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The Mummy (1932 film)
Encyclopedia
The Mummy is a 1932 horror film
from Universal Studios
directed by Karl Freund
and starring Boris Karloff
as a revived ancient Egyptian priest. The movie also features Zita Johann
, David Manners
and Edward Van Sloan
. It was shot in Cantil, California
, Universal City, and the Mojave Desert
.
ian priest called Imhotep
(Boris Karloff
) is revived when an archaeological
expedition finds Imhotep's mummy
and one of the archaeologists, despite a warning, recklessly reads aloud an ancient life-giving spell
. Imhotep escapes from the archaeologists, taking the Scroll of Thoth
, and prowls Cairo
seeking the reincarnation
of the soul of his ancient lover, Princess Ankh-es-en-amon.
Ten years later, Imhotep calls upon two archaeologists, claims that his name is Ardath Bey, a modern Egyptian, and shows them where to dig to find Ankh-es-en-amon's tomb. The archaeologists find the tomb and give the mummy and the treasures to the Cairo Museum. The archaeologists thank Imhotep for giving them the information of where to find the tomb.
Imhotep was once mummified alive for attempting to resurrect her, and, upon finding Helen Grosvenor (Zita Johann
), a woman bearing a striking resemblance to the Princess, he attempts to mummify her and make her his bride. In the end, she is saved when she remembers her past life and prays to the goddess Isis
to save her. The prayer causes a ray from the statue of Isis to burst out and burn the scroll that gives Imhotep life. He crumbles into a heap of bones.
's tomb in 1922 and the Curse of the Pharaohs
, producer Carl Laemmle Jr.
commissioned story editor Richard Shayer to find a literary novel to form a basis for an Egyptian-themed horror film, just as Dracula
and Frankenstein
informed their previous hits. Shayer found none although the plot bears a strong resemblance to a short story by Arthur Conan Doyle entitled 'The Ring of Thoth'. Shayer and writer Nina Wilox Putnam learned about Alessandro Cagliostro
and wrote a nine-page treatment entitled Cagliostro. The story, set in San Francisco, was about a 3000-year old magician who survives by injecting nitrate
s. Laemmle was pleased, and he hired John L. Balderston
to write the script. Balderston contributed to Dracula
and Frankenstein
, and had covered the opening of Tutankhamen's tomb for New York World
when he was a journalist. He moved the story to Egypt and renamed the film and its title character Imhotep
, after the historical architect.
Karl Freund
, the cinematographer
on Dracula, was hired to direct two days before filming. The film was retitled The Mummy. He cast Zita Johann
, who believed in reincarnation. Filming was scheduled for three weeks. Karloff's first day was spent shooting the Mummy's awakening from his sarcophagus
. Make-up artist Jack Pierce had studied photos of Seti II
's mummy to design Imhotep, though perhaps notably, Karloff looked nothing like the mummy of Seti II in the film, instead bearing a resemblance to the mummy of Ramesses III
. Pierce began transforming Karloff at 11:00 am, applying cotton
, collodion
and spirit gum
to his face; clay
to his hair; and wrapping him in linen
bandages treated with acid and burnt in an oven, finishing the job at 7:00 pm. Karloff finished his scenes at 2:00 am, and another two hours were spent removing the make-up. Karloff found the removal of gum from his face painful, and overall found the day "the most trying ordeal I [had] ever endured". Although the images of Karloff wrapped in bandages are the most iconic taken from the film, Karloff only appears on screen in this make-up for a few minutes; the rest of the film sees him wearing less elaborate make-up.
A lengthy and detailed flashback sequence was filmed but ultimately cut out of the film. This sequence showed the various forms Anck-es-en-Amon was reincarnated in over the centuries. Stills exist of the flashbacks, but complete footage has yet to be found. It was shot in Cantil, California
, Universal City
, and the Mojave Desert
.
The piece of classical music heard during the opening credits, taken from the Tchaikovsky ballet Swan Lake
, was previously also used for the opening credits of Dracula
.
's b-film The Mummy's Hand
(1940), and its sequels, The Mummy's Tomb
(1942), The Mummy's Ghost
(1944), The Mummy's Curse
(1944), which were later spoofed in 1950's Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy
. These focus on the mummy Kharis
. The Mummy's Hand recycled footage from the original film for use in the telling of Kharis' origins; Karloff is clearly visible in several of these recycled scenes, but he is not credited.
In the late 1950s British Hammer Film Productions
took up the Mummy theme, beginning with The Mummy
(1959), which, rather than being a remake
of the 1932 Karloff film, is based on Universal's The Mummy's Hand (1940) and The Mummy's Tomb (1942). Hammer's follow-ups — The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb
(1964), The Mummy's Shroud
(1966) and Blood from the Mummy's Tomb
(1971) — are unrelated to the earlier film or to each other.
The 1999 Universal film The Mummy
also suggests that it is a remake of the 1932 movie, and may be considered as such in that its titular character is Imhotep, resurrected from the dead by the Scroll of Thoth and out to find the present-day embodiment of the soul of his beloved Anck-su-namun, but develops there from a different story line, in common with most postmodern remakes of classic horror and science-fiction films. It spawned a sequel in 2001
, The Mummy Returns
, and a prequel spin-off of that sequel, The Scorpion King
, in 2002
, which spawned a 2008 prequel, The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior. A third sequel, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
, was released in 2008
. Also a short-lived animated series simply titled The Mummy
ran from 2001-2003. Another sequel to the 1999 film is currently in the early stages of production and is believed to be featuring a story line centering on Pre-Columbian
Mesoamerica
n mummies.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
from Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
directed by Karl Freund
Karl Freund
Karl W. Freund, A.S.C. was a cinematographer and film director most noted for photographing Metropolis , Dracula , and television's I Love Lucy .-Early life:...
and starring Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
as a revived ancient Egyptian priest. The movie also features Zita Johann
Zita Johann
Zita Johann was an American actress, best known for her role as Princess Ankhesenamón in Karl Freund's 1932 film version of The Mummy, co-starring with Boris Karloff....
, David Manners
David Manners
David Manners was a Canadian - American film actor.Born Rauff de Ryther Daun Acklom in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Manners came to Hollywood at the beginning of the talking films revolution after studying acting with Eva Le Gallienne, and acting on stage with Helen Hayes...
and Edward Van Sloan
Edward Van Sloan
Edward Van Sloan was an American film character actor best remembered for his roles in Universal Studios horror films.-Career:...
. It was shot in Cantil, California
Cantil, California
Cantil is an unincorporated community in Kern County, California. It is located southwest of Saltdale, at an elevation of 2018 feet . Cantil is located in the northern Antelope Valley in the Fremont Valley section....
, Universal City, and the Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
.
Plot
An Ancient EgyptAncient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
ian priest called Imhotep
Imhotep (character)
Imhotep is a fictional character and the titular antagonist in the 1932 film The Mummy, and later featured in its 1999 remake and its sequel The Mummy Returns again as one of the main antagonists...
(Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
) is revived when an archaeological
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
expedition finds Imhotep's mummy
Mummy
A mummy is a body, human or animal, whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or incidental exposure to chemicals, extreme coldness , very low humidity, or lack of air when bodies are submerged in bogs, so that the recovered body will not decay further if kept in cool and dry...
and one of the archaeologists, despite a warning, recklessly reads aloud an ancient life-giving spell
Book of the Dead
The Book of the Dead is the modern name of an ancient Egyptian funerary text, used from the beginning of the New Kingdom to around 50 BC. The original Egyptian name for the text, transliterated rw nw prt m hrw is translated as "Book of Coming Forth by Day". Another translation would be "Book of...
. Imhotep escapes from the archaeologists, taking the Scroll of Thoth
Thoth
Thoth was considered one of the more important deities of the Egyptian pantheon. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or a baboon, animals sacred to him. His feminine counterpart was Seshat...
, and prowls Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
seeking the reincarnation
Reincarnation
Reincarnation best describes the concept where the soul or spirit, after the death of the body, is believed to return to live in a new human body, or, in some traditions, either as a human being, animal or plant...
of the soul of his ancient lover, Princess Ankh-es-en-amon.
Ten years later, Imhotep calls upon two archaeologists, claims that his name is Ardath Bey, a modern Egyptian, and shows them where to dig to find Ankh-es-en-amon's tomb. The archaeologists find the tomb and give the mummy and the treasures to the Cairo Museum. The archaeologists thank Imhotep for giving them the information of where to find the tomb.
Imhotep was once mummified alive for attempting to resurrect her, and, upon finding Helen Grosvenor (Zita Johann
Zita Johann
Zita Johann was an American actress, best known for her role as Princess Ankhesenamón in Karl Freund's 1932 film version of The Mummy, co-starring with Boris Karloff....
), a woman bearing a striking resemblance to the Princess, he attempts to mummify her and make her his bride. In the end, she is saved when she remembers her past life and prays to the goddess Isis
Isis
Isis or in original more likely Aset is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshipped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the matron of nature and magic...
to save her. The prayer causes a ray from the statue of Isis to burst out and burn the scroll that gives Imhotep life. He crumbles into a heap of bones.
Cast (in credits order)
- Boris KarloffBoris KarloffWilliam Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
as ImhotepImhotep (character)Imhotep is a fictional character and the titular antagonist in the 1932 film The Mummy, and later featured in its 1999 remake and its sequel The Mummy Returns again as one of the main antagonists... - Zita JohannZita JohannZita Johann was an American actress, best known for her role as Princess Ankhesenamón in Karl Freund's 1932 film version of The Mummy, co-starring with Boris Karloff....
as Helen Grosvenor - David MannersDavid MannersDavid Manners was a Canadian - American film actor.Born Rauff de Ryther Daun Acklom in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Manners came to Hollywood at the beginning of the talking films revolution after studying acting with Eva Le Gallienne, and acting on stage with Helen Hayes...
as Frank Whemple - Arthur Byron as Sir Joseph Whemple
- Edward Van SloanEdward Van SloanEdward Van Sloan was an American film character actor best remembered for his roles in Universal Studios horror films.-Career:...
as Dr Muller - Bramwell FletcherBramwell FletcherBramwell Fletcher was a British stage, film, and television actor....
as Ralph Norton - Noble JohnsonNoble JohnsonNoble Johnson was an African American actor and film producer.-Biography:Standing 6'2" at 215 pounds, his impressive physique and handsome features made him in demand as a character actor and bit player...
as The Nubian - Kathryn Byron as Frau Muller
- Leonard MudieLeonard MudieLeonard Mudie was a British-born character actor whose career ran many decades.His first film appearance was in 1921, and his last on-screen performance was in the Star Trek classic TV series....
as Professor Pearson - James Crane as The Pharaoh
Production
Inspired by the opening of TutankhamunTutankhamun
Tutankhamun , Egyptian , ; approx. 1341 BC – 1323 BC) was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty , during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom...
's tomb in 1922 and the Curse of the Pharaohs
Curse of the Pharaohs
The curse of the pharaohs refers to the belief that any person who disturbs the mummy of an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh is placed under a curse.There are occasional instances of curses appearing inside or on the facade of a tomb as in the case of the mastaba of Khentika Ikhekhi of the 6th dynasty at...
, producer Carl Laemmle Jr.
Carl Laemmle Jr.
Carl Laemmle Jr. was in charge of production at Universal Studios from about 1928 to 1936. He was the son of Carl Laemmle, the founder of Universal Pictures. Laemmle, called “Junior”, by his friends and family, developed a reputation for spending too much money at the studios on several films that...
commissioned story editor Richard Shayer to find a literary novel to form a basis for an Egyptian-themed horror film, just as Dracula
Dracula
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
and Frankenstein
Frankenstein
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel about a failed experiment that produced a monster, written by Mary Shelley, with inserts of poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley started writing the story when she was eighteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty-one. The first...
informed their previous hits. Shayer found none although the plot bears a strong resemblance to a short story by Arthur Conan Doyle entitled 'The Ring of Thoth'. Shayer and writer Nina Wilox Putnam learned about Alessandro Cagliostro
Alessandro Cagliostro
Count Alessandro di Cagliostro was the alias of the occultist Giuseppe Balsamo , an Italian adventurer.-Origin:The history of Cagliostro is shrouded in rumour, propaganda and mysticism...
and wrote a nine-page treatment entitled Cagliostro. The story, set in San Francisco, was about a 3000-year old magician who survives by injecting nitrate
Nitrate
The nitrate ion is a polyatomic ion with the molecular formula NO and a molecular mass of 62.0049 g/mol. It is the conjugate base of nitric acid, consisting of one central nitrogen atom surrounded by three identically-bonded oxygen atoms in a trigonal planar arrangement. The nitrate ion carries a...
s. Laemmle was pleased, and he hired John L. Balderston
John L. Balderston
John L. Balderston was an American playwright and screenwriter best known for his horror and fantasy scripts....
to write the script. Balderston contributed to Dracula
Dracula (1931 film)
Dracula is a 1931 vampire-horror film directed by Tod Browning and starring Bela Lugosi as the title character. The film was produced by Universal and is based on the stage play of the same name by Hamilton Deane and John L...
and Frankenstein
Frankenstein (1931 film)
Frankenstein is a 1931 Pre-Code Horror Monster film from Universal Pictures directed by James Whale and adapted from the play by Peggy Webling which in turn is based on the novel of the same name by Mary Shelley. The film stars Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles and Boris Karloff, and features...
, and had covered the opening of Tutankhamen's tomb for New York World
New York World
The New York World was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers...
when he was a journalist. He moved the story to Egypt and renamed the film and its title character Imhotep
Imhotep
Imhotep , fl. 27th century BC was an Egyptian polymath, who served under the Third Dynasty king Djoser as chancellor to the pharaoh and high priest of the sun god Ra at Heliopolis...
, after the historical architect.
Karl Freund
Karl Freund
Karl W. Freund, A.S.C. was a cinematographer and film director most noted for photographing Metropolis , Dracula , and television's I Love Lucy .-Early life:...
, the cinematographer
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
on Dracula, was hired to direct two days before filming. The film was retitled The Mummy. He cast Zita Johann
Zita Johann
Zita Johann was an American actress, best known for her role as Princess Ankhesenamón in Karl Freund's 1932 film version of The Mummy, co-starring with Boris Karloff....
, who believed in reincarnation. Filming was scheduled for three weeks. Karloff's first day was spent shooting the Mummy's awakening from his sarcophagus
Sarcophagus
A sarcophagus is a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone. The word "sarcophagus" comes from the Greek σαρξ sarx meaning "flesh", and φαγειν phagein meaning "to eat", hence sarkophagus means "flesh-eating"; from the phrase lithos sarkophagos...
. Make-up artist Jack Pierce had studied photos of Seti II
Seti II
Seti II , was the fifth ruler of the Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt and reigned from 1203 BC to 1197 BC. His throne name, Userkheperure Setepenre, meant "Powerful are the Manifestations of Re, Chosen by Re.' He was the son of Merneptah and wife Isisnofret and sat on the throne during a...
's mummy to design Imhotep, though perhaps notably, Karloff looked nothing like the mummy of Seti II in the film, instead bearing a resemblance to the mummy of Ramesses III
Ramesses III
Usimare Ramesses III was the second Pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty and is considered to be the last great New Kingdom king to wield any substantial authority over Egypt. He was the son of Setnakhte and Queen Tiy-Merenese. Ramesses III is believed to have reigned from March 1186 to April 1155 BCE...
. Pierce began transforming Karloff at 11:00 am, applying cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
, collodion
Collodion
Collodion is a flammable, syrupy solution of pyroxylin in ether and alcohol. There are two basic types; flexible and non-flexible. The flexible type is often used as a surgical dressing or to hold dressings in place. When painted on the skin, collodion dries to form a flexible cellulose film...
and spirit gum
Spirit gum
Spirit gum is an adhesive, made mostly of SD Alcohol 35-A and resin , used primarily for affixing wigs, merkins, false beards, and other costume prosthetics....
to his face; clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
to his hair; and wrapping him in linen
Linen
Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
bandages treated with acid and burnt in an oven, finishing the job at 7:00 pm. Karloff finished his scenes at 2:00 am, and another two hours were spent removing the make-up. Karloff found the removal of gum from his face painful, and overall found the day "the most trying ordeal I [had] ever endured". Although the images of Karloff wrapped in bandages are the most iconic taken from the film, Karloff only appears on screen in this make-up for a few minutes; the rest of the film sees him wearing less elaborate make-up.
A lengthy and detailed flashback sequence was filmed but ultimately cut out of the film. This sequence showed the various forms Anck-es-en-Amon was reincarnated in over the centuries. Stills exist of the flashbacks, but complete footage has yet to be found. It was shot in Cantil, California
Cantil, California
Cantil is an unincorporated community in Kern County, California. It is located southwest of Saltdale, at an elevation of 2018 feet . Cantil is located in the northern Antelope Valley in the Fremont Valley section....
, Universal City
Universal City, California
Universal City is a community in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, that encompasses the 415 acre property of Universal Studios...
, and the Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
.
The piece of classical music heard during the opening credits, taken from the Tchaikovsky ballet Swan Lake
Swan Lake
Swan Lake ballet, op. 20, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, composed 1875–1876. The scenario, initially in four acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger...
, was previously also used for the opening credits of Dracula
Dracula (1931 film)
Dracula is a 1931 vampire-horror film directed by Tod Browning and starring Bela Lugosi as the title character. The film was produced by Universal and is based on the stage play of the same name by Hamilton Deane and John L...
.
Sequels and remakes
Unlike Frankenstein and Dracula, and other, later Universal horror films, this film had no sequels, but rather was semi-remade in the 19401940 in film
The year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released....
's b-film The Mummy's Hand
The Mummy's Hand
The Mummy's Hand is a black-and-white horror film, produced by Ben Pivar for Universal Studios. Although it is sometimes claimed by fans as a sequel or follow-up to the 1932 film The Mummy, it does not continue the 1932 film's storyline, or feature any of the same characters, and its plot...
(1940), and its sequels, The Mummy's Tomb
The Mummy's Tomb
The Mummy's Tomb is the 1942 sequel to The Mummy's Hand .Lon Chaney, Jr. disliked the role of Kharis the mummy. Make-up artist Jack Pierce spent up to eight hours to wrap Lon Chaney. A rubber mask was used for long shots...
(1942), The Mummy's Ghost
The Mummy's Ghost
The Mummy's Ghost is the 1944 Universal Pictures sequel to The Mummy's Tomb. Lon Chaney, Jr. again takes on the role of Kharis the mummy.-Plot:...
(1944), The Mummy's Curse
The Mummy's Curse
The Mummy's Curse is the 1944 horror film follow-up to The Mummy's Ghost which was also released in 1944. This film marks Lon Chaney, Jr.'s final appearance as Kharis, the Egyptian mummy. The Universal Mummy series boasts of a parallel-earth kind of timeline...
(1944), which were later spoofed in 1950's Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy
Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy
Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy is a 1955 film directed by Charles Lamont and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It is also the 28th and final Abbott and Costello film produced by Universal Pictures.-Plot:...
. These focus on the mummy Kharis
Kharis
Kharis is a fictional character featured in Universal Studios's Mummy series in the 1940s following their original 1932 film The Mummy, which starred Boris Karloff as a different mummy character, Imhotep...
. The Mummy's Hand recycled footage from the original film for use in the telling of Kharis' origins; Karloff is clearly visible in several of these recycled scenes, but he is not credited.
In the late 1950s British Hammer Film Productions
Hammer Film Productions
Hammer Film Productions is a film production company based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic "Hammer Horror" films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies and in later...
took up the Mummy theme, beginning with The Mummy
The Mummy (1959 film)
The Mummy is a 1959 Technicolor British Hammer Horror film starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.Though the title suggests Universal Pictures' 1932 film of the same name, the film actually derives its plot and characters entirely from two later Universal films, The Mummy's Hand and The Mummy's...
(1959), which, rather than being a remake
Remake
A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
of the 1932 Karloff film, is based on Universal's The Mummy's Hand (1940) and The Mummy's Tomb (1942). Hammer's follow-ups — The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb
The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb
The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb is a 1964 British horror film by Hammer Film Productions.-Plot:A mummy discovered by three Egyptologists is brought back to London by a showman...
(1964), The Mummy's Shroud
The Mummy's Shroud
The Mummy's Shroud is a 1967 horror film made in the UK by Hammer Film Productions. It was directed by Hammer veteran John Gilling.It stars André Morell and David Buck as explorers who uncover the tomb of an ancient Egyptian mummy. It also starred John Phillips, Maggie Kimberly and Michael Ripper...
(1966) and Blood from the Mummy's Tomb
Blood from the Mummy's Tomb
Blood from the Mummy's Tomb is a 1971 British film starring Andrew Keir, Valerie Leon, and James Villiers. This was director Seth Holt's final film, and was adapted from Bram Stoker's novel The Jewel of Seven Stars. The film was released as the support feature to Dr...
(1971) — are unrelated to the earlier film or to each other.
The 1999 Universal film The Mummy
The Mummy (1999 film)
The Mummy is a 1999 American adventure film written and directed by Stephen Sommers and starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah and Kevin J. O'Connor, with Arnold Vosloo in the title role as the reanimated mummy. The film features substantial dialogue in ancient Egyptian language, spoken...
also suggests that it is a remake of the 1932 movie, and may be considered as such in that its titular character is Imhotep, resurrected from the dead by the Scroll of Thoth and out to find the present-day embodiment of the soul of his beloved Anck-su-namun, but develops there from a different story line, in common with most postmodern remakes of classic horror and science-fiction films. It spawned a sequel in 2001
2001 in film
The year 2001 in film involved some significant events, including the first of the Harry Potter series and also the first of The Lord of the Rings trilogy...
, The Mummy Returns
The Mummy Returns
The Mummy Returns is a 2001 American adventure film written and directed by Stephen Sommers, starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, Oded Fehr, Patricia Velásquez and Freddie Boath. The film is a sequel to the 1999 film The Mummy...
, and a prequel spin-off of that sequel, The Scorpion King
The Scorpion King
The Scorpion King is a 2002 American action film directed by Chuck Russell, starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Kelly Hu, Grant Heslov, and Michael Clarke Duncan...
, in 2002
2002 in film
The year 2002 in film involved some significant events. The first significant releases of sequels took place between The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Men in Black II, Analyze That, Spy Kids 2: The Island of...
, which spawned a 2008 prequel, The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior. A third sequel, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is a 2008 American action adventure film and sequel to The Mummy and The Mummy Returns . The film stars Brendan Fraser, Maria Bello, John Hannah, Luke Ford, and Jet Li, and was released on August 1, 2008 in the United States...
, was released in 2008
2008 in film
This is a list of all major films made in 2008.-Highest-grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2008...
. Also a short-lived animated series simply titled The Mummy
The Mummy: The Animated Series
The Mummy: The Animated Series is an animated television series produced by Universal Animation Studios to capitalize on the success of The Mummy....
ran from 2001-2003. Another sequel to the 1999 film is currently in the early stages of production and is believed to be featuring a story line centering on Pre-Columbian
Pre-Columbian
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...
n mummies.