FAQ

Twelve (12) years after his failing London Wax Museum is maliciously burnt to the ground for the insurance money by his financial partner, wax sculptor Ivan Igor (Lionel Atwill), now wheelchair-bound, rebuilds his museum in New York City. Only this time, he uses human bodies, dipping them in wax to create lifelike figures. He becomes captivated by Charlotte Duncan (Fay Wray), fiancée of his assistant Ralph Burton (Allen Vincent), and sees her as the model for his Marie Antoinette display. Meanwhile, his Joan of Arc display, featuring a figure that looks a lot like model Joan Gale (Monica Bannister), whose body has disappeared from the morque, arouses the suspicions of Charlotte's roommate, newspaper reporter Florence Dempster (Glenda Farrell).

The Mystery of Wax Museum is based on an unpublished short story, 'The Wax Works', by American writer Charles S. Belden [1887-1966]. American writers Don Mullaly and Carl Erickson wrote the screenplay. It has twice been remade as L'homme au masque de cire (1953) (1953) and La maison de cire (2005) (2005).

The fire in Igor's London Museum takes place in 1921. His rebuild of the museum in New York City takes place in 1933.

Intent upon making Charlotte his Marie Antoinette, Igor prepares her body for the wax treatment in which a vat of boiling wax will be poured over her. Meanwhile Florence leads the police into the treatment room. The police shoot Igor. Seeing that Charlotte is about to be waxed, Ralph pushes her gurney away from under it. In the final scene, Florence's editor Jim (Frank McHugh) proposes marriage, and Florence agrees.