The Mummy's Hand (1940)

Director:

Christy Cabanne

Writers:

Griffin Jay (story)
Griffin Jay (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

20 September 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Horror

Tagline:

The tomb of a thousand terrors!

Plot:

A couple of comical, out-of-work archaeologists (Dick Foran and Wallace Ford) in Egypt discover evidence...

Plot Keywords:

Princess | Mummy | Tomb | Egypt | Gunfire

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

Runtime:

67 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

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

Trivia:

Due to a clerical oversight, "The Mummy's Hand" was never legally made available for television viewings, and remained largely unseen until Universal Studios VHS release in 1997.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When bald/grey haired George Zucco is shot at the finale, the stunt double who takes the fall for him has a full head of dark hair.

Quotes:

Babe Jenson: Little girls who play with guns get hurt.
Marta Solvani, Stage Name of Marta Sullivan: I'll get hurt?
[fires shots into the door]

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955)

The Mummy's Hand (1940) ***

One of the best Universal horror films of the 40s and a worthy follow-up to the 1932 original, even if it wasn't directly related to it and actually spun a series of its own. While in essence no more than a B-film, it's solidly made on all fronts: the plot, unlike that of its sequels, is fresh and exciting and it boasts four likable protagonists, as well as a wonderful trio of 'villains' - Eduardo Ciannelli (appearing briefly as the dying High Priest), George Zucco (as his evil successor, in one of his finest performances) and Tom Tyler (as the maimed but relentless revenge-seeking Mummy, who's as good in the role as Boris Karloff had been earlier and Christopher Lee would be in the 1959 Hammer remake, of this one more than the original). The film's first half features a healthy dose of comic relief which I found in no way distracting, as it had proved to be in other horror films of the period; in fact, this element only helps accentuate the effectiveness of the latter sections of the film which offer more standard thrills, culminating in a superb climax - where Kharis has to literally crawl for his life-preserving tana fluid!