Mystery of the Wax Museum Overview:

Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) was a Horror - Mystery Film directed by Michael Curtiz and produced by Hal B. Wallis and Henry Blanke.

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The Mystery of the Wax Museum

By Barry P. on Oct 7, 2025 From Cinematic Catharsis

(1933) Directed by Michael Curtiz; Written by Don Mullaly and Carl Erickson; Based on “The Wax Works,” by Charles Belden; Starring: Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Glenda Farrell, Frank McHugh, Allen Vincent and Gavin Gordon; Available on Blu-ray and DVD Rating: **** “…It was kin... Read full article


On Blu-ray: A Magnificent Restoration of the Two-Strip Horror Flick The Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933)

By KC on Jun 17, 2020 From Classic Movies

My introduction to the pre-code horror flick Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) came from the book that provided most of my early film education, 500 Great Films, by Daniel and Susan Cohen. The brief passage dedicated to the movie revealed that it was lost for twenty-five years and over that time, ... Read full article


MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM On Blu-ray From Warner Archive

By Dan Day, Jr. on May 16, 2020 From The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog

One of my favorite classic movies is the 1933 MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM. I first saw it on TV as a young teenager back in the mid-1980s, and I've been fascinated by it ever since. The combination of Gothic horror and Depression-era urban American attitude, the otherworldly look of the two-strip Tech... Read full article


Pre-Code Corner: Doctor X and Mystery of the Wax Museum

By Kim Luperi on Mar 3, 2018 From Classic Movie Hub Blog

Warner Brothers Horror, In Living (Two) Color: Doctor X and Mystery of the Wax Museum As part of their career retrospective Michael Curtiz: A Life in Film, the UCLA Film and Television Archive recently screened a superb pre-Code triple feature: Doctor X (1932), Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933), and... Read full article


Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) vs. House of Wax (1953)

on Oct 6, 2014 From Journeys in Classic Film

A double dose of wax museums kickstar this week’s Halloween reviews?as I compare and contrast Mystery of the Wax Museum with its remake, House of Wax. (We’re going to pretend the 2005 remake doesn’t exist.) Mystery and House are practically the same movie, albeit the latter boasts ... Read full article


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Quotes from

Charlotte Duncan: You fiend.
Ivan Igor: My Marie Antoinette you must not say that to me.
Charlotte Duncan: You fiend.
Ivan Igor: My dear, why are you so pitifully afraid?


Ivan Igor: For twelve years... twelve awful years... this terrible living dead man, with these burned hands and face, has searched for this fiend. Now the account is closed!
[opens packing case to reveal the body of Worth]


Ivan Igor: I offer you immortality, my child. Think of it: in a thousand years you shall be as lovely as you are now!


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Facts about

To emphasize the similarities between the wax figures and the characters, some names are alike. For example, the suicidal Joan Gale inspires the statue of Joan of Arc.Charlotte, who should have been killed to recreate de figure of Marie Antoinette, was also the real name of the young lady who killed Marat, from the 'Assassination of Marat' depicted in the museum.
This film was produced before the Production Code. When it was re-made only 20 years later, as House of Wax, all references to drug use were removed and a character was changed from a junkie to an alcoholic.
The wax figures look like real people because they ARE real people. The original plan was to use actual wax figures, but they melted under the heat of the lights used at the time to film two-strip Technicolor.
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Also directed by Michael Curtiz




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Also produced by Hal B. Wallis




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Also released in 1933




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More "Pre-Code Cinema" films



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