The Monkey Talks (1927). Pierce Dracula

I is difficult to believe that the man who One of Pierce's first macabre makeup as - created Frankenstein's monster for the signments was for The Monkey Talks movies started his career as a humble (1927). Pierce employed chamois and theatre projectionist in 1910. After man- putty, combined with spirit gum and false aging theatres for Harry Culver, founder hair to turn actor Jacques Lerner into a ofI Culver City, Pierce joined Indian producer monkey for this Fox production. A wig with Young Deer in 1914 in making films. Pierce leather simian ears sewn into it completed then went to Universal Pictures as an assis- the effect. tant cameraman. Universal Pictures became Pierce's home base for years to come and the studio where his skill as a makeup artist would be repeatedly tested. Over the years, Pierce worked with such well-known stars of the horror genre as Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney, Jr., and, of course, Boris Karloff. In 1930 Pierce's assignment was the fil m Dracula, which starred Bela Lugosi. Lugosi's experienced facial muscles, developed for the stage, helped him to create the characterization of a refined gentleman with a touch of seductive evil. The only facial makeup he required-and would allow-for his role as Count Dracula was a light-green greasepaint. Pierce created the makeup for Lugosi, which Max Factor manufactured ex- ley's frightening monster, and Jack P. clusively. An altered hairline and grayed Pierce rose to the occasion. His first inclina- temples completed the makeup process. tion was to read the classic tale for a de- Lugosi felt strongly about having his hand- scription of the creature, but his luck was some features altered in any way, which out there. Shelley declined to go into any was the reason he would turn down the role descriptive narration of her monster's fea- of Frankenstein's monster the following tures. Pierce was on his own. Like Dr. Fran- year. kenstein, Pierce was faced with creating his The 1931 rebirth of the freak penned by own monster. Mary Shelley was a definite milestone in the Using the premise behind Shelley's crea- careers of both Pierce and Boris Karloff. ture, Pierce is said to have delved into medi- The forty-four-year-old Karloff's acting ca- cal and anatomy books, learning the various reer to date had consisted mainly of undis- techniques a surgeon would employ in op- tinguished roles. When James Whale called erating on the human skull. Pierce felt that Karloff to his table during lunch in the stu- Dr. Frankenstein would seek the easiest dio's commissary, neither man surmised the procedure in opening his creature's skull, effect their meeting would have on Karloff's thus the final version of the flat-topped head career and Universal's future. Karloff wasn't with scars and clamps. overly impressed with the role that would to- Pierce reportedly read that in some early tally obliterate his features, but it was work, civilizations criminals were bound hand and not to mention the filming of a horror classic. foot and buried alive. As their bodies de- There were those in years to come who composed, blood flowed into their extrem- criticized Karloff's becoming stereotyped, ities, stretching their arms and swelling their but Karloff, the antithesis of his roles, saw hands, feet, and faces to abnormal propor- his typecasting as an opportunity which of- tions. Pierce incorporated this bit of knowl- fered him the challenge of sinister and evil edge into the makeup design of the Fran- portrayals. kenstein monster, which seemed particular- It was a makeup artist's dream to be ly appropriate because the creature was to faced with the challenge of turning a mortal be composed of the remains of executed man into the bits and pieces of Mary Shel- criminals. Karloff won lasting fame in his role as the there. The picture brought the studio $12 monster, but every time Pierce performed million in theatre rentals alone. When Uni- the tedious six-hour makeup application, versal saw the profits from this horror film, Karloff paid a dear price. Karloff felt akin to they decided to make more. In 1932 Karloff an Egyptian mummy as Pierce built up the and Pierce were teamed for The Mummy. square head and enormous forehead with Pierce discovered that the challenge of layers and layers of cotton and collodion. wrapping Karloff in the fragile cloth was Smoking was strictly forbidden because of probably one of the hardest jobs he had en- the flammable quality of the makeup materi- countered in his twenty years in the indus- als, so Karloff wasn't able to seek respite in try. He had literally cooked the cloth to give that area either. it the appearance of having rotted away in Tiny wires were used to pull the corners some long-forgotten tomb, so there were of Karloff's mouth out and down. Bolts that times when it simply disintegrated in his were to give the creature his birth" were hands. The proper appearance also re- embedded so firmly against Karloff's neck quired that he wrap Karloff in three direc- with more layers of cotton and adhesive that tions: horizontally, vertically, and diagonally. Karloff bore tiny scars from them for years This style of wrapping prevented the layers to come. Pierce's skillfully talented hands from separating and revealing Karloff's own created realistic scars on Karloff and gave body. his eyes the weighted, dead look by apply- Once totally wrapped, Karloff's body was ing wax caps to his eyelids. then coated with a thin layer of mud. When An appropriate shade of greasepaint was needed to complete the makeup. Pierce needed a color that would give a gray 'death mask" appearance to the monster's flesh; however, a gray greaspaint would not film correctly under the Klieg lights. Pierce developed a greasepaint of a greenish hue which photographed correctly and realisti- cally. Karloff's height was built up to seven and a half feet with the help of heavy boots; and his legs were locked in steel struts, prevent- ing him from bending his knees. It was from this that the famous shuffling walk was developed. Removing the makeup was nearly as challenging as applying it. It required an hour and a half of having oils and acetone applied, a great deal of tugging and pulling, with a certain amount of foul language. The producer kept the monster's appearance a well-guarded secret, as they wanted to provide a scare Hollywood would long re- member. Universal certainly succeeded the mud dried, a coating of glue was Once on the sound stage, Pierce com- painted on. When Karloff opened his eyes pletely wrapped Karloff's legs together. His and arose from his coffin, the mud and frag- eyes were carefully sealed with rice paper. ile first layer of cotton disintegrated into so A small slit was made horizontally in the much dust, giving an excellent effect . center of the paper. A dark brown pencil ac- It remained Karloff's face and hands, centuated the slit giving a deathlike appear- however, that had the most startling appearance of slightly opened eyes. Finally, as he ance. Using spirit gum and cotton, Pierce lay in the coffin awaiting his cue to be rein- covered Karloff's face, removing the excess carnated, the mummy was complete. cotton with tweezers. With the application of Karloff's makeup as the ancient mummy cotton, Pierce was able to create the im- lmhotep took over eight hours to prepare. In pression of lines of age. The cotton and the latter part of the film, Karloff played an spirit gum were dried with an electric heater Egyptian priest-a less grueling makeup. as Pierce turned his attention to the actor's Until recently it was believed that no hands and employed the same technique makeup artist had received any honor, there. award, plaque, or Oscar until the late six- A layer of greasepaint covered the cotton, ties. However, at Universal City Studios a and Pierce accentuated the lines of age with sink was removed from the Makeup Depart- a dark-brown pencil. Lighter shades of ment, and a department head found, at- greasepaint were used to highlight and tached to the bottom of the sink, an award. It shadow the foreboding features. was awarded in 1932 to Jack Pierce by a To transform Karloff's own full dark hair popular magazine of the day for makeup on into the yellowed decayed hair found on The Mummy. mummies after many centuries in the earth, Although Karloff had to endure the Pierce used a neutral tone of greasepaint as mummy makeup ordeal only once, Lon a base. He then rubbed a mixture of fuller's Chaney, Jr., who just happened to be earth and beauty clay into Karloff's hair, Universal's number-one box-office attrac- thus achieving the needed effect. tion, was not quite so fortunate. Universal began a new mummy series in the forties. she remembers that as being 'quite bother- Pierce followed about the same makeup some," with the material sometimes coming procedures for Chaney, Jr.'s, portrayals in loose at the knees and other joints. The Mummy's Curse (1944) and The Mum- Because of Karloff's popularity as a result my's Ghost (1944). However, in The Mum- of his heavy character makeup as Franken- my's Tomb (1942) Pierce created a rubber stein's monster, Bela Lugosi was willing to mask for the mummy role, which was much don the makeup of Ygor in Son of Franken- less effective.

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