Line #5 Film/MysteryOfTheWaxMuseum


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wax1.jpg]]
2
3	''Mystery of the Wax Museum'' is a 1933 horror film directed by Creator/MichaelCurtiz and starring Creator/LionelAtwill, Glenda Farrell, and Creator/FayWray.
4
5	When {{sculptor\|s}} Ivan Igor's wax museum is burned down by his treacherous partner, he is left devastated. Ten years later in then-present day New York, he opens a new museum, with more lifelike statues than ever before....
6
7	''Mystery of the Wax Museum'' was the last dramatic film made in the old two-strip Technicolor process. This method of color photography, which produced a distinctive set of pastels, dated back to ''Film/TheTollOfTheSea'' in 1922. Yes, color films are older than sound films. The three-strip Technicolor process, which produced a richer palette, replaced it around this time.
8
9	This film was later remade as ''Film/HouseOfWax1953'' which in turn inspired ''Film/HouseOfWax2005''.
10	----
11	!! This film provides examples of:
12
13	* AlliterativeName: Ivan Igor, who also has TwoFirstNames.
14	* AssholeVictim: Joe, Ivan's former partner who is still running shady deals (booze-related mostly) after burning down Ivan's first wax museum and leaving his partner to die in the flames.
15	* BattleAmongstTheFlames: Joe and Ivan start fighting each other as Ivan's first wax museum burns down around them.
16	* CanOnlyMoveTheEyes: Charlotte passes a few statues, whose gaze follow her.
17	* ChairmanOfTheBrawl: The cops get a wheelchair thrown at them in the climax.
18	* DeadpanSnarker: Florence, who can't seem to have a conversation without snarking at her interlocutor.
19	-->'''Charlotte:''' Hello, Ralph.
20	-->'''Ralph:''' Hello, darling. Hello, Florence.
21	-->'''Florence:''' Hello.
22	-->'''Charlotte:''' Are we late?
23	-->'''Ralph:''' No, not at all. Gee, that's a pretty dress. Have I seen it before?
24	-->'''Charlotte:''' Yes, I think so.
25	-->'''Florence:''' Thank goodness that's settled.
26	* DamselInDistress: Charlotte in the climax, as she is under threat of becoming a waxed corpse.
27	* DramaticUnmask: Igor's wax mask is shattered.
28	* EvilCripple; Ivan Igor: The wheelchair turns out to be ObfuscatingDisability, but his hands are genuinely crippled.
29	* FacialHorror: The hideously disfigured bodysnatcher who is seen at work throughout the film. [[spoiler:This is actually Ivan Igor's real face.]]
30	* FaintInShock: When Charlotte is shown the truth behind the wax museum, she faints.
31	* FreudianSlip: After realizing that the wax statue of Joan of Arc is really a corpse of Joan Gale, Florence rushes out of the museum and farewells Ivan with "see you in jail".
32	* HardDrinkingPartyGirl: Florence. She spends much of the movie half-sloshed, helps herself to multiple bottles from a bootleggers stash (in front of the police), and her stated goal is to marry a millionaire. None of this stops her from doing her job as an IntrepidReporter.
33	* HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday: The events in New York start just after the NewYearHasCome.
34	* InsuranceFraud: Joe burned down Ivan's previous wax museum to get his hands on the fire insurance to clear away their debts.
35	* IntrepidReporter: Florence, who proceeds headfirst into danger to get a story.
36	* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Ivan eventually murders his former partner Joe, who destroyed his first wax museum and crippled Ivan himself.]]
37	* LatexPerfection: Ivan conceals his disfigured features beneath a wax mask that is so perfect that no one standing near him ever even suspects it is a mask.
38	* MadArtist: Ivan is determined to restore his previous creations, no matter the cost.
39	* MaskingTheDeformity: [[spoiler: Ivan's mask covers the burns that he acquired during the London Wax Museum fire]].
40	* ObfuscatingDisability: Igor appears to need either a wheelchair or crutches to get around due to the injuries he sustained in the fire. However, it turns out that while his hands are crippled, his legs work just fine.
41	* PerpSweating: Cops keep questioning Darcy, and he spills the beans on Ivan's operation as he starts going cold turkey from his drug addiction.
42	* UsefulNotes/ThePreCodeEra: Though generally involving wax figures, there are some things (like bloody stab wounds and some... rather ''detailed'' female nudes) that they probably wouldn't have gotten away with a couple of years later.
43	* TheReveal: [[spoiler:After Igor [[ObfuscatingDisability gets up from his wheelchair]] and grabs Charlotte while ranting about his Marie Antoinette, she starts hitting his face, which [[DramaticUnmask crumbles away]] to reveal that it was [[LatexPerfection a rather convincing]] wax mask and that he was the disfigured bodysnatcher seen throughout the film all along]].
44	* ScreamingWoman: Charlotte's descent into the workroom is nothing a series of screams, as the screams at everything from the reveal of Igor's true face to a door closing.
45	* SceneryGorn: The burning wax museum in the opening.
46	* SlapSlapKiss: In the end of Florence's and her editor's bickering, he suddenly proposes her and she accepts.
47	* StrappedToAnOperatingTable: Charlotte is tied to a table for the waxing procedure.
48	* TimeSkip: From 1921 London to 1933 New York.
49	* WaxMuseumMorgue: As Ivan is incapable of reconstructing his previous body of work, he has corpses delivered to him to be waxed.
50	* YoureInsane: Ivan's response when Joe tells him about the fire insurance fraud.
51	%%* TheXOfY
52

Context Film / MysteryOfTheWaxMuseum