Career Defining Film for Vincent Price, Must See, Not to Be Missed!
The 1953 American mystery-horror film House of Wax takes place in New York City, almost certainly between September 14, 1901 and March 4, 1909. The giveaway is the picture of Theodore Roosevelt in the police station. The only non-current presidents whose picture would be hanging on the wall would usually be Washington and Lincoln, otherwise it would always be the current president. There might be reasons for hanging a portrait on the wall before or after the subject was president if he was famous in the area, and Roosevelt was famous in New York, but his picture on the wall plus other indications of the period pretty well nails it.
The film begins with Professor Henry Jarrod, played by Vincent Price, lovingly describing his life’s work as a wax museum sculptor, only to lose his cherished museum to arson by his greedy partner, Matthew Burke, played by Roy Roberts. This is unquestionably the film that launched Vincent Price’s career as the King of Horror, and is an unusually physical role for him, with a lot of fighting and some running and jumping. Probably Price’s only more physical role occurred in Confessions of an Opium Eater about nine years later.
The sets are impressive. Constructing a whole room of wax figures and then destroying them by fire on camera must have been an expensive and difficult massive undertaking. Special effects and makeup are also outstanding.
Driven mad by his loss and some damage to his hands caused in the fire, a disfigured Professor Jarrod turns to a life of crime to rebuild his wax museum. Young Sue Allen, played by Phyllis Kirk, suspects the horrible truth of what is happening when her friend Cathy Gray, played by Carolyn Jones, is murdered, her body stolen from the morgue, and a figure of Joan of Arc turns up in the museum with an uncanny resemblance to Cathy right down to pierced ears which couldn’t have been seen in a photograph and which the real Joan would not have had.
Parts of the movie are a little far-fetched and/or confusing. Professor Jarrod has three accomplices, only two of which are accounted for at the end. Also there are questions as to the logistics of how well his scheme would work, but there are real-life cases of preserved bodies with the head and hands coated in wax. It is a little grisly and ghoulish but not gory and probably okay for kids although somewhat disturbing. The main reason for watching is Vincent Price, who is excellent in this role. His expressions and his voice are mesmerizing. Of his popular horror antiheroes, Price said, “I don't play monsters. I play men besieged by fate and out for revenge.” In this case his character took revenge on society in general as well as specific people who hurt him. This movie cast the mold for so many roles to follow and was a career-defining film. It was also a historic product of its time being made in 3D. Anyone interested in the horror genre, Vincent Price’s work, or the history of 1950s filmmaking, must see this film!