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The Mummy (1932) ***1/2, 5 August 2005

Author: MARIO GAUCI (marrod@melita.com) from Naxxar, Malta

Despite being my fifth viewing of this film, I couldn't help but be impressed all over again. Many tend to find it dull after Karloff's all-too-brief appearance at the beginning dressed in the traditional bandages (done to death in subsequent films), but I personally find the film compelling all the way through.

It evokes a dreamlike and romantic atmosphere like no other in the Universal canon - though some of the plot strands, admittedly, were lifted from various classic horror tales, there being no antecedent to the Mummy folklore in popular fiction; in fact, John L. Balderston's script is quite literate and generally avoids the stagey quality of Dracula (1931). Again, director Karl Freund was criticized for the film's excessively slow pace but, clearly, this was done deliberately - one might say, inevitably, since Freund (as a cinematographer) had been one of the most prominent figures of the German Expressionist movement - and there's no doubt in my mind that this actually enhances the particular mood he was striving for: camera-work, editing, sets and costumes are alike excellent. The film also bears a pretty strong cast: Karloff is somewhere near his best here - enough said; unlike most female leads in horror films of this period, Zita Johann - with her striking looks and 'modern' approach to acting - commands almost as much attention as the nominal star; David Manners and Edward Van Sloan's roles are virtual reprises of their respective turns in Dracula - but it's always a pleasure to watch the latter as he always gave it his all; and Bramwell Fletcher, who goes mad in unforgettable fashion early on, as the hapless archaeologist who unwittingly brings the Mummy to life.

I also watched the extras which accompanied the film and I must put in a good word for Paul M. Jensen's Audio Commentary: this too has been put down in reviews as being "soporific" and resorting mostly to descriptions of the on-screen action: I totally disagree and find his comments both compelling and insightful, as he clearly knows his stuff; maybe it isn't the exhilarating slam-bang commentary track that Tom Weaver or Greg Mank are noted for but, personally, I have no complaints! In fact, so impressed was I by the film that instead of diving straight on to the next Legacy set, I decided to rewatch SVENGALI (1931) and SHE (1935) - both of which were mentioned by Jensen as having partly inspired Balderston's cinematic concept of THE MUMMY.

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