Universal Horror Month: The Mummy (1932)

I don't think one would forget meeting you, Ardath Bey.

I love Ancient Egypt. The history, the mythology, it’s all so interesting to me, and I definitely had that in mind when I selected The Mummy for Universal Horror Month.

Not that I was expecting any kind of historical or mythological accuracy or anything like that, this is Hollywood we’re talking about, but I was expecting to be thoroughly entertained, and in that regard, I definitely was not disappointed.

While The Mummy isn’t quite on the same level as Dracula and Frankenstein, it’s still a highly enjoyable film.

Rather than being based on stage play adaptations of classic novels like the previous two films, The Mummy was inspired by the real discovery of King Tutankhamen’s tomb in 1921 and the supposed curse it contained.

The opening scene is actually kind of reminiscent of films like Suspiria and Scream, in that it almost eclipses the rest of the film. The atmosphere is nice and creepy as the mummy is accidentally resurrected after being excavated. The young archeologist’s assistant who translates the hieroglyphics on the box buried with the mummy goes laughing mad upon the very sight of him and it’s such a wonderful way to end the sequence.

Boris Karloff is imposing and enigmatic as Imhotep/Ardath Bey, the ancient mummy brought back to life. I think I actually enjoy his performance here more than I did in Frankenstein.

Zita Johann is also wonderful as half-Egyptian socialite Helen Grosvenor and the reincarnated Egyptian princess Anck-es-en-Amon, Imhotep’s long lost love. She effortlessly switches back and forth between the two and she’s just as important to the film as Karloff.

During my research for this film, I found some interesting facts about Johann that I want to share:

• Her first husband was John Houseman. She was the one who convinced him to give film and stage a try after the Wall Street Crash in 1929 wiped out his grain business.

• She was a success on Broadway, both before and after her time in Hollywood.

• The Mummy director Karl Freund made her life a living hell during filming. She rejected his advances and he got revenge by cutting several of her major scenes, putting her in an arena with real lions and used her as a scapegoat when things went wrong. She turned down a contract with Universal because of this experience (according to Johann, at least).

• She signed with MGM, with the option to choose which films she made; she turned down every single one offered to her. She even called Irving Thalberg and asked him why he made such awful films.

• She believed in the occult, particularly reincarnation and communication with the dead.

She was awesome, right? Oh, and fuck Karl Freund. He may have been a brilliant cinematographer and director, but he was also an asshole.

David Manners is pretty good, too, as Frank Whemple, archeologist and son of Sir Joseph Whemple, the archeologist in the opening scene. At least Frank is more relevant to this film and actually has more to do than John Harker did in Dracula.

The Mummy also marks yet another performance by Edward Van Sloan as a Van Helsing-type character, this time Dr. Muller, who warns Whemple Sr. of the Mummy’s curse in the beginning of the film, and serves as Helen’s... personal physician? I’m not actually sure. He does call her his patient, so I’ll go with that.

I have to give some attention to Jack Pierce’s incredible makeup for Karloff’s mummy. Despite how briefly the effect appears in the film, it is remarkable, groundbreaking work and apparently it took Pierce eight hours to apply it to Karloff.

I didn’t know this until now, but Pierce also did the makeup effects for Dracula, Frankenstein, Murders in the Rue Morgue, White Zombie, The Old Dark House, The Invisible Man and tons more. He was also one of Rick Baker’s biggest inspirations for becoming a makeup artist himself.

(And before anyone is in the comments like, “Duh, that’s all common knowledge,” give me a break, okay? I’m still new to these movies and the people involved in them, lol.)

So yeah, I really enjoyed The Mummy. It has everything I could possibly want from a movie like this: Charismatic stars (Karloff and Johann), suspense, thrills, Ancient Egyptian vibes, a story inspired by real events, brilliant makeup effects and a strong opening scene that’s worth the price of admission alone.

I’m so happy I chose this film for Universal Horror Month; another instant favourite!

One film to go now, The Old Dark House. Definitely stay tuned for that, because Hellish Views - Harry Evans will be joining me for that one and you won’t want to miss it! (I hope... it could suck, we don’t know yet, lol.)