Monday, August 27, 2007

Movieland Wax Museum-Langdon and Turpin

In what is described by Movieland Wax Museum as a typical setting, we see Harry Langdon (1884-1944) and Ben Turpin (1864-1940). They never starred in movies together, yet Movieland put them together in this unusual scene. Langdon is on they left, and Turpin is on the right (For those of you who didn't already know, and that's probably most everyone).


As you can see, the scrim makes taking pictures very difficult. This photograph is from the auction, and I can't remember if they had the snow on when Movieland closed. Wow, a whole wax museum scene in such a small space. I guess they know how to utilize every bit of space.


The clapboard sign. The wax facts says: "Ben Turpin's crossed eyes were insured for $25,000 in 1925. More pies hit his face than any other man in movie history." And most people have never heard of him. His wax figure sold for a mere $850 at the Movieland auction. Langdon's sold for even less, at $500. The small set sold for only $125. Even I could have afforded it, if I had paid the $300 fee to enter the auction.

View the filmography of Harry Langdon here.

View the filmography of Ben Turpin here.

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Monday, August 20, 2007

Hollywood Wax Museum- Shirley Temple

Here's a vintage picture from the Hollywood Wax Museum showing Shirley Temple as a child. The reason I'm posting this shot is because my wife and I were playing twenty question while in line for the Submarine Voyage at Disneyland and she chose Shirley Temple as her subject. I guessed it when I realized she had picked a classic movie Star. Shirley Temple is well known for her movies where she would sing and dance with grown men. Many of here movies had the world "little" in the title. I suppose that's to emphasize how small and childish she was. I wish I had a bigger picture that showed more if the wax figure, but this shot from an old brochure of mine was all I could find.

View more information on Shirley Temple here.

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Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Tussaud's London Wax Museum- Oswald Assassination

This "shot" from the old London Wax Museum in St. Petersburg Florida shows Lee Harvey Oswald being shot by Jack Ruby as Jim Leavelle stands helplessly by. All the other witnesses are too expensive to reproduce, so this tableaux is historically inaccurate. Perhaps the simplistic nature of the scene allows the museum guest to focus more on the historic importance of the assassination than the detail of the set.

Kennedy, and all the events surrounding his death, was a very popular subject for wax museums during the sixties. Some museums originally created scenes showing JFK as the current President, then needed to change them in order to honor him as their fallen leader.

View more information about Lee Harvey Oswald here.

Learn more about the London Wax Museum here.

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