I was a looking for a short, intense, scary horror film. Instead, I got an Abbott & Costello-like film, with a mix of comedy, horror and suspense. Well, if it was entertaining, I could adjust and still enjoy it.....but it wasn't all that good. It was filled with too many movie clichés of the day (with one exception) and the humor wasn't very strong. Nonetheless, it was passable....enough to stick with it.
By the three-quarter mark of the film, I was rooting for the mummy, which tells you how much interest I had in all the characters, even the nice guys.
Wallace Ford, a Lou Costello wannabe, as "Babe" was kind of stupid. Cecil Kellaway as the magician "The Great Solvani" was entertaining. Kellaway was such a likable actor I don't know if I ever saw him in an unlikable role.
Peggy Moran is the lone female in here, the magician's pretty daughter who you know (because it always happened) is going to for the manly serious guy of the leading twosome. In this case, that would be Dick Foran as "Steve Banning."
George Zucco looked pretty convincing as the bad guy. He was the most interesting guy in the film. His demise in this movie came as a shock - one of the few times I've seen any classic-era film go completely against the usual. The goofy "Babe" had a gun on him and threatened to shoot the villain at point-blank range with the standard, "Three.....two.....one....and then - to my utter surprise - bam, he actually shot the guy! The villain went tumbling down some long stairs, apologized to his god, and died. It was amazing, and totally unexpected. The villain, I don't think, was even armed.
Well, at least the film will be memorable for if, for nothing else, that one scene. I'll never take for granted anymore that the good guy won't do something shocking and against character! Hey, we're all capable of doing bad things.
By the three-quarter mark of the film, I was rooting for the mummy, which tells you how much interest I had in all the characters, even the nice guys.
Wallace Ford, a Lou Costello wannabe, as "Babe" was kind of stupid. Cecil Kellaway as the magician "The Great Solvani" was entertaining. Kellaway was such a likable actor I don't know if I ever saw him in an unlikable role.
Peggy Moran is the lone female in here, the magician's pretty daughter who you know (because it always happened) is going to for the manly serious guy of the leading twosome. In this case, that would be Dick Foran as "Steve Banning."
George Zucco looked pretty convincing as the bad guy. He was the most interesting guy in the film. His demise in this movie came as a shock - one of the few times I've seen any classic-era film go completely against the usual. The goofy "Babe" had a gun on him and threatened to shoot the villain at point-blank range with the standard, "Three.....two.....one....and then - to my utter surprise - bam, he actually shot the guy! The villain went tumbling down some long stairs, apologized to his god, and died. It was amazing, and totally unexpected. The villain, I don't think, was even armed.
Well, at least the film will be memorable for if, for nothing else, that one scene. I'll never take for granted anymore that the good guy won't do something shocking and against character! Hey, we're all capable of doing bad things.