The Mummy (1932 film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Mummy | |
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| Directed by | Karl Freund |
| Produced by | Carl Laemmle Jr. |
| Written by | John L. Balderston Based on a story by Nina Wilcox Putnam Richard Schayer |
| Starring | Boris Karloff Zita Johann David Manners Bramwell Fletcher Arthur Byron Edward van Sloan |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | December 22 1932 (U.S. release) |
| Running time | 73 min |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Followed by | The Mummy's Hand (1940) |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Mummy is a 1932 horror film directed by Karl Freund, starring Boris Karloff as an Ancient Egyptian prince, Imhotep, whose mummy is inadvertently revived by a member of an archaeological expedition and who, using the name Ardath Bey (an anagram of 'Death by Ra'), prowls Cairo seeking the reincarnation of the soul of his ancient lover, Princess Ankh-es-en-amon.
A 1959 British film entitled "The Mummy", starring Christopher Lee in the title role, was actually a remake of two later Universal horror films about a different living mummy, Kharis, entitled The Mummy's Hand and The Mummy's Tomb.
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[edit] Plot Summary
An ancient Egyptian priest comes back from the dead due to an ancient life giving spell that was accidentally read by an archaeologist who discovered him. The title character seeks his love for whom he was mummified alive for attempting to resurrect, and mistakes a beautiful young woman for her and attempts to make her his bride, and also attempts to mummify her, so she can be reborn as he was. In the end the archaeologists stop Imhotep (The Priest) from doing so by burning the scroll which contained the spell that gave him life and he dissolves away into dust.
[edit] Cast
- Boris Karloff as Im-ho-tep, alias Ardath Bey
- Zita Johann as Helen Grosvenor/Princess Anck-es-en-Amon
- David Manners as Frank Whemple
- Arthur Byron as Sir Joseph Whemple
- Edward Van Sloan as Dr. Muller
- Bramwell Fletcher as Ralph Norton
- Noble Johnson as The Nubian
- Kathryn Byron as Frau Muller
- Leonard Mudie as Professor Pearson
- James Crane as The Pharaoh
[edit] Trivia
- Director Karl Freund was the cinematographer for Fritz Lang's silent classic Metropolis (1927) and Tod Browning's Dracula featuring Bela Lugosi as well as for the 1950s television series I Love Lucy starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.
- Although the Mummy wasn't on screen for more than ten minutes, Boris Karloff wore a whole body suit for the short time he was on screen.
- The Mummy very closely parallels the studio's classic from the year before, Dracula, with almost identical scenes, some of the same cast members in extremely similar roles (David Manners and Edward Van Sloan), and Dracula cinematographer Karl Freund as director. Some critics have called The Mummy an instant remake of Dracula, produced so the studio could cash in. The Mummy was not based on an earlier novel or play.
- Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett owns the copyright to the original movie poster.
- While attempting to pass himself off as a modern Egyptian, the Mummy uses the alias "Ardath Bey." In the 1999 version, Oded Fehr's character, Ardeth Bay, is a member of a secret society sworn to keep the Mummy buried.
- The name "Ardath Bey" is a gag credit - a pig Latin rendering of Karloff's often-mimicked pronunciation of his own first name.
[edit] External links
- The Mummy at the Internet Movie Database
- The Mummy at the All Movie Guide
- The Mummy at The Terror Trap
- The Mummy at James M. Deem's Mummy Tombs site.
- Cast List, Synopsis, Trivia, Quotes and Photos for The Mummy at MIN
[edit] See also
| Iconic Horror Characters in Cinema | |
|---|---|
| Classic: | Creature from the Black Lagoon | Count Dracula | The Fly | Frankenstein's monster | The Invisible Man | The Mummy | Count Orlok | The Phantom | The Wolf Man |
| Modern: | The Alien | Norman Bates | Chucky | Ghostface | Freddy Krueger | Leatherface | The Living Dead | Hannibal Lecter | Regan MacNeil | Michael Myers | Pinhead | Kayako Saeki | Damien Thorn | Jason Voorhees | Sadako Yamamura
The Mummy series
Films: The Mummy (1999) • The Mummy Returns (2001) • The Mummy 3 (2008) |
