Jack Pierce - The Man Behind the Monsters (6 page)

costumes by vera west

Starting at Universal at the same time as Jack Pierce, costume designer Vera West (top right) worked at the studio until 1947, designing “gowns” (according to many of her credits) and many of the famous monster costumes in the late 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. West headed the costume department from 1928 — again, the same year that Pierce started as makeup department head — and designed the notable costumes in
Dracula, Frankenstein
and
Bride of Frankenstein
during the Laemmle era. Of this first group of films,
Bride
truly gave her the opportunity to showcase her considerable talents, allegedly honed on New York’s Fifth Avenue before she came to Hollywood. In addition to the iconic costumes for the Monster and the Bride, West designed Una O’Connor’s lavish dress and shawl for her Minnie character (above), the laboratory attire for Colin Clive and Ernest Thesiger as Dr. Praetorius (above right) and the outfit worn by O.P. Heggie (right) as the blind loner who briefly befriends the monster. West went on to design costumes in
The Wolf Man, The Phantom of the Opera
and the numerous monster sequels of the late 1930s and early 1940s. She mysteriously drowned in a swimming pool at her home shortly after leaving Universal with Pierce and John P. Fulton in the spring of 1947. However, her legacy as one of the top fashion and specialty costume designers of the studio era remains intact and warrants further study by fans of the genre.

the post-laemmle 1930s

In 1936, Carl Laemmle Senior and Junior put their final Universal pictures into production. Just before cash problems forced the Laemmles to sell the studio in 1937, they managed to make
Dracula
’
s Daughter,
featuring a stunning and yet simple Jack Pierce makeup on Irving Pichel (left). A sequel to 1931’s
Dracula,
the film was the last horror picture that the Laemmles produced. Pierce also worked on James Whale’s
Showboat
that year, a final bow for the father-son production team. Sadly, Senior Laemmle passed away in 1939; Junior passed forty years later, never having produced another film after leaving Universal (though he dabbled at MGM for a time in the late 1930s).

With Charles Rogers as the new boss, Universal changed its focus, heading towards romantic comedies and dramas, but Pierce did undertake some interesting projects in the late 1930s. He honed his beauty makeup skills on actresses such as Deanna Durbin and created Vincent Price’s straight makeup for his first film,
Service De Luxe
(below left). Then Pierce and Karloff collaborated again on 1939’s
Tower of London
(below right), a period drama. Though Karloff’s bald appearance was the result of shaving his head, Pierce gave him a useful character makeup and treated his eyebrows in a decidedly groundbreaking fashion for the executioner character Mord.

son of frankenstein

Under the Charles Rogers regime, horror films at Universal Studios were all but dead in the late 1930s. Then, in August of 1938, a Hollywood-area movie theater with desperate financial problems conducted a last-ditch effort to get on their feet: they booked the original Universal
Dracula
and
Frankenstein
films and presented them on a double bill. The stunt worked more than anyone could have expected and did more than save the theater from ruin; Universal’s monster franchises were back in style. Immediately, Rogers demanded a
Frankenstein
sequel, and though Whale had left the studio and Colin Clive had passed away in 1937, Pierce and Karloff re-teamed to create a third version of the Monster (above). Karloff was now in his early 50s and, as such, needed a revised version of the makeup, and Pierce tapped Vera West to design the huge shaggy coat that the Monster wore (overleaf). With Basil Rathbone cast as Baron Victor Frankenstein—Henry’s son—and Lionel Atwill playing Inspector Krough (overleaf), director Rowland V. Lee’s film was rich with character parts. Yet it was a character written into the script late in 1938 that would become the hallmark of
Son of Frankenstein.
Béla Lugosi’s film roles had been underwhelming since his early teamings with Karloff, but his late entry into
Son of Frankenstein
as the lively wretch Ygor (opposite) became one of the best parts in his career.