Movies Reviews: The Mummy Franchise, 1940s-Era

For Halloween, I revisited Universal's Mummy series on DVD from the library. My review of first film, 1932's The Mummy, is here. The movie spawned four sequels in the 1940s and then Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy in 1955 (not included on the DVD set), along with a lot of imitators. Here are the Universal sequels in order of release...

The Mummy's Hand (1940) directed by Chris Cabanne

In a reboot of the franchise, Boris Karloff's character, Imhotep, is taken out and replaced with Kharis (Tom Tyler), also an ambitious high priest in love with an Egyptian princess named Ananka whom he tries to resurrect using tana leaves (in stead of the Scroll of Thoth from the original story). The Pharaoh has Kharis buried alive (like Imhotep) but a cult of priests keeps him clinging to life over the millennia with small doses of tana leaf tea (unlike Imhotep). Being kept barely alive for thousands of years is perhaps a more horrible fate than being buried alive. 

In the modern day, two adventurous con artists (Dick Foran and Wallace Ford) stumble upon a vase describing the location of Ananka's tomb. The historical expert they consult is friends with Egyptian expert Andoheb (George Zucco) who secretly is the latest of Kharis's keepers. Andoheb tries to convince the Americans that the vase is a fake but they still mount an expedition, getting some money out of a stage magician (Cecil Kellaway) who is supposed to spend his money on tickets back to America with his daughter and assistant Peggy (Marta Solvani). She's a no-nonsense girl who tries to get the money back after Andoheb warns her that shysters have stolen her dad's money. The con men are sincerely mounting the expedition to find the tomb (expecting to become famous and wealthy from the contents, so still a bit shytery), so everyone goes out to the desert. The mummy is revived with a stronger does of tana tea by Andoheb to deal with the Americans when they stumble upon Kharis's tomb. A lot of action and some horror follows.

The movie is an interesting change from the original. The mummy stays in bandages the whole time, unlike Karloff's character who moves through Cairo as an old man. The bandaged mummy from this film has become the standard depiction of horror-film mummies, though this particular incarnation has blackened eyes, giving him some of the sinsterness that Karloff had just by acting. This movie has a lot more comedy and focuses on action rather than horror. It's entertaining in a Saturday matinee way.

Recommended.

The Mummy's Tomb (1942) directed by Harold Young

The action jumps thirty years and over to America as an elderly Dick Foran relates his experiences in Egypt to his son John (John Hubbard) and his financee Isobel (Elyse Knox) who are skeptical. Meanwhile in Egypt, Andoheb (George Zucco) passes on the care of Kharis (now played by Lon Chaney, Jr.) to Mehemet (Turhan Bey). Mehemet takes Kharis to America so he can strike down the family that violated his tomb. Once Mehemet gets a sight of Isobel, he also adds a plan to kidnap her and make her his bride, just so the line of high priests who care for Kharis continues, of course. 

The mummy is less of a character and more of a Macguffin and a tool for Mehemet, the real villain of the story. For a brief moment Kharis resists his handler, but that ends quickly and he gets back to murdering by moonlight. The mummy has almost no character. Mehemet is the one pushing the revenge angle, though the actor is not as sinister as previous villains in the series. The mummy is taken down in the end by a torch-baring mob just like Frankenstein's monster, which felt a little lazy. Chaney does not get enough to do to make the character distinctly his own.

The main couple are nice together. They have genuine affection for each other. Beyond being the love interest for the hero and the villain, Isobel has little else to do, unfortunately. The son's skepticism is slow to change, even when his father's partner (Wallace Ford in old age makeup) shows up after the dad's funeral and tells the same story about Egypt. The son is not quite satisfactory as the leading man even when he gets the girl and the happy ending. He's not even depicted on the poster!

Mildly recommended--the franchise is definitely entering B-movie writing and production values.

The Mummy's Ghost (1944) directed by Reginald le Borg

There's another time jump forward (putting the narrative in the 1970s or 80s if you do the math, but that's not what this series is interested in). The events of the last film are a fading memory, refreshed by a college lecture on Egyptian history that references Ananka and Kharis's history. The prof remembers the mummy running around killing people but the students are more skeptical. Tom (Robert Lowery) is among the scoffers except his girlfriend Amina (Ramsay Ames) is of Egyptian descent. She gets a little spaced out when people discuss Egypt's ancient history. Her problems only get worse when Yousef Bey (John Carradine) comes to town. Bey is from Egypt and he's been sent by Andoheb (George Zucco yet again, even though he died in both of the previous movies!) to America to bring back both Kharis and Ananka so they can rest in peace in their own tombs. Bey uses tana leaves to attract and control Kharis. The prof stumbles upon the secret of the leaves (of which he has some) and accidentally draws the mummy to his home, starting the cycle of killings.

The narrative feels very similar, like the filmmakers are afraid to stray from the formula. Carradine makes a better villain and is even given a lot of sincere-sounding prayers to Egyptian gods for the success of his mission. He starts falling for Amina, struggling to resist the opportunity to make her and himself immortal rather than take everyone back to Egypt. Amina has a bit more character than the previous damsel, with her hair slowly turning white has Ananka's spirit dominates her. Chaney also gets to do more physical acting with some meaningful hand gestures and one very menacing scene where he approaches the camera to kill someone. The end in a swamp seems like the end for the characters. But you can't keep a profitable franchise down, even in New England swamp waters.

Mildly recommended--still a B-movie, Saturday matinee film.

The Mummy's Curse (1944) directed by Leslie Goodwins

The action jumps another twenty or thirty years ahead (so, the year 2000?). An archeological expedition has been sent to the swamp to recover the Mummy (Lon Chaney Jr.) and Princess Ananka (Virginia Christine). In an interesting twist, the swamp is now in Louisiana. A local company is draining the swamp as part of civic improvements. The company head, Pat Walsh (Addison Richards), is having trouble with his workers because they think the swamp is haunted by the Mummy. Cajun Joe (Kurt Katch), local roustabout, is too hard-headed to believe in mummies and rallies the locals to continue working. Head archeologist James Halsey (Dennis Moore) doesn't want to make trouble for the company but does want to recover the remains. He does get infatuated with Walsh's secretary (who is also his niece) Betty (Kay Harding). Halsey's assistant is Doctor Ilzor Zardad (Peter Coe) who is instantly identifiable as Egyptian because he wears a fez. Zardad is secretly a priest from the cult that's been keeping Kharis alive. Zardad wants to take the Mummy and Ananka back to Egypt where they can rest for eternity. In an interesting twist, he is not amorously infatuated with Ananka or Betty. He is dedicated to his mission, dedicated enough to send Kharis to kill anyone in their way.

Despite some logical and continuity problems, this is a solid B-movie thriller. Chaney doesn't do quite as much acting as the last film and is a little comical for the number of times the girl just gets away from him grabbing her. Christine is good as both the reincarnation of Ananka and a modern woman (presumably Amina?). She has some good schizophrenic moments and is probably the most three-dimensional character in the story. Coe is okay as the villain but never gets beyond a stock character performance. Some moments are a bit chilling, especially Ananka's drawn out resurrection from the swamps, which involves a lot of silent acting from Christine. There are no great surprising twists but still an enjoyable watch once.

Mildly recommended, a bit more than the previous film.