The Mummy's Curse (1944)

An irrigation project in the rural bayous of Louisiana unearths living mummy Kharis, who was buried in quicksand twenty-five years earlier.

Director:

Leslie Goodwins

Writers:

Bernard Schubert (screenplay), Leon Abrams (original story)

Stars:

Lon Chaney Jr., Peter Coe, Virginia Christine

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Kharis - the Mummy (as Lon Chaney)
Peter Coe	...	Dr. Ilzor Zandaab
Virginia Christine	...	Princess Ananka
Kay Harding	...	Betty Walsh
Dennis Moore	...	Dr. James Halsey
Martin Kosleck	...	Ragheb
Kurt Katch	...	Cajun Joe
Addison Richards	...	Pat Walsh
Holmes Herbert	...	Dr. Cooper
Charles Stevens	...	Achilles
William Farnum	...	Sacristan
Napoleon Simpson	...	Goobie

Storyline

An irrigation project in the rural bayous of Louisiana unearths living mummy Kharis, who was buried in quicksand twenty-five years earlier.

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Plot Keywords:

tana leaves | secretary | buried alive | cajun | louisiana | 

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Taglines:

HANDS CREEPING LIKE COBRAS! EYES CRAWLING WITH MADNESS! THE MUMMY RUNS AMOK! (original poster-all caps)

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Genres:

Action | Fantasy | Horror | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

22 December 1944 (USA)

Also Known As:

La maldición de la momia

Filming Locations:

Bayou, Louisiana, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Mummy (1932) was set in 1932, the year of its release. The first sequel, The Mummy's Hand (1940) is also chronologically coherent, set in 1940. The Mummy's Tomb (1942) takes place 30 years following the events of "Hand", with The Mummy's Ghost (1944) approximately two years after that. We learn that this movie is set an additional 25 years after "Ghost", meaning that the events take place around 1997.

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Goofs

Although this is typical of the era, it's still wrong: When Ananka rises out of the swamp, she goes into a pond to wash off the dried mud. Afterwards, her hair is perfectly coiffed and her face is completely made up: plucked and penciled eyebrows, eye shadow, eyeliner, mascaraed eyelashes and of course lipstick.

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Quotes

Cajun Joe: I know the swamp like my finger.

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Connections

Featured in Creature Features: The Mummy's Curse/Cry of the Werewolf (1970)

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Soundtracks

Hey, You!
by Frank Orth and Oliver Drake
Sung by Ann Codee

User Reviews

tana leaves revives the mummy once again!

Director: Leslie Goodwins, Script: Leon Abrams, Dwight V.Babcock, Cast: Lon Chaney Jr. (Kharis), Dennis Moore (Dr. James Halsey), Virginia Christine (Princess Anaka), Addison Richards (Pat Walsh), Kay Harding (Betty Walsh), Peter Coe (Dr. Ilzor Zandaab)

This was the fourth and final mummy movie from universal. The original Mummy film came out in 1932 around the same time as Dracula and Frankenstein right during Universal's heyday. The first sequel was made in 1940 and all the rest were made between 1940 and 1944. Other then the fact that it is about a mummy, the sequels have no resemblance to that original film. The mummy doesn't even have the same name. The four sequels do,more or less,run in a continuum.

The story takes place 25 years after the first film in the bayous of Louisiana. Kharis,the mummy, and the mummified Princess Ananka went down in this swamp as we know from the previous film. This film has one exception to the otherwise continuous flow from the previous three films. In the prior film, they went down in a swamp in Massachussetts. Somehow they end up in a swamp in Louisiana! We have men with too different motives here. Mr. Walsh, the head of an excavation company that is draining the swamp and the archaeologist,Dr. Halsey, who wants to use this opportunity to recover the mommy from the swamp. Mister Walsh does not believe in the 'curse of the mummy' mumbo jumbo and doesn't want Dr. Halsey and his crew to interfere with his work.

Meanwhile, little does Dr. Halsey know that his assistant,Dr. Ilzor Zandaab, is actually a high priest who revives the mummy with tana leaves. In the process, Princes Ananka also rises from the mud of the swamp. This is actually a rather impressive scene! The curse is lifted from her and she once again becomes a normal women. She does not know where she is or what had happened to her. The mummy kharis goes after her and kills anybody that gets in his way. Dr. Halsey defeats the high priest and falls in love with Mr. Walsh's niece who works as his secretary.

The first mummy film was a classic right up there with Frankenstein, and Dracula(I personally like it better than Dracula). The sequels are not a classic like the original but they really were not meant to be. They were 'b' films. That being said, they are still enjoyable to watch. If one takes it literally, it is hard to believe that this took place 25 years after the previous film. If one follows the chronology of the four films, they would be in the 1990's. Probably not too convincing.