PART
TWO
PAUL PICERNI: Then the next thing that happens
is, I get word from Solly Biano, the head of talent: "Paul,
we've got everything squared away with Andre. He's gonna
shoot the scene properly, without endangering your life.
You go back to work tomorrow morning and do it." So I
go back the next day and it's a very silent set -- a very
silent set -- and there's the guillotine set up and
all the people in place. I look up, and now there's a
parallel platform built next to the guillotine, out of
camera range, and Eric Stacy is standing on the platform.
He had drilled a hole in the side of the guillotine under
the blade, with an iron bar holding the blade up. At the
crucial moment, when Frank pulled me out of the guillotine,
Eric would pull the bar out and the blade would come down.
Basically, it was still one shot -- what Andre wanted!
-- but it was still dangerous, because I had to depend
on Eric Stacy pulling the iron bar out at the proper moment
[laughs]. If his timing was off, my head was off! Anyhow,
that's the way we shot it; I figured, "I can't say no
again," because there was a considerable change
from the original plan of Red Turner sitting on the top,
holding the blade between his legs! So that's the way
we did it, and when you see the movie, you'll see that
it was in one take!
TOM WEAVER:
Were all the wax figures in the museum scenes wax, or
were there real people mixed in?
PAUL: There was one person, a very muscular
guy -- he looked like the Hulk! -- and he was standing
by a rack, stretching a girl. He was the only one who
was real, everything else was wax.
Q:
You were in New York for the House of Wax premiere.
PAUL: I went to New York with Vincent Price,
Frank Lovejoy and Phyllis Kirk for the opening at the
Paramount Theater. And the Paramount Theater was packed,
5000 people. But I think a thousand of them were my
relatives [laughs], my mother, my aunts, my uncles,
my cousins, 'cause I came from New York. It was a big
opening: Major Warner, who ran the New York office,
was there, along with all the executives, and Mort Blumenstock
[the head of publicity] was backstage. Eddie Fisher
had a big band in those days, and they performed preceding
the movie. In his opening remarks, Eddie Fisher said,
"Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to dedicate my show
tonight to the man who discovered me and helped get
me started in show business, Mr. Eddie Cantor." Then
he did his show, and after that he introduced Vincent
Price, and the audience went crazy. Vince said a few
words, Frank Lovejoy goes on, Phyllis Kirk goes on,
and finally he says, "Here's the young romantic lead
in the picture, Paul Picerni." I came on stage, and
the audience erupted in applause, because, you know,
it's all my relatives [laughs]! They went crazy! And
I was really full of emotion, it was such a big moment
in my career. "Ladies and gentlemen," I said, "at the
beginning of the show tonight, Eddie Fisher dedicated
his performance to a gentleman who helped him a great
deal in his career, Mr. Eddie Cantor. Well, a lot of
people helped get me to this point, and I feel this
is quite a step in my career, being on stage here at
the world-famous Paramount Theater. A lot of people
helped me get to this point, but I want to pay tribute
to one person tonight." And I said, "Ma -- take a bow!",
and my mother stood up. I was crying -- she was crying
-- the audience was crying -- Eddie Fisher was crying
-- everybody was crying, and it was just a great moment.
A great moment. I came off stage and Mort Blumenstock,
a great, big, jovial, wonderful guy, he's crying, he's
got a handkerchief to his eyes. He says [sobbing], "Paul
-- oh, my God, Paul, that was wonderful, that was beautiful!
"But, listen, Paul: Can your mother come back for the
second show?" [Laughs] Isn't that something? I'll never
forget that!
Q:
How long were you in New York?
PAUL: For like 10 days, for the whole early
run of the picture. One night, Vincent Price and I and
Vincent's wife Mary (a lovely woman) went to Sardi's.
We were upstairs having a late supper, and there were
a lot of familiar faces in the room, all the actors
who'd come off the stage and come up there for their
late snacks. Vincent said, "You know, it's always so
embarrassing when you see the familiar faces of these
actors and you can't remember their names. But I found
a solution to that." I said, "What is it, Vincent?"
He said, "As soon as I see an actor approaching me,
I stand up -- I extend my hand -- and I say, 'Vincent
Price.' And inevitably they will say, 'Joe Blow,' or
whatever their name is, and shake hands." I said, "Boy,
that's great."
At that precise moment -- at that precise moment, like
it was written in a script -- this actor starts walking
toward Vincent. And I see this blank stare come over
Vincent's face! He stands up and he sticks out his hand
and he says, "Vincent Price." And the actor says, "You
don't have to tell me your name, Vince! I killed ya
in three movies!" I'll never forget that!
Q:
Many of the people I've asked about Price talk about
his mischievous sense of humor and even sometimes being
a practical joker. Did you see any of that during the
making of the movie?
PAUL: No, I don't recall any of that, to tell
you the truth. I was more concerned with Andre [laughs]!
Q:
Did you make any other personal appearances in connection
with House of Wax?
PAUL: After that opening in New York, they sent
me on the road for 10 weeks. I went to Dayton, I went
to Akron, I went to Milwaukee, I went all over. At the
point when I'd been on the road for eight or nine weeks,
they had Gordon MacRae meet me in Chicago. I'm really
tired now, I haven't seen my wife, I haven't seen my
kids. I'm at the Ambassador Hotel with Gordon MacRae
and his wife Sheila, who eventually became an actress
and did some of The Honeymooners. We're at the
Ambassador and I get a phone call from the head of publicity
at Warner Brothers --
Q:
You're traveling around alone? None of the other
House of Wax players are with you any more?
PAUL:
Right, I was going around alone. But every stop I made,
the box office went up five, six thousand dollars. I
was supposed to go home after the Chicago opening with
Gordon MacRae, they sent him in to help me in Chicago,
because it was a big site there. Anyhow, I got a phone
call from the head of publicity at Warners and he said,
"Paul, instead of coming home after Chicago, we want
you to go straight to San Francisco, and then up to
Seattle, Tacoma and Portland." I said, "Marvin, I haven't
seen my wife in eight weeks. I'd like to go home now."
He said, "You can't. The opening is night after tomorrow,
you gotta be in San Francisco. You're doing so well,
the picture's doing so great!" I said, "I guess I
have to, but I don't want to -- " And Gordon
overhears the conversation; at that time, Gordon was
a much bigger star at the studio. He says, "Gimme the
phone."
Gordon gets on the phone and he says, "Marvin, Paul
is not going anywhere after Chicago, he's going straight
home. Do you understand this man's been on the road
for eight weeks, he hasn't seen his wife and kids --
" Marvin says, "He's gotta go to San Francisco, Mr.
Warner wants it." Gordon says, "All right: He'll go
to San Francisco if you fly up his wife and kids and
meet him at the hotel in San Francisco." Gordon said
that! And Marvin said, "Okay! Agreed!" [Laughs] So I'll
always love Gordon for that moment. They sent my wife
and two of my four kids (the other two were too little
at the time), and they met me in San Francisco and we
had three or four days there, and then I went on to
all the northern cities. I was on the road for 10 weeks.
Q:
Helping make House of Wax an even bigger success.
PAUL: Believe it or not, that picture was made
for like a million dollars, and it grossed like 20,000,000.
I think the cost vs. the gross was bigger than Titanic
[1998]. Percentage-wise, House of Wax made a
bigger profit. Now I come back to Warner Brothers and
I'm a hero with the studio 'cause every town I was in,
the grosses far exceeded the towns I wasn't in.
I got all sorts of letters that went to Warner Brothers
and the publicity people gave 'em to me, letters saying
what a great guy I was and how I did all these radio
spots in each town. So I come back to the studio and
I'm feeling pretty good about the whole thing, and I
get a call from Solly Biano, the head of talent. Solly
says, "Paul, I'm sending you a script, a Randy Scott
movie, Riding Shotgun [1954]. There's a part
in there for you." I said, "Oh, great. Who's directing
it?", and he says, "Andre de Toth." I said, "You're
kidding!" and he says, "Andre requested you." Andre
requested me -- ?!
I get the script, and Randolph Scott is riding shotgun
on a stagecoach and they come into this way station.
Randy gets off the wagon, he comes in the way station
and he says, "How are you, Jeff?" I'm Jeff. He says,
"Jeff, listen, can you do me a favor? Can you take the
stage into Dodge City?" I say, "Yeah, I'd be glad to."
So I get on the stage and we ride out of town; there
are a couple of montage shots of the stage going; and
all of a sudden we're attacked by Indians. And on page
three of the script, Jeff is shot with an arrow and
falls off the wagon and is killed [laughs]!
So I call up Solly and I say, "Solly, what the hell
is this? I just had star billing in the biggest hit
of the year, House of Wax, and now you put me
in a picture like Riding Shotgun and I get killed
on page three!" He said, "You're killed on page three?
You're kidding! Jeez, I thought it was a big part!"
He hadn't read the script; all he knew was that Andre
requested me. Solly said, "Paul, I'm sorry. I don't
know what to tell you; we have nothing else going on
the lot. I guess we'll just have to put you on layoff,
because there's nothing else happening unless you wanna
do this stupid thing and stay on salary 'til something
comes up." Well, like I did many times in my stupid
career, I did the movie, I did Riding Shotgun
with Andre de Toth, and I guess he got a semblance of
revenge [laughs]!
Q:
Have you seen him since?
PAUL: Fifteen years ago, they reissued House
of Wax in 3-D on Wilshire Boulevard and they called
me to come down to make an appearance. I go down to
this theater and it's packed with people; I brought
a couple of my grandchildren to see it, 'cause they
had never seen 3-D. And who is there but Andre de Toth
and Vincent Price, and I had a wonderful reunion with
Vincent. And Andre [in a sweet voice]: "Paul! How are
you, sweetheart? I haven't seen you in years! So good
to see you!" Like a true Hungarian, he embraced me and
kissed me on both cheeks, and that was the last time
I saw Andre [laughs]!
Q:
What did you think of House of Wax back then,
and now?
PAUL: It still holds up today. I went to Chicago
for an autograph session and met with a fellow named
Frank Partapillo, a camera buff. He has a beautiful
theater built in his basement. He has all the 3-D equipment,
and while I was in Chicago he had a "special evening"
and invited about 30 people and showed House of Wax
in 3-D. I got up before the movie and told some of my
stories, and I saw it in 3-D for the first time in maybe
15 years. And the audience loved it: All these young
kids were there, and older people, and they all had
the 3-D glasses on, and they marveled at the movie!
It was a great evening. So it still holds up.
