[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wax1.jpg]]

''Mystery of the Wax Museum'' is a 1933 horror film directed by Creator/MichaelCurtiz and starring Creator/LionelAtwill, Glenda Farrell, and Creator/FayWray.

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....

''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.

This film was later remade as ''Film/HouseOfWax1953'' which in turn inspired ''Film/HouseOfWax2005''.
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!! This film provides examples of:

* AlliterativeName: Ivan Igor, who also has TwoFirstNames.
* 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.
* BattleAmongstTheFlames: Joe and Ivan start fighting each other as Ivan's first wax museum burns down around them.
* CanOnlyMoveTheEyes: Charlotte passes a few statues, whose gaze follow her.
* ChairmanOfTheBrawl: The cops get a wheelchair thrown at them in the climax.
* DeadpanSnarker: Florence, who can't seem to have a conversation without snarking at her interlocutor.
-->'''Charlotte:''' Hello, Ralph.
-->'''Ralph:''' Hello, darling. Hello, Florence.
-->'''Florence:''' Hello.
-->'''Charlotte:''' Are we late?
-->'''Ralph:''' No, not at all. Gee, that's a pretty dress. Have I seen it before?
-->'''Charlotte:''' Yes, I think so.
-->'''Florence:''' Thank goodness that's settled.
* DamselInDistress: Charlotte in the climax, as she is under threat of becoming a waxed corpse.
* DramaticUnmask: Igor's wax mask is shattered.
* EvilCripple; Ivan Igor: The wheelchair turns out to be ObfuscatingDisability, but his hands are genuinely crippled.
* FacialHorror: The hideously disfigured bodysnatcher who is seen at work throughout the film. [[spoiler:This is actually Ivan Igor's real face.]]
* FaintInShock: When Charlotte is shown the truth behind the wax museum, she faints.
* 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".
* 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.
* HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday: The events in New York start just after the NewYearHasCome.
* InsuranceFraud: Joe burned down Ivan's previous wax museum to get his hands on the fire insurance to clear away their debts.
* IntrepidReporter: Florence, who proceeds headfirst into danger to get a story.
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Ivan eventually murders his former partner Joe, who destroyed his first wax museum and crippled Ivan himself.]]
* 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.
* MadArtist: Ivan is determined to restore his previous creations, no matter the cost.
* MaskingTheDeformity: [[spoiler: Ivan's mask covers the burns that he acquired during the London Wax Museum fire]].
* 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.
* PerpSweating: Cops keep questioning Darcy, and he spills the beans on Ivan's operation as he starts going cold turkey from his drug addiction.
* 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.
* 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]].
* 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.
* SceneryGorn: The burning wax museum in the opening.
* SlapSlapKiss: In the end of Florence's and her editor's bickering, he suddenly proposes her and she accepts.
* StrappedToAnOperatingTable: Charlotte is tied to a table for the waxing procedure.
* TimeSkip: From 1921 London to 1933 New York.
* WaxMuseumMorgue: As Ivan is incapable of reconstructing his previous body of work, he has corpses delivered to him to be waxed.
* YoureInsane: Ivan's response when Joe tells him about the fire insurance fraud.
%%* TheXOfY

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