Скачать или смотреть Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) - Movie Review

Mystery of the Wax Museum from 1933 was an enjoyable mystery film, that could be considered follow up to the film "Doctor X", featuring the same director and many familiar stars, including Lionel Atwill in the lead. It's also the last film to feature the Technicolor 2-strip color process, so it's a weird and great-looking film.

So the film opens up: its London in 1921, it's a rainy night, and we cut to the wax museum. Yep, creepy right from the start because, well, wax museums are just creepy. Lionel Atwill plays Ivan Igor (pronounced "EE-van EYE-gor" in the film), and yeah, I can't hear that and not think of Marty Feldman in Young Frankstein. "No it's pronounced.... EYE-gor". Anyhow, Eye-gor is running a wax museum, he's sporting a cool beard, and hard at work on a wax sculpture.

His friend Dr. Rasmussen (Holmes Herbert) shows up, along with an investor, Mr. Galatalin (played by Claude King). He gives them a tour, including wax figures that probably you wouldn't find at the Branson wax museum, like a statue of Voltaire. Oh yeah! Anyhow, Mr. Galatalin is impressed and offers to submit his work to the royal academy when he returns from a trip. They leave, and Igor strikes up a conversation with his Marie Antoinette statue, because that's not creepy or anything.

Well, Igor's museum partner Joe Worth show up. He's played by Edwin Maxwell. He's annoyed that the museum isn't making money, and actually proposes burning it down to collect fire insurance money. Igor not to jazzed about that idea though, I mean, come on, he's got all of this statues he talks to.
He says, "Let me show you how easily it can be done." And he starts a sculpture on fire, driving Igor crazy and they start fighting, while creepy wax figures burn around them. Its actually a really cool sequence as the museum burns around them and freaky wax figures collapse and melt. And we're barely 10 minutes into the film!
Igor is injured and knocked out, and Worth leaves the burning building, leaving him for dead.

Cut ahead 12 years! Happy new year! It's 1933! Everyone is out screaming and yelling but, at the same time, apparently a suicide has taken place, of a famous model, Joan Gail. At the city morgue, her body is stolen by a creepy disfigured guy, who lowers it out a window. Reporter Florence Dempsey, played by Glenda Farrell(fair-el), is assigned by her editor Jim (played by Frank Mchugh, who I caught recently in The Roaring Twenties with James Cagney - in that he played this doughy Jon Favreau-looking guy) he assigns her to investigate the suicide.

Florence is roommates with Charlotte, played by the lovely Fay Wray, and they banter about relationships. Charlotte's fiancé Ralph (played by Allen Vincent) works for Eye-gor at the museum, and Eye-gor is basically a perfectionist jerk, telling him he has no talent. He's not the best boss I guess.

Well, Florence goes to check out the new wax museum before the grand opening, but Eye-gor tells her to leave. Around this time Charlotte shows up, and Eye-gor sees her and flips out, thinking she looks a lot like an old wax figure he made. Yeah, red flag there Florence. He asks her to model for her someday and she agrees.

Anyhow, it's noteworthy that Igor employs several creepy fellows: Professor Darcy (played by Arthur Carewe), who was also in the film Dr. X, along with Lionel Atwell, as one of the oddball medical students), and here he's a drug addict working at the museum, and there's also Hugo, a deaf-mute (played by Matthew Betz).

Florence heads back to her editor, certain there's something fishy going on at the wax museum. I love the quick witty banter, the Rosalind Russel "His Girl Friday"-style reporter with the quick zingers. "Well, you can go to some nice, warm place, and I don't mean California".
Great stuff. Well, in any case, she's got a zany idea that someone at this museum is taking casts of dead people, but the editor doesn't buy it. But she's determined,.

A little later, Charlotte goes to visit Ralph at the museum, only to encounter Igor and here, near the end of the film, the big reveal happens. I will say no more, only that the ending is very exciting. Will the detectives capture the elusive monster? Will Charlotte survive? Will Florence get her headline story? Well, you gotta watch to find out.

Remade 20 years later as "House of Wax" with Vincent Price, and I'd like to check it out someday so adding it to my list.

Mystery of the Max Museum from 1933 was a great film and worth checking out.