The Mummy (1959)

Director:

Terence Fisher

Writer:

Jimmy Sangster (writer)

Release Date:

16 December 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Torn from the tomb to terrify the world!

Plot:

Three British archeologists discover the grave of an important Egyptian female priest who has died about four millenia ago...

Plot Keywords:

Egypt | Mummy | Revenge | Swamp | Tomb

Cast

Peter Cushing	...	John Banning
Christopher Lee	...	Kharis, the Mummy
Yvonne Furneaux	...	Isobel Banning / Princess Ananka
Eddie Byrne	...	Inspector Mulrooney
Felix Aylmer	...	Stephen Banning
Raymond Huntley	...	Joseph Whemple
George Pastell	...	Mehemet Bey, Alias Mehemet Akir
Michael Ripper	...	Poacher
George Woodbridge	...	Police Constable
Harold Goodwin	...	Pat
Denis Shaw	...	Mike
Gerald Lawson	...	Irish Customer
Willoughby Gray	...	Dr. Reilly
John Stuart	...	Coroner
David Browning	...	Police Sergeant

Also Known As:

Terror of the Mummy (UK) (working title)

Runtime:

USA:88 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1960) | USA:Unrated | West Germany:16 | UK:X | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

Bray Studios, Down Place, Oakley Green, Berkshire, England, UK

Company:

Hammer Film Productions

Trivia:

Christopher Lee's mummy walk isn't entirely acting. Besides the injuries to his back and shoulder noted above, he also injured his knees and shins while doing scenes in the studio-tank "swamp" - he couldn't see where the various pipes and fittings under the swampy water were.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Princess Ananka's mummy's death mask has closed eyes. In reality, the eyes of an ancient Egyptian mummy mask are wide open because the Egyptians wanted their dead to be able to see and hear in the afterlife.

Quotes:

Poacher: I've seen the likes tonight that mortal eyes shouldn't look at.
Irish Customer: You've been around to Molly Grady's again.

Movie Connections:

Remake of The Mummy's Tomb (1942)

Very good movie

This forgotten Hammer classic is wonderful. I like it better than the 1932 version and much better than the awful 1999 version. The start of and end of the movie are very solid. They did a great job building suspense by holding back the appearance of The Mummy until well in the movie. Christopher Lee's Mummy costume was a sight to see. It was very well done. Peter Cushing did a solid job as John Banning and Yvonne Furneaux was lovely.

This movie was not very campy but it had just enough. I loved watching The Mummy's first appearance.

The Egypt scenery was a nice touch to the film. It was clean and bright. This made it look almost like a fantasy sequence.

The only negative is the flashback scene. That was way too long and got a little boring. This movie is a slight drop from Horror of Dracula and Curse of Frankenstein, but it is still very good and a worthy addition into the Hammer family.