A house of mirrors or hall of mirrors is a traditional attraction at funfairs (carnivals) and amusement parks . The basic concept behind a house of mirrors is to be a maze -like puzzle (made out of a myriad of mirrors ). In addition to the maze, participants are also given mirrors as obstacles, and glass panes to parts of the maze they cannot yet get to. Sometimes the mirrors may be distorted because of different curves, convex , or concave in the glass to give the participants unusual and confusing reflections of themselves, some humorous and others frightening.
25-656: The first known literary example is in Gaston Leroux 's novel The Phantom of the Opera (1911), in which Erik has built one for the Shah of Persia as a trap and later uses a similar trap house to protect his lair from his enemies. A (possibly magical) house of mirrors features prominently in Ray Bradbury 's novel Something Wicked This Way Comes . The concept has also been used in comics. In Batman: The Dark Knight Returns , Batman
50-646: A court reporter and theater critic for L'Écho de Paris . His most important journalism came when he began working as an international correspondent for the Paris newspaper Le Matin in 1893. He was present at, and covered, the 1905 Russian Revolution . He left journalism in 1907, after returning from covering a volcanic eruption and being immediately sent on another assignment without vacation time, and began writing fiction. In 1919, he and Arthur Bernède formed their own film company, Société des Cinéromans , publishing novels and turning them into films. He first wrote
75-610: A chase, gunfight, and climactic knife fight in a modern art museum exhibit called "Reflections of the Soul" made of halls, rooms, and stairways lined with mirrors. A house of mirrors features prominently in Jordan Peele 's 2019 horror film Us . The Kraftwerk album Trans-Europe Express includes a song called "The Hall of Mirrors". Fusion guitarist Allan Holdsworth also has a song called "House of Mirrors" of his Hard Hat Area album. The Insane Clown Posse album The Ringmaster has
100-607: A maze of mirrors. In the finale of Enter the Dragon (1973), Bruce Lee 's character navigates a mirror maze by breaking through the mirrors. Francisco Scaramanga 's "Fun House" in the 1974 James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun has a house of mirrors. In John Boorman's 1974 movie Zardoz , character "Z" ( Sean Connery ) battles against "The Vortex" in a mirror maze. The 1983 Walt Disney movie Something Wicked This Way Comes (an adaptation of Ray Bradbury 's novel of
125-807: A month after his birth. He claimed an illustrious pedigree, including descent from William II of England (in French, Guillaume le Roux), son of William the Conqueror , and social connections such as having been the official playmate of Prince Philippe, Count of Paris at the College d'Eu in Normandy. After schooling in Normandy and studying as a lawyer in Caen (graduating in 1889), He inherited millions of francs and lived wildly until he nearly reached bankruptcy. In 1890, he began working as
150-571: A mystery novel titled Le mystère de la chambre jaune (1907; English title: The Mystery of the Yellow Room ), starring the amateur detective Joseph Rouletabille . Leroux's contribution to French detective fiction is considered a parallel to those of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the United Kingdom and Edgar Allan Poe in the United States. Leroux published his most famous work, The Phantom of
175-427: A son, Gaston, nicknamed Milinkij, and daughter Madeleine; they married in 1917 after Lefranc's death. In 1918, he founded a film production company, Société des Cinéromans with René Navarre and debuted two films Tue-la-Mort and Il etait deux petits enfants , in which his daughter played the lead role. The Gaston Leroux Bedside Companion , an anthology published in 1980 and edited by Peter Haining , as well as
200-542: A song called "House of Mirrors", representing it as one of the attractions of the Dark Carnival . In Season 3, Episode 7 of Stranger Things , the character "Hopper" ( David Harbour ) leads a Russian assassin into a mirror maze. In an episode of the Twilight Zone, " In Praise of Pip ", a bookie tries to tell his dying son how much he loves him while chasing him inside a house of mirrors. Other notable examples include
225-583: A story by Charles S. Belden ) or, particularly, the 1997 Italian film Wax Mask (for example, in Troy Howarth's Splintered Visions: Lucio Fulci and His Films ). No such story by Leroux exists, though some confusion may have been the result of chapter IX in Leroux's novel La double vie de Théophraste Longuet, which is entitled, Le masque de cire (translated as The Wax Mask ). Michael Zaslow Michael Joel Zaslow (November 1, 1942 – December 6, 1998)
250-459: A word-for-word copy of the story Figures de cire by Andre de Lorde which was published as Waxworks in the 1933 anthology Terrors: A Collection of Uneasy Tales, edited (anonymously) by Charles Birkin . The confusion has sometimes caused Leroux to be erroneously credited with the stories from the 1933 film Mystery of the Wax Museum , the 1953 film House of Wax (both of which were based on
275-450: Is seen chasing the Joker through an amusement park and into a hall of mirrors. It was used to create suspense as Joker could not clearly decipher what was real and what was just an image. In Charlie Chaplin 's 1928 movie The Circus , Charlie Chaplin is chased into a mirror maze by a thief and the police. The climax of the 1947 Orson Welles film The Lady from Shanghai takes place in
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#1732855334996300-712: The Enterprise crewman Darnell, is the first character in Star Trek history to be killed off. Zaslow was born in Inglewood, California. He played Dick Hart on the CBS soap opera Search for Tomorrow and Dr. Peter Chernak on Love Is a Many Splendored Thing . He also played David Renaldi on ABC 's One Life to Live from 1983 to 1986. Zaslow guest-starred on a number of other television shows and soap operas , including Barnaby Jones , The Love Boat , and Law & Order . In
325-473: The 1977 feature film You Light Up My Life , and appeared in the 1979 sci-fi movie Meteor . Zaslow's Broadway theatre credits included Fiddler on the Roof , Cat on a Hot Tin Roof , and Onward Victoria . Zaslow was also the godfather of actor Christian Slater . However, it was for his work as Roger Thorpe on Guiding Light that Zaslow was always best known. One of the show's central villains of
350-498: The 1970s, his first onscreen "death" was voted the top scene in the show's history when the series celebrated its 50th anniversary. In the late 1980s, he returned to the show and, once again, became a central figure. Zaslow received multiple Daytime Emmy nominations (and won once) for his work in the role, and continually appeared on both critics' and fans' lists of favorite soap opera performers. In 1997, he began to experience difficulty speaking. When it became noticeable on screen, he
375-459: The CBS soap opera Guiding Light which, in 1980, featured a now famous sequence that depicted heroine Rita Bauer ( Lenore Kasdorf ) being pursued through a hall of mirrors by villain Roger Thorpe ( Michael Zaslow ); the show Macgyver , where Jack Dalton is brainwashed and is forced to fire on Macgyver; and Teen Titans episode "Betrayal". In "The Carnival Job", a fourth season episode of
400-547: The Haining-edited The Real Opera Ghost and Other Tales By Gaston Leroux (Sutton, 1994), include a story attributed to Leroux entitled The Waxwork Museum . A foreword alleges that the translation by Alexander Peters first appeared in Fantasy Book in 1969 (but no original French publication date is given). Neither "Alexander Peters" nor "Fantasy Book" appear to exist, and the text of the story is, in fact,
425-535: The Opera , as a serial in 1909 and 1910, and as a book in 1910 (with an English translation appearing in 1911). Balaoo followed in 1911, which was made into a film several times (in 1913, 1927 and 1942). Leroux was made a Chevalier de la Legion d'honneur in 1909. He died at age 58 in Nice, France, in 1927. Leroux married twice, first to Marie Lefranc from whom he separated in 1902. Following his separation, he then lived with Jeanne Cayatte from Lorraine , with whom he had
450-403: The episode " The Man Trap ," the series' September 8, 1966 premiere of Star Trek , he played Crewman Darnell, the first Starship Enterprise crew member to be killed off . The incident sparked the first diagnosis of the now-famous line: "He's dead, Jim," by Enterprise crew-member Dr. Leonard McCoy ( DeForest Kelley ). He also appeared as Jordan in the episode " I, Mudd ". He costarred in
475-469: The novel The Phantom of the Opera ( French : Le Fantôme de l'Opéra , 1909), which has been made into several film and stage productions of the same name, notably the 1925 film starring Lon Chaney and Andrew Lloyd Webber 's 1986 musical . His 1907 novel The Mystery of the Yellow Room is one of the most celebrated locked room mysteries . Leroux was born in Paris in 1868, the illegitimate child of Marie Bidaut and Dominique Leroux, who married
500-510: The same title ) culminates in a house of mirrors confrontation. The 1984 movie Conan the Destroyer with Arnold Schwarzenegger contains a house of mirrors fight. In Dariush Farhang ’s 1985 movie “ The Spell ” is a house of mirrors. Woody Allen 's movie Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993) makes reference to the house of mirrors sequence from The Lady from Shanghai . In John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017), John Wick ( Keanu Reeves ) engages in
525-518: The show Leverage , Elliot has a showdown with Molly's captors in a house of mirrors. The origins of the house of mirrors stem from the hall of mirrors in the Palace of Versailles . Gaston Leroux Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux (6 May 1868 – 15 April 1927) was a French journalist and author of detective fiction . In the English-speaking world, he is best known for writing
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#1732855334996550-546: Was an American actor. He was best known for his role as villain Roger Thorpe on CBS 's Guiding Light , a role he played from 1971 to 1980 and again from 1989 to 1997, earning multiple nominations – and one win – at the Daytime Emmy Awards . He also appeared as a guest in two episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series , notably in the series' inaugural episode in which his character,
575-505: Was briefly recast before being written off. (In 2004, Zaslow's character on Guiding Light died off-screen.) Zaslow was hired at One Life to Live in 1998 to play David Renaldi again, appearing first in May of that year, his condition being written into the storyline. He made numerous appearances over the next seven months before he was too ill to continue working. Zaslow died from a heart attack on December 6, 1998, at his New York City home. He
600-457: Was placed on leave at Guiding Light . (There are conflicting stories as to whether Zaslow was then fired; there was for some time a legal action against Guiding Light and sponsor Procter & Gamble , which was eventually settled.) It was some time before Zaslow was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease (it was first thought he had suffered a stroke ). Zaslow did not return to Guiding Light , and his role
625-614: Was survived by his wife, psychologist/writer Susan Hufford ; and two daughters, Helena and Marika. His final appearance on One Life to Live was televised December 1. The character of David Renaldi was soon referred to as living off-screen, with mentions of him eventually dropped. Hufford founded ZazAngels, a foundation that seeks to raise funds in order to find a cure for Lou Gehrig's disease. Several of Zaslow's Guiding Light and One Life to Live castmates, along with many Broadway-based theater luminaries, have participated in tributes that were fundraisers for ZazAngels. Hufford released
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