Have you guys every been to a wax museum?
I’ve gone to one...maybe two in my life time and I wasn’t that impressed. Seeing fake celebrities that creepily smile at me with soulless glass eyes wasn’t all that fun. I did kind of like the Chamber of Horrors portion because it looked really fake, it even that wasn’t as cool as some of the decorations that would go up around my neighborhood at Halloween.
However, one of my favorite classic horror movies takes place in a wax museum. House of Wax, the 1958 starring Vincent Price, makes a great case for visiting wax museums. Then again, that might just be the amazing Vincent Price’s charm and ability to camp everything to an eleven out of ten. He is the star of this movie for a reason and every scene he is in is fantastic - no part of the scenery goes in chewed!
Now, it’s well known in the horror community that this movie got a remake in 2005. It’s basically an in-name-only remake and not even Supernatural’s Jared Padalecki or Paris Hilton at her peak can save it from being terrible. I’ve seen it a couple of times (the first thinking it was the Price version) and was left annoyed and confused.
But what’s less well known is that the 1958 version is also a remake. In 1933 Warner Brother’s released Mystery of the Wax Museum. What’s cool about this movie is that it’s pre-Hays Code. Without the moral demands placed upon it, the movie can get away with characters having questionable motivations, doing illegal activities without facing (narrative) consequences, and not being subjected to silly censorship rules.
Honestly, the Hays Code is a pox on classic movies and story innovation. The number of stories that had to be changed when they were being adapted for the big screen is long and includes the likes of Rebecca, The Bad Seed, and even Pride and Prejudice. Sex was a big NO during the hay’s code period - which is why the famous train coming out of a tunnel became a symbol of sex in movies. Also married couples weren’t even allowed to share a bed on screen.
I can’t list all the annoying stipulations of the Hays Code in this post (I’m sure I’ll go through it eventually), but if you’re curious, you can read more on the TV Tropes page. Needless to say, the sticky fingers of the Hay’s Code is all over the 1958 version. It’s made even more obvious compared to the 1933 version.
The 1933 Mystery of the Wax Museum was considered lost for a long time. This happened to a lot of movies in the early days of Hollywood. Most classic silent films have been lost to history and it’s a miracle that we still have the ones we do. Fortunately, the film was rediscovered in one of the producer’s collections and recently remastered.
And I was fortunate enough to catch it on this week’s Svengooli!
For those of you unfamiliar with the METV weekly show. Svengooli hosts a science fiction or classic horror movie every Saturday at 8:00 PM ET. He’ll talk about the history of the movie, who is in it and other movies we’ll know the actors from, do some silly games, and even sing a song.
I learned most of my information on Mystery of the Wax Museum from him. He even pointed out a lot of the similarities between the 1933 and 1958 versions. Some of the scenes really were redone shot for shot or the dialogue was a direct carryover. One of my favorite scenes is in both movies and it’s when the coroner’s are wheeling a body through the morgue, a body pops up, and the mortician goes “you’ll get used to it, it’s the embalming fluid makes them jump.” Because clearly embalming fluid causes a body to just sit up on its own.
However there were a lot of differences. A lot of them were due to the Hays Code. Some were because the 1958 was shot to be in 3D - a gimmick that is still driving up movie tickets today.
The biggest difference between the two films is when they are set. The 1933 version takes place in the 1930s, whereas the 1958 version is set at the turn of the 1900s. The main leading lady in the 1933 version, Florence (played by Glenda Farrell), is a reporter chasing a story to the point where she doesn’t want to involve the cops in case someone else poaches the scoop before her. Whereas the 1958 version mostly follows Sue Allen (played by Phyllis Kirk), whose character in the 1933 version was Florence’s friend Charlotte Duncan (played by the famous Fay Wray). The Florence character is instead merged with another to become Cathy Gray (played by the original Morticia Addams herself Carolyn Jones), Sue’s flirtatious roommate.
Why are the characters changed around?
There are a few reasons. One is that the 1958 version streamlines the 1933 movie’s plot with the changes. There’s no longer a side plot with an accused boyfriend of a murdered heiress, Florence’s character isn’t snooping around to catch the latest scoop, and the Charlotte/Sue character gets a lot more developed in the 1958 version. Honestly I kind of miss the Florence character. She added a lot of humor to the movie.
Where the Hays Code comes in is within the details. Both Sue and Charlotte are targeted by the evil bad guy, but Sue is saved by her boyfriend and a couple of conveniently places cops instead of a snooping Florence, a concerned Charlotte’s fiancé, and a gaggle of police officers. I found Charlotte’s character in the 1933 version to be dull and bland compared to Florence, whereas Sue has character...and a very strong moral compass (which is probably what saves her). Sue doesn’t flirt, she doesn’t go out all the time, and she finds can-can to be scandalous. Cathy is a flirt and bares more than a passing resemblance to the 80s slasher trope that insists that the sexually active characters must die.
Oh yes, I’m saying that the Hays code directly influenced 80s slasher horror tropes. I don’t find it a coincidence at all that the less conservative, more freethinking Cathy gets axed, while conservative and repressed Sue is saved at the last second. Florence might have jumped a foot in the air when faced with a moving box (honestly I would have too), but she’d have also beaten the crap out of the 1933 bad guy. Charlotte just kind of stands there and screams as the wax mask falls off big-bad’s face.
They also changed one character from having a drug problem to being an alcoholic. I’m not sure how one is worse than the other, but Svengooli assures me that that was a Hays Code change. Also the cops openly talk about meeting up with bootleggers in the 1933 version, so the police were allowed to be corrupt in 1933, but not in 1958 as far as I can tell.
I’m not going to sit here and tell you guys that one film is better than the other. I like both for different reasons. They both have flaws. I much prefer the friendship between Sue and Cathy over the sniping shared between Charlotte and Florence. Sue and Cathy seem to genuinely like and care for each other, which makes Cathy’s death and Sue’s motivations all the more emotional.
Finally, these films are far from perfect. There’s the period typical sexism, the city of New York is far too homogeneous to actually be the city of New York, and I really have to question those ending scenes.
Both of the films have really weird endings. After Sue is saved in the 1958 version, the cops, Sue, and Sue’s boyfriend are at the police station joking about a wax head growing a long beard. It ends with all the characters laughing and there’s little emotional fallout from Sue nearly being killed by hot wax. In the 1933 version, Charlotte is saved and then it cuts to Florence finishing up her story and her editor (who has been a bit of a jerk the whole movie) proposes. Florence accepts the proposal despite having spent most of the movie flirting with a nice rich guy and squabbling with the editor. I legit yelled “no don’t” as this was happening.
Oh well, maybe this is how Hildey and Walter got together the first time in His Girl Friday.
If you’re interested in classic horror movies, Vincent Price, or ore-Hays Code films, I’d recommend checking both movies out. They’re cool to compare and contrast. And further proof that Hollywood will remake anything.
Oh and about the 2005 version...I’d give it a pass.
Will I ever go to another wax museum? Maybe if it’s a Groupon deal. The art might be amazing, but I have a hard time being around wax figures.
Until next week.
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