The more I hear about White Zombie the more I begin to feel like it was a package deal that they struck with Universal. Shooting was done on the Universal lot, Pierce was used for makeup. And there are the stories about leftover set pieces being used in the making of the picture. It could be that set pieces were recycled into White Zombie and that they were repainted or redressed so that they would be unrecognizable from their prior screen appearances.

Were any other salaried Universal employees used on White Zombie? The Halperins may have approached Universal and they could have found a lag time in their regular production schedule where White Zombie slid into place.

Or, maybe the Halperins were related to the Laemmles?