critics even regard Atwill's interpretation here as the best of his career. Glenda Farrell's fans will not be disappointed either. And no-one who enjoyed Fay Wray's screaming in King Kong can fail to be impressed by this remarkable try-out for that role, which has the added advantage of presenting our lovely heroine in Technicolor.

"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!

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

Good horror flick. I was surprised at how good the color was for 1933. I don't know about the early "two strip" process, but it certainly worked here. Atwill's his usual demented self, this time turning people into wax mannequins for his "museum". Like King Kong of the same year, he's got his eye on Fay Wray. Poor Wray, she always seems to attract the wrong kind of guy. Good thing she's got motor-mouth Glenda Farrell as a chum to stir the pot with the cops. Seems like Atwill's got a policy of hiring the deformed, which may be charitable, but is sort of scary for everyone else.What a great wax tub set WB popped for. The catwalks are a marvel of placement and design making those scenes real eye-catchers. To me, Farrell's light comedy is a matter of taste in a horror movie, but at least it's not clownish. And how did they get their mannequins to pose like blocks of marble for an extended camera period. Apparently they used real people since wax figures melted under the stage lights. Strikes me that remaining stock-still is maybe harder than delivering a bunch of dialog. I hope they got triple pay as a result. Anyway, the movie belongs to the great line-up of 30's horror flicks, maybe not first-rank but close to it, especially when we see the real Igor (pronounced eye-gore). Ugh!