One of the few things that I really didn't like about the wax film that preceded this one, The Mystery of the House of Wax, was the way Ivan Igor's partner rushed to burn down the museum minutes after an art critic informed Igor that he was going to make his work famous and him a rich man, because he had just received this immense news and then his aggravated partner walked in seconds later and burned the place down for the insurance money. It was just so hard to accept that Igor's partner moved so fast that he was simply unable to utter a word about what new events had so recently transpired.
In this film, Ivan Igor is played by Professor Henry Jarrod who is played by Vincent Price, and his partner is in full earshot when he hears the news that an art critic may want to buy into the project and free his own investment for whatever else he has in mind. Other events lead to him being unable to accept the offer, and the idea of cashing in on the insurance money remains on the table without the need for any fast talking or lack of an opportunity to get a word in edgewise about impending success in order for it to come about. Quite a nice little wrinkle that has been ironed out there, I should think.
This does, however, render the overzealous investor into more of a villain than he was in the original film, especially when he carelessly tosses kerosene onto Jarrod as he is walking around dousing the sculptures to make them burn faster. It's possible that he is meant to have thought Jarrod was just another realistic statue, but he had to have known that he was still in there when he went around blowing out candles to cause a build-up of gas in the building. Evidently he didn't feel like sharing that insurance money!
In this film, Ivan Igor is played by Professor Henry Jarrod who is played by Vincent Price, and his partner is in full earshot when he hears the news that an art critic may want to buy into the project and free his own investment for whatever else he has in mind. Other events lead to him being unable to accept the offer, and the idea of cashing in on the insurance money remains on the table without the need for any fast talking or lack of an opportunity to get a word in edgewise about impending success in order for it to come about. Quite a nice little wrinkle that has been ironed out there, I should think.
This does, however, render the overzealous investor into more of a villain than he was in the original film, especially when he carelessly tosses kerosene onto Jarrod as he is walking around dousing the sculptures to make them burn faster. It's possible that he is meant to have thought Jarrod was just another realistic statue, but he had to have known that he was still in there when he went around blowing out candles to cause a build-up of gas in the building. Evidently he didn't feel like sharing that insurance money!