When I first stumbled over this newspaper story about Universal's THE MUMMY, it appeared to be a not-so-subtle effort to present actor Boris Karloff as the heir apparent to the late Lon Chaney. The final paragraph pretty much clinched it, as it mentions Karloff used the dressing room once occupied by the PHANTOM OF THE OPERA actor. I have no idea if that little nugget of information is true or not, but the rest of the story, particularly the details of Karloff applying his own make-up, are certainly invented. As for FRANKENSTEIN the year before, make-up for THE MUMMY was created by Jack Pierce.
Boris Karloff Comes To Ritz
Creator of sinister roles in "Mummy" at midnight Sunday
Dec. 25, 1932
Karloff, noted creator of sinister screen roles and today acknowledged as filmdom's supreme make-up artist, has achieved a new and startling masterpiece of the make-up art with the mummy countenance which he uses in his latest picture, "The Mummy," coming to the Ritz Theater tonight for a midnight matinee performance.
Surpassing even the hideous "Frankenstein" in clearness, the "mummy" make-up took Karloff eight tedious hours to don. The transformation of the actor to Im-ho-tep, 3,700-year-old mummy, was accomplished in the following manner.
The face, of course, was the first consideration. It was dampened with water, and then completely covered with very thin strips of cotton - even the eyelids were not spared this nerve wracking process. Collodion was then applied and the mask touched up with spirit gum to hold it in place. Work was stopped at intervals in order that a drying machine might be applied to set the facial wrinkles. The next step was the pinning back of the ears. Make-up clay was used to give Karloff's head the serrated appearance of a mummy. Twenty-two different varieties of make-up paint were then applied to the actor's withered countenance.
Swathed from head to foot in bandages which had first been acid rooted and passed through a warm over, Karloff was ready to step on the set and submit to another eight hours of grueling work before the cameras. His supporting cast in this fantastic story of the reincarnation of an Egyptian mummy includes Zita Johann, David Manners, Arthur Byron, Edward Van Sloan and Bramwell Fletcher, Karl Freund directing.
It is interesting to note that Karloff occupies the same dressing room on the Universal lot formerly used by another make-up master, the late Lon Chaney.
Boris Karloff Comes To Ritz
Creator of sinister roles in "Mummy" at midnight Sunday
Dec. 25, 1932
Karloff, noted creator of sinister screen roles and today acknowledged as filmdom's supreme make-up artist, has achieved a new and startling masterpiece of the make-up art with the mummy countenance which he uses in his latest picture, "The Mummy," coming to the Ritz Theater tonight for a midnight matinee performance.
Surpassing even the hideous "Frankenstein" in clearness, the "mummy" make-up took Karloff eight tedious hours to don. The transformation of the actor to Im-ho-tep, 3,700-year-old mummy, was accomplished in the following manner.The face, of course, was the first consideration. It was dampened with water, and then completely covered with very thin strips of cotton - even the eyelids were not spared this nerve wracking process. Collodion was then applied and the mask touched up with spirit gum to hold it in place. Work was stopped at intervals in order that a drying machine might be applied to set the facial wrinkles. The next step was the pinning back of the ears. Make-up clay was used to give Karloff's head the serrated appearance of a mummy. Twenty-two different varieties of make-up paint were then applied to the actor's withered countenance.
Swathed from head to foot in bandages which had first been acid rooted and passed through a warm over, Karloff was ready to step on the set and submit to another eight hours of grueling work before the cameras. His supporting cast in this fantastic story of the reincarnation of an Egyptian mummy includes Zita Johann, David Manners, Arthur Byron, Edward Van Sloan and Bramwell Fletcher, Karl Freund directing.
It is interesting to note that Karloff occupies the same dressing room on the Universal lot formerly used by another make-up master, the late Lon Chaney.
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