Plaster Life Masks

[cabmangray]

Erik, the shot of Boris with the Frankie head was taken in the Universal prop dept. in the early 1960's, possibly as publicity for the Thriller TV show. If you look at the head closely, it's not Boris but Glenn Strange, probably from A&C Meet Frankenstein. It's a whole head casting; there are other photos from this session that show the head sitting on a table and you can see more of it.

The shot of Boris being made up as the monster is from the Route 66 Halloween episode "Lizard's Tale and Owlet's Wing". That episode also featured Peter Lorre and Lon Chaney as not only the Wolfman, but as Quasimodo and The Mummy.

[erik1925]

Maybe the Frankie head piece/casring for Strange was used for this incarnation of the Monster?:

[cabmangray]

Yes, most likely. The lightning bold scar on the forehead is a giveaway. Glenn's make-up as the monster in House of Frankenstein & House of Dracula was done by Jack Pierce, who hated working with foam rubber and did the Monster make-up the old fashioned way. Cotton, collodion, & spirit gum. So none of Jack's work would have survived.

[erik1925]

Even by BRIDE, Pierce knew he had to pick up the makeup pace as his original method was taking too long. His original FRANK forehead was built up layers of cotton and collodion, but by the time he was working on SON OF FRANK (and the later films with Chaney Jr, Lugosi, Strange), Pierce was creating pre-fabricated, molded rubber head pieces (not foam latex), for the Monster makeup.

Being thinner molded rubber, unless stored away and cared for, they would have dried out completely or fallen apart with age.  They were likely removed from the actors at the end of the day and tossed (since a new appliance would then be used for the next days' shooting). 

         

[erik1925]

This cast, representing Ellen Sandweiss, as she appeared in THE EVIL DEAD (1981):

   

[cabmangray]

Nice face on that Evil Dead cast! 

Yes, that's exactly right about Jack Pierce doing the make-up for Frankie. Jack didn't care for it, but it did save everyone time when he fabricated the top of the monster's head out of rubber. I think he used the same method on the Wolfman's snout. I know with the Chaney Mummy films Jack used a full head rubber mask, but the hands were done the old fashioned way. I would love to know what happened to the full head and shoulders lifecast of Karloff.

The last shot of Karloff being made up is from a deleted scene cut from The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. The other man looking on is director Norman McLeod. During one of Mitty's daydreams he imagines that he's a doctor doing life saving experiments but instead revives Frankenstein's monster who chases him around the lab. The scene was shot, in Technicolor no less, but never made it into the final film. A pity, since it would have been great to see Karloff as the Monster in glorious Technicolor.

[erik1925]

Thanks. The EVIL DEAD cast does look quite dead...lol

And the Mitty scene may or nay not have ever been shot. There is question about that, to this day.

And if it was, hopefully, that footage will be rediscovered someday.

And Chaney's Wolf Man snout was cast in rubber. It was not nose putty.

[cabmangray]

I tend to think the Mitty scene was shot. Why would Universal go to the trouble of giving a rival studio permission to use the make-up and give Pierce permission to apply it, and not film it? Remember Pierce was dismissed from Universal by this time and he needed Universal's ok to do the job.

[erik1925]

I tend to think the Mitty scene was shot. Why would Universal go to the trouble of giving a rival studio permission to use the make-up and give Pierce permission to apply it, and not film it? Remember Pierce was dismissed from Universal by this time and he needed Universal's ok to do the job.

Just letting you know what Ive read with regard to this scene in the film.

Aside from the several publicity photos that exist, with Karloff, Pierce, Karloff's wife, Evelyn and the film's director, no on set publicity shots have ever been seen or found. And that's a little unusual, too, since those would have made for some real buzz.

So we can hope it was shot or that at least some stills might surface.

[cabmangray]

True. I know just about every Universal monster fan would love to see something form this scene, if it exists.

Could be that it's locked away in a film vault somewhere, like the George Reeves Superman films culled from the second season of the show. I don't know of anyone who has seen any of them, but we know they exist, or existed.

[okiehawker]

This cast, representing Ellen Sandweiss, as she appeared in THE EVIL DEAD (1981):

   

If life masks weren't freaky enough, now you just showed an even more freaky Evil Dead one, Jeff!  The scarring you gave me from just seeing normal life masks just opened.

Okie

[erik1925]

If nothing else, she's got those eyes, Okie. 

[okiehawker]

If nothing else, she's got those eyes, Okie. 

That's a "she"!  Good night!!!  Okie

[erik1925]

Another Dick Smith cast of Linda Blair from THE EXORCIST.

This was the makeup design for which the "rotating, 360º head" scene was used, and from which the FX head was made.

[okiehawker]

Very spooky Blair mask, Jeff! That slight smile is hiding a projectile green nougat.   Creepy!   Okie

[erik1925]

Very spooky Blair mask, Jeff! That slight smile is hiding a projectile green nougat.   Creepy!   Okie

Either that or her Gene Simmons-like tongue that she showed off, later in the flick. 

[okiehawker]

Either that or her Gene Simmons-like tongue that she showed off, later in the flick. 

I think you are right, Jeff! Okie