:56:00
That was a tip-off - nobody
who's really doing any work
:56:03
in a make-up lab wears an outfit
like that while he's working.
:56:05
But that's how Westmore would show up
when photos were going to be taken.
:56:09
There's a story I shouldn't tell, but
I will, about sculptor Chris Mueller,
:56:13
the very talented guy who sculpted
the gill-man's head and hands.
:56:16
He started as an architectural
sculptor, and his career went backaways.
:56:19
He worked on the Sabu Thief of Bagdad,
making the temple and the all-seeing god.
:56:23
He sculpted animals for The Jungle Book,
and for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,
:56:28
and also worked at Universal,
doing architectural stuff first,
:56:31
then gravitating
to the make-up department.
:56:33
He sculpted the hunchback and phantom
for Man of a Thousand Faces,
:56:36
the Hyde mask for
A&C Meet Jekyll and Hyde,
:56:39
the mummy for
A&C Meet the Mummy, etc, etc.
:56:41
So one day Mueller is at Universal,
working on the gill-man head,
:56:45
and somebody else tipped him off.
The guy told Mueller
:56:47
"If Bud Westmore tells you to take
the rest of the day off, don't."
:56:51
"That means that the press
is coming in to take pictures,
:56:54
and Westmore doesn't want you around."
:56:56
Mueller goes back to work and
sure enough, in comes Bud Westmore.
:57:01
Westmore looks at the head
Mueller's sculpting and says
:57:04
"Oh, Chris, that's just great.
Man, you're doin' a terrific job."
:57:07
"Why don't you take
the rest of the day off?"
:57:09
And Mueller, still working,
tells Westmore "No, I wanna finish."
:57:13
Again Westmore says "Chris, you're
doing great work, take it easy."
:57:17
Mueller doesn't budge.
"I don't wanna go. I'm almost finished."
:57:20
"I'm so close to being finished.
I can finish this today."
:57:23
And what could Westmore say to that?
:57:25
Out Westmore goes and then half
an hour or an hour or whatever later,
:57:29
sure enough, here comes Westmore
back in, this time with the press corps.
:57:33
Westmore in his sporty outfit,
goes to where Mueller is working,
:57:36
picks up one of Mueller's sculpting
tools and holds it right to the head,
:57:40
but he doesn't touch the head because
he didn't know what he was doing.
:57:44
Mueller's standing behind
the head, still working,
:57:47
and the photographer
starts snapping away.
:57:49
The pictures are published
and the captions say
:57:51
"Bud Westmore at work on his
newest creation, the creature."
:57:54
No mention of Mueller,
but there he was in the pictures.
:57:57
Because of where Mueller was,
they couldn't crop him out.