FAY WRAY'S CHAMBER OF HORRORS

The fetching Fay Wray was a busy actress between the years 1932 and 1933. If fact, with the exception of BLACK MOON in 1934 her entire output of horror/thrillers were filmed in those two years:

• DOCTOR X (1932)
• THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME (1932)
• THE VAMPIRE BAT (1933)
• MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM (1933)
• KING KONG (1933)

This issue of BROADWAY AND HOLLYWOOD MOVIES (April 1933) covers two of them in their "Two Pictures of the Month" feature. The unknown author accurately points out that "beyond a doubt she is the most capable actress we know of for the exacting role of a young woman reacting to fear and the menace of horror," and goes on to discuss THE MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM and KING KONG.

FAY WRAY BY GENE ROBERT RICHEE

Eugene Robert Richee (1896-1972) was one of the most famous studio photographers to come out of Old Hollywood. Noted for his use of light, mirrors and imaginative use of props, he shot hundreds of photos for Paramount, Warner Brothers and MGM. Among the stars that he showcased with his work were Marlene Dietrich, Gloria Swanson, Gary Cooper, Veronica Lake, and his most famous, Louise Brooks. Miriam "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" Hopkins liked his work so much that she would only work in front of his lens.

Scream Queen Fay Wray was also one of his subjects while she was working for Paramount. This set of photos are from the 1920's and 1930's.

FAY DAY!

[A very young Fay Wray photographed by William Mortenson in the mid-1920's.]

Come back later today for more!

FAY DAY!

Without question, Canadian-born Fay Wray was the fairest of them all -- Scream Queens, that is -- and her screams at the first sight of King Kong still resonate down the hallowed halls of horror.

The trio of photos shown here today are of Fay in her many guises. First is a keybook photo of Fay from KING KONG (RKO 1933). A keybook photo is recognizable from the two-hole punch on the side of the print. These were used as studio masters are are considered more collectible than just prints. Second is a publicity shot of Fay in her role as Consuelo in the western, THE TEXAN (Paramount 1930). And lastly is a photo of Miss Wray all dressed up, photographed in the 1930's by A.L. Schafer.

FAY DAY!

The lovely Fay Wray is best known for her role as Ann Darrow -- the original Scream Queen -- in RKO's KING KONG (1933). Before that, she had starred in a string of horror/thrillers: MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM (1933), THE VAMPIRE BAT (1933), THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME (1932) and DOCTOR X (1932).

The first photo shown below is a promo portrait from MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM (Warner Brothers). The other three are by famed portrait photographer Gene Robert Richee when she was under contract with Paramount.

BEFORE THEY WERE SCREAM QUEENS: FAY WRAY!

The lovely Fay Wray began her film career in the 1920's. These two portraits are from that era, while she was under contract with Paramount, quite a few years before she made her mark as the ultimate Scream Queen in RKO's King Kong (1935). The first of the two is by photographer Eugene Robert Richee.

FAY DAY!

Today's photos of the fabulous Fay Wray are from her appearances in LEGACY, VIVA VILLA!, HERO, and BLACK MOON. Great studio portraits of a great actress.

FAY WRAY FASHION PARADE

We may best know Fay Wray as "The Girl in the Hairy Paw", aka Ann Darrow in RKO's KING KONG, but Miss Wray was quite a dame as a "clothes hanger", as models were sometimes known in the 1930's.

Here in PHOTOPLAY magazine (June 1933, August 1935, July 1937) she poses in the fashions of the day. One of the photo spreads pairs her with Carole Lombard, which is saying how high Fay's star flew in Hollywood in just a few short years. 

BEFORE THEY WERE SCREAM QUEENS: FAY WRAY

Many of us that watched RKO's KING KONG (1933) as Monster Kids -- and maybe even a few of us as adults -- assumed that 26-year old Fay Wray, the dame with the scream that could shatter glass, arrived fully formed and ready to play Ann Darrow. Not so! Miss Wray had already had a bit of a modeling career and a bunch of movies under her belt before she met up with the Great Ape. As a matter of fact, the four movies she appeared in before KONG were all horror/thrillers (DOCTOR X, THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME, THE VAMPIRE BAT, and MYSTERY IN THE WAX MUSEUM).

This article from the November 1929 of SCREENLAND is subtitled "A Sweet Little Girl Grows Up" and tells the story of Miss Wray from a "shy, sweet and serious" girl to "an emancipated ingenue, gay and gallant, the season's sensation in talking pictures." They had no idea. . .

FAY WRAY AND WILLIAM MORTENSON

"Deportment was more important than soul-searching." - Vina Fay Wray

William Mortenson was one of the most unique photographers who ever worked in Hollywood. Rudolph Valentino, Clara Bow, Jean Harlow, Lon Chaney and many other actors and actresses posed before the seductive lens of his camera. Associated with the "pictorialist" style that was popular in the 1920s, he is known to be among the last to use it in his work. He would develop his pictures and then manipulate them by scratching, scraping and drawing on them, then using a texturing process that ended up making the image a hybrid of illustration, painting and photography. The results were fascinating.

L'Amour by Wm. Mortenson. Myrdith Monaghan and unknown man in gorilla suit.

Many of his images were of the fantastic. One of the most well known is the 1935 photo titled L'Amour, depicting a huge ape leering over an unconscious woman. It is said that the film, KING KONG, released 2 years before, was its inspiration, and it's easy to believe so. The woman has been mistakenly identified as ambiguously dead, swooning or sleeping. However, a closer look reveals that blood is running from the corner of her mouth, suggesting more likely that she has just been clubbed by the leering monster.

In 1922, Mortenson was hired to paint matte backgrounds for art director Ferdinan Pinney Earle in the production of THE RUBAIYAT OF OMAR KHAYYAM, starring Ramon Navarro. Navarro would being groomed to be the next Valentino, but his personal life was a train wreck; torn between his Catholicism, his communism, his alcoholism and his homosexuality, Navarro was a troubled soul. He was later murdered by two male prostitutes in a money-for-sex date that turned into torture and robbery.

Mortenson persuaded either Earle or the director of Rubaiyat to include in the cast a 14-year-old Canadian girl by the name of Fay Wray. The film was was never released, but it was only 11 years later when she would be screaming at the top of her lungs in RKO's KING KONG.

A possible surviving young Fay Wray portrait by Mortenson.

Mortenson's fiance at the time was Wray's older sister, after having been introduced to the Mormon family who were living in Arizona at the time. Young Vina Fay Wray was sent by her mother to Hollywood, with the arrangement that Mortenson would act as her guardian and help her acting career get off the ground. He was successful in landing her several jobs as an extra in silent films, such as RUBAIYAT.

It was inevitable that Mortenson would photograph Wray, which she would later credit as developing her self-image. In her biography, Wray states: "There was a person in those pictures I hadn’t seen before, even if I had suspected she could be there."

A mask of Fay Wray by Mortenson and Quenton Bredt ca. 1921..

This all came to an end when Miss Wray's mother blew into town and accused Mortenson of taking advantage (implying sexual as well) of her daughter. In what must have been quite a scene, she proceeded to break the glass negatives that he had taken of Wray in front of them and whisked her away. Wray denied any wrongdoing, and forever after she would consider Mortenson a great influence.

A later portrait of Fay Wray by Mortenson.

This is one of a series of photographs incorrectly identifying the model as

Fay Wray.. It is actually Courtney Crawford, Mortenson's first wife.

FAY DAY!

It's hard to imagine that, when this photo was taken of the 19-year-old Fay Wray for MOTION PICTURE MAGAZINE's January 1924 issue, she was almost a decade away from appearing in RKO's KING KONG. In the meantime, the beautiful young actress would have no problem landing roles.

FAY DAY!

Fay Wray had no trouble finding work in the 1930's. As a freelance actress, she was in demand by numerous Hollywood movie studios.

This lovely picture is from the October, 1931 issue of the NEW MOVIE MAGAZINE and was taken by Ray Jones, the head of still photography at Universal in the 1920's and 1930's.

Miss Wray starred in 7 (!) films in 1931, but this photograph, taken by Universal's Jones, was probably for her role in STOWAWAY, which was released in March, 1932.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FAY WRAY!

Today marks Fay Wray's 110th birthday!