Jack Pierce - The Man Behind the Monsters (7 page)

With extensive hair work in the way of wig, beard, moustache and eyebrows (that Lugosi was more than happy to have Pierce apply) the toothy Ygor (above) became as memorable as Karloff’s monster, who is strangely silent in
Son of Frankenstein
after gaining speech in its predecessor,
Bride of Frankenstein
.

Basil Rathbone as Victor Frankenstein, left, with Lionel Atwill as Krough

films of the 1940s

Following the unexpected success of
Son of Frankenstein
, the new
Universal regime, headed by Cliff Work, saw fit to engage in a series
of sequels to the classic Universal monster franchise films in the
early 1940s, although most were crafted as B-pictures. Of course,
Work called on the skills of longtime head of makeup Jack Pierce to
work his magic on the new slate of film characters. First on the
boards was a
Mummy
sequel, not starring Karloff or Lon Chaney
Jr. — though the latter would play the lead in the final three
Mummy
sequels. Tom Tyler was cast in
The Mummy’s Hand
(above), and for him, Pierce designed a facial makeup application
akin to that used on Boris Karloff in the original film. In a similar
makeup conception, Pierce made actor David Bruce (right) into
The
Mad Ghoul
, (1943) an original film from the same period. It took
John Carradine until 1944 to play Count Dracula, and he did so
working with Pierce in
House of Frankenstein
and again in 1945 in
House of Dracula
(above right).

If the new Universal was making horror pictures which lacked the care and attention to detail of similar films under the Laemmle era, Jack Pierce still strove for greatness. In succession, Pierce was able to ply his trade on a series of new Frankenstein Monsters in the early 1940s. First, Lon Chaney, Jr. portrayed the monster in
Ghost of Frankenstein
(1942), bottom left, followed by Béla Lugosi in
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man
(1943), top left, and Glenn Strange in both
House of Frankenstein
(1944) and
House of Dracula
(1945), above. With Strange, Pierce surprised both the actor and
House of Frankenstein
producer Paul Malverne with his rendering of the character—without telling Strange what makeup he was going to test on the actor, he put paper over the mirrors, led Strange into his makeup room, and did the complete Monster makeup. To Strange and Malverne’s shock and delight, Pierce had created the most unique Frankenstein Monster since the Karloff years. In
House of Dracula
, Pierce also demonstrated his hair work abilities, making a mad scientist of actor Onslow Stevens (opposite bottom).

For Jack Pierce, other highlights in the 1940s included a scaled-down version of Claude Rains’ makeup in
Phantom of the Opera
(1943), opposite top left, the lone Jack Pierce horror character that was filmed in color. Pierce also honed his beauty makeup skills on such stars as Susanna Foster for
Phantom
(opposite top left inset), while adding Vicki Lane in
Jungle Captive
(opposite top right), plus its ‘glamourous’ sequels to his beauty makeup résumé.