The Mummy's Tomb leading lady Elyse Knox on working with Lon Chaney, Jr.
Was he a real scream? Or dead on his feet?
There are a few ways to get to the crux of a man. Some say you can tell a lot about a fellow by how he treats his mother. You can also glean a lot from how a person treats the staff at restaurants. If they're a rude patron, well then, that says plenty about who they are. They don't have to be the biggest tippers in the world; showing manners to a service industry professional is usually quite telling, as is its opposite.
Another way to get the cut of someone's jib is to poll their coworkers. After all, our families have to love us. But our coworkers? Their opinions are a little more reliable. They spend their whole days around us and get to witness the highs and lows of a full calendar year. How do we react to pressure? What are our strengths and weaknesses? If you want to know the answer, just ask a deskmate or anyone who cohabitates the office. Our shared professional goals, and specifically how we pursue them, can reveal a lot.
Lon Chaney, Jr. didn't have much to be happy about on the set of The Mummy's Tomb. By most accounts, it was a pretty miserable experience. Unlike the actors who'd earlier played the monster, there wasn't much Chaney could do to bring nuance to his mummy. He was all bandaged up and nearly indistinguishable in the role. The authors of Universal Horrors: The Studio's Classic Films, 1931-1946 may have said it best: "Lon Chaney's debut assignment as the Mummy was merely a contractual obligation which he understandably found arduous and unfulfilling. Wrapped in yards of gauze, Chaney slouched through the part with little shading of character [...]."
How, then, was Chaney to work with? Luckily, the answer lies in Lon Chaney, Jr: Horror Film Star, 1906-1973, a 1996 volume that anthologizes the genre star's career. In it, author Don G. Smith recalls a letter written to him by Elyse Knox, Chaney's co-star in The Mummy's Tomb. In it, Knox briefly mentions what life was like near Chaney on this set.
"Even with the rubber mask, his makeup took a long time and was very uncomfortable. Because he had to carry me through graveyards, etc., he was very happy I weighed considerably less than other leading ladies."
Quite the humble rag from Ms. Knox. That aside, though, it's nice to learn that there were still patches of happiness for Chaney, even during what must've been a hellish production.
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