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The Mummy's Hand (1940) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
6.1/10   847 votes
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Director:
Christy Cabanne
Writers:
Griffin Jay (story)
Griffin Jay (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
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Release Date:
20 September 1940 (USA) more
Genre:
Adventure | Comedy | Horror more
Tagline:
The tomb of a thousand terrors! more
Plot:
A couple of comical, out-of-work archaeologists (Dick Foran and Wallace Ford) in Egypt discover evidence... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
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User Comments:
More fun than frightening more (45 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
Dick Foran ... Steve Banning
Peggy Moran ... Marta Solvani
Wallace Ford ... Babe Jenson
Eduardo Ciannelli ... The High Priest (as Eduardo Cianelli)
George Zucco ... Professor Andoheb
Cecil Kellaway ... The Great Solvani (as Cecil Kelloway)
Charles Trowbridge ... Dr. Petrie
Tom Tyler ... Kharis
Sig Arno ... The Beggar (as Siegfried Arno)
Eddie Foster ... Egyptian Starting Fight
Harry Stubbs ... Bartender
Michael Mark ... Bazaar Owner
Mara Tartar ... Girl Vendor
Leon Belasco ... Ali
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
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Runtime:
67 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Black and White
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)
Certification:
Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #6497)
Filming Locations:
Universal City, California, USA
Company:
Universal Pictures more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
When the High Priest relates the history of Kharis to Professor Andoheb, we see footage from The Mummy (1932), with medium shots and close-ups of Kharis cut in. Boris Karloff, star of the original film, is clearly visible in some of the long shots and is also shown in close-up in several reused scenes in which the actor's face is obscured. more
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: In the ancient Egypt flashback when Kharis is caught as he is about to bring the princess back from the dead, the scene cuts back and forth between close-ups of him in which his arms are folded across his chest and wide-angle shots wherein they are straight down along his sides. This is because the latter are stock footage from The Mummy (1932), featuring Boris Karloff as the offender. more
Quotes:
Babe Jenson: Hey Steve, can a dame go crazy from being sawed in half too many times? more
Movie Connections:
Spoofed in Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955) more

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User Comments

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11 out of 13 people found the following comment useful.
More fun than frightening, 27 May 2005
Author: drmality-1 (drmality@sbcglobal.net) from Illinoize

This movie wisely decides to proceed on a different track entirely than the masterful Karloff "The Mummy". Very few horror films could match the earlier entry for sheer atmosphere and dreamy menace.

Instead, "The Mummy's Hand" opts more for adventure, with a generous helping of laughs thrown in. We follow the trail of two American treasure hunters as they seek the lost tomb of Ananka. Little do they know that the tomb is protected not only by a fanatical cult, but also the living mummy Kharis, who has become the guardian of the woman he once loved. Dick Foran is extremely likable as Steve Banning and seems like a regular guy. As wise-cracking sidekick Babe, Wallace Ford sometimes annoys but not to the point where you actually want to see him get killed. Peggy Moran is fiery and most attractive as Marta. Naturally she winds up butting heads with Steve and naturally they are attracted to each other.

Two grand old actors really liven things up. Cecil Kellaway is delightful as the scatterbrained magician the Great Solvani who bankrolls the expedition. And George Zucco has a signature role as Andoheb, sinister high priest of the cult of Karnak who controls Kharis. Much time is devoted to the workings of the Karnak cult and the mechanisms that animate Kharis. The lore of the tanna leaves starts here. Nine are needed to fully animate Kharis, but if he ever drinks the brew of 10 tanna leaves, "he will become a monster the likes of which the world has never seen". Sadly, we never really see what Kharis would be like with an overdose of tanna leaves.

Cowboy star Tom Tyler makes for a creepy mummy in his few scenes. Totally lacking the charismatic presence of Karloff, he instead opts for the familiar crawling lurch that would later become a parody. His blacked out eyes are particularly unnerving.

A little bit too much comedy and not quite enough Kharis keep this from being really top notch, but it's still quite an enjoyable programmer.

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