OGRE OF THE MAKE-UP BOX

Happy New Year, everyone! Welcome to a new page in the chronicle of the life and career of Jack P. Pierce, makeup artist extraordinaire. Let's dive in, shall we?

The clipping shown above is from The New York Times, Sunday March 31, 1935. It includes the article, "Ogre of the Make-Up Box", written about two months after Werewolf of London began shooting. The author also includes info on The Bride of Frankenstein that had just been completed.

“The Frankenstein of Universal City has just finished his biggest job to date and is well advanced on his next assignment of turning men into monsters. This practitioner of occult arts, before whom strong actors tremble is Jack Pierce, half man, half plasterer. After making two monsters a day (male and female created he them) over a stretch of thirty-two days for ‘The Bride of Frankenstein’ which James Whale has just finished, he is now filling the hair-restorative companies with consternation by growing hair on the palm of Henry Hull for the ‘Werewolf of London’. He is now on location at Vasquez Rocks, California, a weird desert tract of jagged cliffs which look like geological formations on Mars.

“Pierce is the centre [sic] of attention for all the players and staff. A wry, irascible-looking chap, with black mustache and steel-rimmed spectacles, he looks precisely like a German scientist. Especially is this so, when, attired in his white surgeon’s tunic [actually a barber’s smock; Pierce was a professionally-trained barber] worn over a sweater, he is busy doing unprecedented things to the visage of homo [sic] sapiens.”

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

THE BRIDE'S ALIVE!

In these animated images we get a good look at Jack's creation of Elsa Lanchester as The Bride of Frankenstein.

HOW TO MAKE A FRANKENSTEIN MONSTER

This article, written by Don Sheppard, appeared in the third issue of Fantastic Monsters of the Films (1962), wherein Jack Pierce's technique for the monster in Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein is revealed. Even early on, film monster magazine editors were acknowledging Pierce's craft.

The article actually focuses on Boris Karloff, who tells of the hours sitting in the makeup chair while Pierce made him into the monster. Karloff emphasizes the discomfort that he went through to endure the iconic transformations.

WHO IS MISSING FROM THIS PICTURE?

During the filming of BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN a backstage photo shoot was arranged to promote the titular character. Elsa Lanchester was pictured in several photos looking into a mirror and applying makeup to herself in a parody of "beautification".

But something was missing in at least one of the shots. Seen today in all these photos is a solitary image of Elsa as the Bride. It turns out that the Bride's real makeup man was present at the shoot and was captured in at least one of the photos.

The June 1935 issue of NEW MOVIE MAGAZINE featured a two-page column entitled, "Hollywood Day by Day". In the upper right-hand corner it is plain to see Jack Pierce included in one of the photos that normally shows only Elsa. The caption reads: "Elsa Lanchester wears fantastic make-up for 'Bride of Frankenstein'". One of the reasons was this may have been buried for so many years is that searches for "Jack Pierce" would have not included a hit for this page since he is not mentioned.

JACK PIERCE'S "BRIDE" IN 'UNIVERSAL WEEKLY'

"The Universal Weekly" was "U's" promotional magazine. In the 9 February 1935 issue was a 2-page spread featuring BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, which would be released the following May.

Much praise was given to director James Whale, stating that his productions were, "perfect from every angle, story, cast, settings." It is also interesting to note that the studio avoided using the term "horror" or "thriller" to describe the film, instead calling it a "strange compelling drama".

Shown at the top is a very serious Jack Pierce pictured working on Boris Karloff's headpiece. The caption erroneously mentions that the look is similar to "last year's monster makeup."

PICTURE PLAY REVIEWS 1935

While not completely absent from the press, notoriety for Jack Pierce was not as abundant when compared to influential cosmetic giant Max Factor and the sheer numbers of the Westmore clan. Reviewers were also more likely to comment on the actors, director and cinematography of a film rather than the makeup artist. The paucity of screen credits for Pierce may have contributed to this, but Hollywood was, after all, all about the players.

In these reviews from Picture Play magazine's August 1935 issue. writer Norbert Lusk mentions the camera work during Henry Hull's transformation into the Werewolf of London, but does not name the person who applied the makeup (Pierce). He comes closer, but attributes a more substantial contribution (and rightly so) from Karloff in the Bride of Frankenstein, when he writes, "Boris Karloff leaves nothing undone in making The Monster a memorable masterpiece of make-up and curiously affecting acting."

Even though he had already been head of Universal's makeup department for some years, Jack Pierce's work went uncredited in both films. One wonders what the proud artist may have thought.