“Why are you wearing a mask? Were you burned by acid or something?”
— Fezzik (Andre the Giant) to the Man in Black; The Princess Bride, 1987
When first watching Princess Bride the line seemed like a funny reference to the Phantom of the Opera. I recalled acid as being the cause of the Phantom’s disfiguration. Decades later when I googled, it turned out there was no acid attack in the 1909 book, or the 1927 film (Lon Chaney), or the 1987 A. Lloyd Webber musical. Apparently I was remembering the 1943 movie version in which Claude Rains gets a snootful of etching acid.
So, was Andre’s question primarily a reference to PotO 1943? Or maybe there’s a rich history of characters being burned by acid?
For an example of vitriol-throwing, see the Sherlock Holmes mystery “The Adventure of the Illustrious Client”, detailing the sinister career of Baron Adelbert Gruner.
Thanks for the link. Looks like a growth industry.
”India’s top court ruled that authorities must regulate the sale of acid. The Supreme Court’s ruling on 16 July 2013, came after an incident in which four sisters…”
”In 2002, Bangladesh introduced the death penalty for acid attacks…”
The Sherlock Holmes story referenced by @Jackmannii seems like a primary literary example.
Not just the 1943 version. The 1960 version with Herbert Lom has Erik as a wronged composer/musician who gets burned with acid. And, similarly, in the 1974 rock version, The Phantom of the Paradise, the heated composer gets his face caught in a record press and is disfigured.
You could also add The Joker from Batman, whose white face was explained in Detective Comics #168 (February 1951) as being due to being dunked in a tank of chemicals (the story was repeated in several subsequent comics, including Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke, and in the 1989 Tim Burton movie Batman. And there’s Sam Raimi’s 1990 film Darkman, where Liam Neeson’s character is disfigured in an explosion. (In fact, the Mad magazine parody of Darkman has the Phantom and Jack Nicholson as The Joker show up and ask Neeson’s character why he’s so upset about being disfigured – it didn’t hurt them.)
Of course, the world of The Princess Bride presumably doesn’t have movies or comic books, but, as has been pointed out, acid- (and base-) throwing has a long history, and acid has been used in etching and metallurgy for a very long time.
In a later ('60s) DC letter column, I got an introduction to biology when someone wrote in to say since there were now descendant generations of the Joker, how could they all look the same, as acquired characteristics can’t be inherited? The editor replied that was true, but the look was so iconic, subsequent generations used surgery and makeup to maintain it.
Also Two-Face, whose first appearance in Detective Comics #66 (under the name “Harvey Kent”, which was changed to “Dent” later, apparently to avoid confusion with Clark Kent) has him splashed with acid by crime boss Sal Moroni, disfiguring the left half of his face.
I met a chemist who got hot sulphuric acid in the face. Apparently, that shit hurts (and is a real hazard, not some made-up sci-fi thing). Don’t forget your PPE
Also, the practice of “vitriol-throwing” (literally throwing acid in someone’s face, usually with the intention of ruining their appearance) is the origin of “vitriol” meaning nastiness in general (these days, usually just verbal, not chemical).
Room 43 (1958) – The sister of Diana Dors has a horribly scarred face (which is never shown), the result of acid being thrown by pimp Herbert Lom.
Touch of Evil (1958) – Acid attack against Charlton Heston is thwarted by some fast reflexes.
In comic books, crook Eel O’Brian was doused with a large drum of unidentified chemical liquid, subsequently re-emerging as Plastic Man.
In real life, attorney William J. Fallon (“the Great Mouthpiece”):
“On a hot August evening in 1926, Fallon entertained a woman and another couple at his Hotel Belleclaire apartment. A former girlfriend burst in and attacked Fallon’s companion with a dog whip. He tried pulling her off. She flung acid into his eyes, which he wiped from his face with a gin-soaked piece of cloth. Miraculously, he was neither blinded nor disfigured.” - https://erenow.org/biographies/rothstein-the-life-times-and-murder-of-the-criminal-genius/18.php
This was the weapon of choice for Pinkie Brown in the book and film versions of ‘Brighton Rock’. (When Pinkie grew up he moved on to dinosaurs instead.)
