Melting Plot

This spot-on Marie Antoinette
gets so hot in 3-D she's all wet
Joan of Arc at the stake
is starting to bake...
Look not if you've recently et



Vincent Price stars in House of Wax (André de Toth, 1953). This huge hit was a 3-D remake of the 1933 Michael Curtiz film, Mystery of the Wax Museum. Our limericks on the earlier film can be found under the Pre-Code label.

The Fugitive Grind

His pursuer would never relent
He followed wherever he went
"That cop won't burn out."
Thought the doc, "There's no doubt.
On getting me back Gerard's bent."



David Janssen as Dr. Richard Kimble, The Fugitive, and Barry Morse as the obsessive Lt. Philip Gerard. PLUG: Many of the images in our Fugitive Fridays feature were found at DVD Talk, where writer Paul Mavis provides an incisive season by season review of the show as well as its various releases on dvd.

Hot Waxing Poetic

His favorite waxed statuette,
he's changed her to blond from brunette
This chick that he digs
he sticks under wigs,
and displays as Marie Antoinette



His ardor when viewing her beauty
had started to skew a bit fruity
Unable to quench
his passion for French,
the artist pitched woo at the cutie

Vincent Price, Phyllis Kirk and Paul Cavanagh in House of Wax (André de Toth, 1953). The title was composed by the high-falutin' David Cairns.

Murder By Depth

When a maniac pours on the wax
not a dame can afford to relax
The deeper dimension
increases the tension
and explains all the paddle-ball whacks



Vincent Price, Reggie Rymal (the barker with the paddle-ball), and Charles (then came Bronson) Buchinsky in House of Wax (André de Toth, 1953). Put on your stereoscopic glasses and read our earlier 3-D rhymes. Image source: Ciak Hollywood.

Just the Wax, Ma'am

He likes what girls do on their backs,
but not those connubial acts
He makes them lie flat
right under a vat,
and gives them a new coat of wax




Vincent Price and Phyllis Kirk in House of Wax (André de Toth, 1953).

Wax Murderer

By a shadowy figure, defaced,
all manner of victims are chased
They're caught by the feller
and dragged to a cellar,
and into hot wax are encased




Vincent Price and Phyllis Kirk in House of Wax (André de Toth, 1953).

House of Waxy Buildup

This sculptor's exhibit's a crypt
His statues are stiffs he has stripped
They're waxed head to toes
and posed like they froze,
in a House that comes 3-D equipped



But the public is holding their noses
'cause the sculptures just don't smell like roses
Their coating is thin
and each body within
the waxworks tableaux decomposes



Vincent Price, Phyllis Kirk and Carolyn Jones in House of Wax (André de Toth, 1953). Wax was the first 3-D film from a major studio, and a big hit. It's success made Vincent Price the horror film star he's known as today. Image source: Ciak Hollywood. Our first limerick on House of Wax can be found here. Stay with us as our chronological contribution to the Vincentennial continues.

Rest in Peace, "Jack the R.I.P.per"

Courts asked him to cease and desist
But Jack, now deceased, would persist
Did Doctor Kevorkian
alone stick the fork in...
or did he receive an assist?

----Norm and Surly

Abra-CAD-dabra

It's Price as a tricky magician,
enticing the chicks to submission
Disdainful and highbrow
he raises an eyebrow
Alone he's worth twice the admission



Vincent Price, Henry Fonda, Barbara Bel Geddes and Ann Dvorak in The Long Night (Anatole Litvak, 1947). Image source: Doctor Macro; DVD Beaver. Thanks to Norm Knott for pulling the nifty title out of his hat.

Crystal Ball-Buster

Into ball made of crystal he peers,
then paws his assistant and leers
This louse and magician
and lounge act patrician
at all that is innocent sneers



Vincent Price, Henry Fonda and Ann Dvorak in The Long Night (Anatole Litvak, 1947), an American remake of Le Jour se Lève (Marcel Carné, 1939). As nightclub magician Maximilian the Great, Price tries to make romantic rival Henry Fonda disappear. Look into our previous crystal ball limericks. Image source: Blue Ruins; vincentprice.org

Escape Route 66

A fugitive faces the facts
There's truly no place to relax
Each night Richard Kimble
packs light to stay nimble
Pursued, he escapes through the cracks

David Janssen catches a bus as Dr. Richard Kimble, The Fugitive. It's Fugitive Fridays at Limerwrecks.

Bar From Heaven

Be wary of lawyers you jilt
Their very large egos will wilt
They'll put you on trial
and turn up the dial,
with nary a care about guilt



Gene Tierney, Vincent Price and Jeanne Crain in Leave Her to Heaven (John M. Stahl, 1945). Image source: vincentprice.org.

Trial by Fury

For another his troth is rejected
At his rival his his woe's redirected
He has him indicted
for love unrequited
It beats feeling low and dejected



In Leave Her to Heaven (John M. Stahl, 1945), district attorney Vincent Price is jilted by Gene Tierney and takes it out on Cornell Wilde. Image source: vincentprice.org; libertas film magazine.