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On this day in NY history: Classic horror movie House of Wax premiered in NYC 56 years ago
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House of Wax (1953), Vincent Price
Special Project: Halloween
April 10, 1953
Fifty-six years ago, the 3-D Gothic horror movie House of Wax, starring Vincent Price, opened at the Paramount Theater at 1501 Broadway between 43rd and 44th Streets. Notably, it was the first horror movie to be released in 3-D and with a stereo soundtrack instead of mono.
Price, 42, sublimely played Henry Jarrod, an eccentric wax sculptor in 1910 New York who goes insane after his business partner burns their wax museum to the ground for the insurance money. Years later, the hideously scarred Jarrod is involved with the mysterious disappearance of several people (including the business partner). Unable to create wax figures with his own hands, the vengeful genius has resorted to murdering people and covering their bodies in wax, then displaying them in his gruesome museum.
Filming was often turbulent. Amazingly, the 41-year-old director Andre de Toth had only one eye. Unable to see in 3-D, he had to keep asking his crew if everything looked all right. Not much is known about his childhood. He was born Sâsvari Farkasfawi Tóthfalusi Toth Endre Antai Mihály on May 15, 1912 in Mako, Csongrad, Hungary. As a teen, he had been shot in the head. Given up for dead, he had woken in the morgue. His right eye was gone.
The cumbersome dual camera rig needed for 3D hampered camera set-ups and staging. The actors often had to do many of their own stunts. When the museum was set on fire at the beginning of the movie, Price had to run through the burning building before a balcony collapsed on him. He narrowly dodged the falling debris. To look the part of the killer, he needed several pieces glued directly to his face. It was quite painful. He had to arrive on set daily at 5am for the three-hour process.
De Toth and actor Paul Picerni clashed over the climatic fight scene. Picerni's hero Scott Andrews was knocked out by a henchman (Charles Bronson). His head was placed in a guillotine. Just before the blade dropped, he was rescued by the police. De Toth insisted on using a real guillotine. 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 in time. The stuntmen warned Picerni that it was too dangerous. De Toth refused to change anything. They argued fiercely. Picerni was tossed off the set. Days later, De Toth recalled him on studio head Jack Warner's orders. The prop department rigged the guillotine to make it less dangerous. They dulled the blade and strengthened the ropes. Picerni examined it and said he would only do one take. Thankfully, everything went off without a hitch.
Audiences loved House of Wax when it was released on April 10, 1953. Its budget was about $658,00. It earned about $4.3-million, and was Warner Brothers' biggest success in six years.
In 2000, it was re-released fully restored in 2D format onto DVD.
56 years later, House of Wax continues to chill viewers.
While recommended, especially for Halloween, it's not for children.
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