The Mummy's Hand (1940)

An ancient mummy is revived to destroy the invaders of the 3,000 year-old tomb of an Egyptian princess.

Director:

Christy Cabanne

Writers:

Griffin Jay (story), Griffin Jay (screenplay)

Stars:

Dick Foran, Peggy Moran, Wallace Ford

1 nomination.

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	...	Andoheb
Cecil Kellaway	...	Mr. Solvani (as Cecil Kelloway)
Charles Trowbridge	...	Dr. Petrie
Tom Tyler	...	The Mummy
Sig Arno	...	The Beggar (as Siegfried Arno)
Eddie Foster	...	Egyptian
Harry Stubbs	...	Bartender
Michael Mark	...	Bazaar Owner
Mara Tartar	...	Girl
Leon Belasco	...	Ali

Storyline

A couple of comical, out-of-work archaeologists (Dick Foran and Wallace Ford) in Egypt discover evidence of the burial place of the ancient Egyptian princess Ananka. After receiving funding from an eccentric magician (Cecil Kellaway) and his beautiful daughter (Peggy Moran), they set out into the desert only to be terrorized by a sinister high priest (George Zucco) and the living mummy Kharis (Tom Tyler) who are the guardians of Ananka^Òs tomb.

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Plot Keywords:

archeologist | resurrection | tana leaves | magician | mummy | 

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Taglines:

They dared the curse of the ancients... to solve the most amazing mystery ever encountered by mortal man!

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Genres:

Adventure | Fantasy | Horror

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 September 1940 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Mummy's Hand

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

67 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Dick Foran's character here of an adventurous archeologist fascinated with ancient artifacts served as partial inspiration for the later creation of Indiana Jones.

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Goofs

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, featuring Boris Karloff as the offender.

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Quotes

The High Priest: For who shall defile the temples of the ancient gods, a cruel and violent death shall be his fate, and never shall his soul find rest unto eternity. Such is the curse of Amon-Ra, king of all the gods.

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Connections

Followed by The Mummy's Ghost (1944)

User Reviews

The Mummy's Hand: Passable stuff

One of a long long list of remakes of the original The Mummy (1932) and the first of 4 movies within the first Mummy franchise.

Now what struck me immediatly was the fact that the production values and general appearance of the movie are considerably weaker than the original which you wouldn't expect since it was made almost a decade later.

Second though advertised as a horror it most certainly isn't, this is closer to a comedy by far especially since our two leads crack wise from start to finish and much of it is really quite ahead of its time.

Once again we see an expedition go terribly wrong as a mummy rises from the dead and.........you know the rest.

Though it all looks pretty terrible the acting and writing is better than the original and though I'd certainly not say The Mummy's Hand is a good film I can definetly see the appeal.

The Good:

Some great characters

Some great writing and great comedy

Has a real charm

The Bad:

Looks even more dated than the 1932 original

Fall apart in the final act

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Even our comedic leads were more convincing than Tom Cruise in the 2017 remake