The Mummy's Curse (1944)

Director:

Leslie Goodwins

Writers:

Bernard Schubert (screenplay)
Leon Abrams (original story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

22 December 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

ALL NEW THRILLS -- as the most dreaded curse of the ages strikes again! (Realart re-release ad)

Plot:

An irrigation project in the rural bayous of Louisiana unearths Kharis the living mummy (Lon Chaney Jr.)...

Plot Keywords:

Mummy | Louisiana | Princess | Amnesia | Fourth Part

Cast

Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Kharis, the Mummy (as Lon Chaney)
Peter Coe	...	Dr. Ilzor Zandaab
Virginia Christine	...	Princess Ananka
Kay Harding	...	Betty
Dennis Moore	...	Dr. James Halsey
Martin Kosleck	...	Ragheb
Kurt Katch	...	Cajun Joe
Addison Richards	...	Maj. Pat Walsh
Holmes Herbert	...	Dr. Cooper
Charles Stevens	...	Achilles
William Farnum	...	Sacristan
Napoleon Simpson	...	Goobie
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eddie Abdo	...	Pierre (uncredited)
Nina Bara	...	Young Cajun Woman in Cafe (uncredited)
Budd Buster	...	Cajun with Pipe at Bar (uncredited)
Ann Codee	...	Tante Berthe (uncredited)
James Crane	...	The Pharaoh in flashback (archive footage) (uncredited)
Heenan Elliott	...	Construction Worker (uncredited)
Al Ferguson	...	Construction Worker (uncredited)
Herbert Heywood	...	Hill - Foreman (uncredited)
Boris Karloff	...	Kharis in flashback, bandaging sequence (archive footage) (uncredited)
Jack Lorenz	...	Bulldozer Driver (uncredited)
Tony Santaro	...	Ulysses (uncredited)
Hector Sarno	...	Cajun in Cafe (uncredited)
Tom Tyler	...	Kharis in flashback (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Leslie Goodwins

Writing credits
Bernard Schubert		(screenplay)
Leon Abrams		(original story) and
Dwight V. Babcock		(original story)
Leon Abrams		(adaptation) and
Dwight V. Babcock		(adaptation)
Oliver Drake		uncredited
Ted Richmond		story (uncredited)

Produced by
Oliver Drake	....	associate producer
Ben Pivar	....	executive producer

Original Music by
William Lava		(uncredited)
Paul Sawtell		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Virgil Miller		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Fred R. Feitshans Jr.

Art Direction by
John B. Goodman
Martin Obzina

Set Decoration by
Victor A. Gangelin
Russell A. Gausman

Costume Design by
Mal Caplan		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Joe Bonner	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Joe Hadley	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Millissa Irwin	....	hair stylist (uncredited)
Jack P. Pierce	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Joseph E. Kenney	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Mack V. Wright	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Eddie Cane	....	property master (uncredited)
Ernie Smith	....	property master (uncredited)

Sound Department
Bernard B. Brown	....	sound director
Robert Pritchard	....	sound technician
Asa Artman	....	boom operator (uncredited)
Agee Kemp	....	sound recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Joe McGee	....	special effects (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
John P. Fulton	....	special photography

Stunts
Carey Loftin	....	stunts (uncredited)
Teddy Mangean	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bob Pepper	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Charles Cowie	....	first grip (uncredited)
Ray Fitzgerald	....	best boy (uncredited)
Frank Heisler	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Lloyd Hill	....	gaffer (uncredited)
Charles Sheehan	....	second grip (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Molly Cook	....	wardrobe: women (uncredited)
Vera West	....	costumer (uncredited)

Music Department
Paul Sawtell	....	musical director
Paul Neal	....	music mixer (uncredited)
Charles Previn	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Hans J. Salter	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Frank Skinner	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Dimitri Tiomkin	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Other crew
Lee Frederic	....	script clerk (uncredited)
Louis Herman	....	dialogue director (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1944) (USA) (theatrical)
• Luis Martinez Producciones Cinematograficas (1944) (Venezuela) (theatrical)
• Jaime Puig Arosemena (1944) (Colombia) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures Proprietary (1944) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures Proprietary (1944) (New Zealand) (theatrical)
• Realart Pictures (1951) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Luis Martinez Producciones Cinematograficas (1951) (Venezuela) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Screen Gems (1958) (USA) (TV)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Studios Home Video (2001) (Canada) (DVD)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Studios Home Video (2004) (Canada) (DVD)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

62 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (Certificate #10432) | Finland:(Banned) (1948) | Sweden:15 | UK:H (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (2001) | USA:Unrated (DVD)

Filming Locations:

Bayou, Louisiana, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The mask worn by Lon Chaney Jr. in this film (and preserved by Bob Burns) is the only surviving example of Jack P. Pierce's makeup.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the scene in the old abandon monastery, when we see Kharis in his sarcophagus for the first time; the servant of the Highpriest of Amon-Ra opens the sarcophagus and modern hinges, with modern screws, are visible.

Quotes:

Princess Ananka:It's as though I were two different people. Sometimes it seems as if I belong to a different world. I find myself in strange surroundings with strange people. I cannot ever seem to find rest! And now Kharis!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Cinemassacre's Monster Madness: Dracula vs. Frankenstein (#4.11)" (2010)

Soundtrack:

Hey, You!

The Return of Kharis and Ananka

THE MUMMY'S CURSE (Universal, 1944), directed by Leslie Goodwins, an immediate sequel to THE MUMMY'S GHOST (1944), offers more of the same with few alterations and changes. For the first time in the series, Lon Chaney Jr. (billed simply as Lon Chaney) has his name placed above the title instead of the bottom of the supporting players reading "... and Lon Chaney as the Mummy." Another first (and only) is the absence of George Zucco as The High Priest Andoheb swearing in a new guide in Egypt to assist Kharis, with the movie starting off instead with a song, "Hey, You" (by Oliver Drake and Frank Orth) performed by Tante Merthe (Ann Codee) to her customers at her café before the story really gets underway. Traditionally, the fate of Kharis is retold via flashback (with stock footage of Tom Tyler from THE MUMMY'S HAND instead of Lon Chaney himself) on how he came to be sentenced, wrapped up as a mummy, buried alive and cursed for all eternity for performing an unholy ritual against the gods by taking the forbidden Tana leaves to resurrect his beloved Princess Ananka, before moving on with a new story resuming its locale on American soil. Instead of a town in New England, where THE MUMMY'S TOMB (1942) and THE MUMMY'S GHOST (1944), took place, it's now somewhere in Louisiana a quarter of a century after the fact instead of the logical year or two, showing the inconsistency from one movie to the next.

In this fourth "Kharis" outing, an excavation of the dried-up swamp is underway with Pat Walsh (Addison Richards) as head of the Southern Engineering Company. Dr. James Halsey (Dennis Moore) of the Scripps Museum hopes this will lead him to Kharis, who had walked into the swamp carrying the reincarnation of Princess Ananka 25 years ago, to carry on his mission to return these centuries old bodies to their actual burial grounds in Egypt. After the swamp is cleared, Kharis (Lon Chaney) has resurrected on his own accord, leaving his body imprint in the mud, having already murdered a construction worker named Antoine along the way. As for Ananka (Virginia Christine), she comes out of the swamps in white gown, roaming the countryside in a dazed state, calling out for "Kharis." Also tending to Kharis besides Halsey are Dr. Ilzor Zandaab (Peter Coe) and Ragab (Martin Kosleck), two high priests with Ragab acting as one of the construction workers. After Ananka is picked up along the road by Halsey and Betty (Kay Harding), Walsh's assistant and niece, Ananka forgets her past and living for the present, becoming a new and happier woman until Kharis comes to reclaim her again.

Not as good as THE MUMMY'S GHOST, but regardless of its reputation as being the least distinguished, this entry does have some fine moments of horror worth mentioning: Ananka reviving from the dead through the sun's rays with her hand slowing rising out of the swamp, appearing in withered form roaming the countryside in a confused manner. Not exactly a monster in a sense but physically appearing like a female vampire coming back to life after many centuries of being dead. Of course there's the traditional stalking of Kharis as he reaches out to strangle his victims to the sound of Universal's stock musical score heard many times in other horror films of the 1940s. On the plus side, all the characters play their roles straight, and not for laughs as in THE MUMMY'S HAND. On the negative side is how each movie, released one or two years apart, to take place ranging from 20 to 30 years after the latest incident, leading one to assume that when all this began with THE MUMMY'S HAND in 1940, the story should now be taking place around 1980s, with the characters and settings looking very much like modern day 1940s, as well as the aforementioned lack of consistency.In the last chapter, THE MUMMY'S GHOST, Ananka ages thousands of years before being carried to the swamps by Kharis. Back from the dead after the swamp has been cleared, she resumes her original appearance as a young woman. Are these two different women bearing the same name?

The last of the "Kharis" series, thus far, in spite of it leaving an opening for another sequel for something to the nature of THE MUMMY'S BRAIN or FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE MUMMY, titles that are non-existence but would have been interesting prospects just the same. It would be another decade before Kharis returns to the screen playing, this time playing opposite the comedy team for ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE MUMMY (1955), without the presence of Lon Chaney, who by that time has called it "a wrap." Overall THE MUMMY'S CURSE is a standard entry to this short-lived but still watchable series with familiar overtones, plus its supporting players consisting of Kurt Katch (Cajun Joe); Holmes Herbert (Doctor Cooper); William Farnum (Michael, the monastery caretaker); and Napoleon Simpson (Goobe).

Another popular one from the "Chriller Theater" era of Saturday night TV viewing from the 1960s and 70s, this and other "Mummy" movies, formerly presented on the Sci-Fi Channel during the early 1990s, American Movie Classics (2000-2002) and distribution on video cassette by MCA Home Video, are all available for chills and thrills on DVD.(**)