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House of Wax Overview:

House of Wax (1953) was a Crime - Horror Film directed by Andre De Toth and produced by Bryan Foy and Joe Dreier.

House of Wax was inducted into the National Film Registry in 2014.

House of Wax BlogHub Articles:

House of Wax (1953)

By Beatrice on Oct 23, 2015 From Flickers in Time

House of Wax Directed by Andre de Toth Written by Crane Wilbur from a story by Charles Belden 1953/USA Brian Foy Productions/Warner Bros. Repeat viewing?/Netflix rental This is a practically perfect example of the ’50’s horror genre with 3-D and Vincent Price to add to the fun. Profes... 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

HOUSE OF WAX – Special Screening!

By Richard on May 6, 2013 From Classic Horror Campaign

House Of Wax was released in 1953 and was a remake of an earlier 1933 comedy horror entitled Mystery Of The Wax Museum. Set in New York in the early 20th century, Vincent Price is wax sculptor Professor Henry Jarrod. He and his business partner, Matthew Burke (Roy Roberts) own a museum and Burke tr... Read full article

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House of Wax Quotes:

Cathy Gray: [Sue is helping Cathy get ready] Pull it tighter Sue, pull it tighter, I want a waist like Anna Held.
Sue Allen: If I pull it any tighter you're not going to be able to breath.
Cathy Gray: Oh that's alright, I don't need much breath anyway, as my late friend Matty used to say, if a girl don't watch her figure the men won't.
Sue Allen: Matty? Wasn't that the man you were going to marry?
Cathy Gray: Yes but he hung himself instead.
[giggling]
Cathy Gray: Oh Matty was such a card.
Sue Allen: Well where's your new friend going to take you tonight?
Cathy Gray: To the Hauffman House for dinner, then to Tony Pastors for the vaudeville show.
Sue Allen: That sounds like fun.
Cathy Gray: Oh yeah he's a free spender alright, a little bit older than I like them, but awfully distinguished looking, I'm moving up
[stops and breaths in slowly]
Cathy Gray: , I'm moving up honey, no girl ever hits the jackpot till after she passes 14th street.
Bruce Allison: They always want a body!
Prof. Henry Jarrod: [heavy with menace after Sue unwigs Cathy] You shouldn't have done that my dear!
Prof. Henry Jarrod: Here we have Joan Of Arc. A favorite subject of mine.
Lt. Tom Brennan: You know, Shane, by the time this guy gets out of Sing Sing, this head will grow a long beard.
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House of Wax Facts
This was reportedly Warner Brothers' biggest success since Life with Father.
The first 3-D color movie ever to be produced by a major American studio. Shooting took place January 19-February 21 1953, for release April 9.
The alcoholic sculptor was a heroin addict in the original version of the film, Mystery of the Wax Museum, but that had to be changed for the remake because the Production Code forbade any mention of drug addiction. (Ironically, a character played by Vincent Price had got away with confessing to drug addiction in Dragonwyck, made seven years before "House of Wax.")
According to the "Guinness Book of World Records", while this film is far from being the first 3-D film, nor the first in sound or color, it was the first 3-D film released with a stereophonic soundtrack (alas, though, the original stereo tracks are considered lost).
The scene where Paul Picerni is rescued from the guillotine by Frank Lovejoy seconds before the blade came down was filmed in one take, using a real guillotine blade. Picerni and director André De Toth got into a heated argument when Picerni, on advice from the film's stuntmen, refused to do the scene as too dangerous (a prop man was to hold up the blade off camera and tell the actors when he dropped it so they could yank Picerni away). De Toth threw him off the picture, but several days later, on orders from studio head Jack L. Warner, De Toth recalled him, and had the prop department modify the guillotine to make it less dangerous. After examining the guillotine, Picerni said he would do one take and no more, which is exactly what happened.
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