House of Wax

House of Wax (1953)

Timing: 1:28 (88 min)

6.926/10
309

6.869/10
3049

7/10
22000

All about film

Video 4

Photo 33

Actors and characters

Release date

1953-04-16

Country

United States

Production

Warner Bros. Pictures

Genre

Horror, Crime

Budget

$1 000 000

Revenue

$23 750 000

Website

Director

André de Toth

Actors

Vincent Price, Frank Lovejoy, Phyllis Kirk, Carolyn Jones, Paul Picerni, Roy Roberts, Angela Clarke, Paul Cavanagh, Dabbs Greer, Charles Bronson
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Bryan Foy

Operator

Bert Glennon

Composer

David Buttolph

Artist

Audition

Editing

Rudi Fehr, James Kitchen
All team (30)

• The first film from Warner studio shot using 3D effects.
• It was not difficult for Vincent Price (1911-1993) to portray alarm in the scene of the museum burning. Before the start of filming, director André De Toth (1912-2002) ordered the placement of “ignition points” in three specifically chosen locations, and then filming began, with the flames quickly getting out of control. The initially scattered ignition points merged into one large blaze, burning through the roof of the soundstage and singeing Price's eyebrows. The wax figures began to melt quickly, but De Toth continued filming anyway (since replacing the wax figures was not difficult), even after the firefighters arrived.
• Nedrik Young (1914-1968) played the role of Leon's assistant, but he was not credited because he was blacklisted during the "witch hunt" era, or McCarthyism, in Hollywood.
• The scene in which the character played by Frank Lavdjoy (1912-1962) saves the hero Paul Picerni (1922-2011) from the guillotine blade was filmed in one take, and the guillotine was real. Picerni and director André De Toth had a falling out when the stuntmen working on the film dissuaded Picerni from filming the scene, stating it was too dangerous (an assistant held the guillotine blade out of camera view and was supposed to release it after giving a warning so Picerni could pull away). André De Toth was reprimanded by Jack L. Warner (1892-1978), head of the film company, and ordered the guillotine to be made safe. Picerni, who De Toth had already fired in the heat of the moment, returned to the cast, inspected the blade and said he would only perform in one take. Fortunately, no more were needed.