According to actress Virginia Christine, when Lon Chaney Jr. carried her, she was attached to a harness that went around his neck and her waist. The actress has stated that Chaney was drunk through most of the picture. In the scenes where he carries her up the steep, crooked, worn steps of the shrine, "he is absolutely stoned" and was "weaving , going side-to-side on these uneven steps." Because they were attached, Christine was concerned what would happen if the inebriated, husky Chaney fell. She was very relieved when the director stopped the shoot and replaced Chaney with a stand-in.
The famous sequence in which Princess Ananka (Virginia Christine) rises from the dead in the swamp is slightly undercranked - a process that speeds up the action - which gives an eerie, unreal quality to her movements. The trick is given away by the overly fast movements of the branches around her.
The mask worn by Lon Chaney Jr. in this film (and preserved by Bob Burns) is the only surviving example of Jack P. Pierce's makeup. The mask is on permanent display at the Experience Music Project Museum in Seattle, Washington as part of its Horror Movie History exhibit.
The flashback sequence features footage of Boris Karloff and Tom Tyler from earlier films--thus Kharis is actually played by three different actors (more if stunt doubles are included).
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
