The Mummy (1932)

In 1921 a field expedition in Egypt discovers the mummy of ancient Egyptian prince Im-Ho-Tep, who was condemned and buried alive for sacrilege. Also found in the tomb is the Scroll of Thoth... See full summary »

Director:

Karl Freund

Writers:

Nina Wilcox Putnam (from a story by), Richard Schayer (from a story by),

Stars:

Boris Karloff, Zita Johann, David Manners

2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Boris Karloff	...	Imhotep
Zita Johann	...	Helen Grosvenor
David Manners	...	Frank Whemple
Arthur Byron	...	Sir Joseph Whemple
Edward Van Sloan	...	Dr. Muller
Bramwell Fletcher	...	Ralph Norton
Noble Johnson	...	The Nubian
Kathryn Byron	...	Frau Muller
Leonard Mudie	...	Prof. Pearson
James Crane	...	The Pharaoh
Henry Victor	...	The Saxon Warrior (scenes deleted)

Storyline

In 1921 a field expedition in Egypt discovers the mummy of ancient Egyptian prince Im-Ho-Tep, who was condemned and buried alive for sacrilege. Also found in the tomb is the Scroll of Thoth, which can bring the dead back to life. One night a young member of the expedition reads the Scroll out loud, and then goes insane, realizing that he has brought Im-Ho-Tep back to life. Ten years later, disguised as a modern Egyptian, the mummy attempts to reunite with his lost love, an ancient princess who has been reincarnated into a beautiful young woman.

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Plot Keywords:

mummy | reincarnation | buried alive | flashlight | summer | 

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Taglines:

It comes to life!

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Arabic French

Release Date:

22 December 1932 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cagliostro

Filming Locations:

Mojave Desert, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$196,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

73 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Boris Karloff was virtually unknown when he appeared as the creature in Frankenstein. He created such a sensation that when this was made, only a year later, Universal only had to advertise "KARLOFF....'The Mummy'."

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Goofs

In the scene when he is informed of the death of the museum guard, we hear Sir Joseph Whemple say hello when he picks up the phone, but we don't see his mouth move.

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Quotes

Imhotep: Anck-es-en-Amon, my love has lasted longer than the temples of our gods. No man ever suffered as I did for you.

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Crazy Credits

The credit begins over a rotating model of the Pyramids site, then the main title 'The Mummy' is made with 3D rock letters on the side of a pyramid.

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Connections

Referenced in Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School (1988)

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Soundtracks

"Beautiful Love"
(1931) (uncredited)
Music by Victor Young
Played during the ball sequence where Helen is telepathically called to the museum

User Reviews

The greatest Mummy movie ever made. Full of atmosphere and suspense.

I love the classic horror movies of the 1930s. They were made when the talkies were still novel and film makers were experimenting with storytelling approaches, often taking inspirations from German Expressionism (indeed 'The Mummy's director Karl Freund, who later directed another 1930s classic 'Mad Love', originally worked as a cinematographer on Fritz Lang's science fiction classic 'Metropolis' and several movies by F.W. Murnau). And it was before the Hayes Code kicked in and took a lot of the fun and thrills out of horror movies (just look at how safe and uninteresting horror became in the 1940s with a few notable exceptions e.g. the movies produced by Val Lewton). The film obviously owes a lot to 'Dracula' and Edward Van Sloan and David Manners from that film reappear here in similar roles. Karloff is brilliant as Imhotep a.k.a The Mummy, and stage actress Zita Johann is wonderful too, very striking with exotic good looks. Too bad she became very quickly disillusioned with Hollywood as she should have been a major screen star. Karloff and Johann are fantastic on screen together, and make 'The Mummy' impossible to forget. I was quite surprised to discover that this movie wasn't enormously successful when originally released, but it has obviously captured the imagination of thousands of film fans since. It is easily the best Mummy movie ever made (though I also have a fondness for Hammer's "Blood From The Mummy's Tomb' made almost forty years later), and much more entertaining and intelligent than the awful remake starring Brendan Fraser et al. 'The Mummy' stands alongside 'Dracula', 'Frankenstein', 'Island Of Lost Souls', 'Freaks', 'The Invisible Man' and 'The Black Cat' as one of the best horror movies of the 1930s, an era that has had an enormous impact on horror ever since. Highly recommended!