An ancient mummy and the cursed “Scroll of Thoth” are unearthed by an archeological expedition, headed by Sir Joseph Whemple. When Whemple’s cavalier assistant reads from the scroll, the mummy (who we learn is the ancient high priest Imhotep) quietly awakens, confiscates the scroll, and splits. Ten years pass and we find Imhotep, now covered in makeup and calling himself Ardeth Bay, happen into another archeological camp. He points the team, which includes Whemple’s son Frank, to the site of Princess Anck-su-namun’s tomb and they excavate the sarcophagus. We learn that in life, Imhotep was executed for the sacrilege of trying to bring the princess, his lover, back from the dead. More time passes and Imhotep encounters a half-Egyptian woman named Helen. Believing her to be the princess reincarnate, he hatches a plan to abduct and kill Helen to resurrect her as a mummy, so they can be together for eternity. Will the mummy succeed or will Frank and Helen’s Doctor Muller outwit the ancient fiend? Tune in to find out!
“The Mummy” is the third Universal Classic Monster talkie made and the third I’ve seen. The film shares “Frankenstein” actor Boris Karloff as the titular baddie. Karloff’s makeup gives him a chilling, old/dehydrated look but the mummy spends very little of the film in actual rags, to my disappointment. Imhotep is the most cunning and formidable monster yet, with the best established motivations. I also thought the film was more refined than “Dracula” and “Frankenstein” but despite being well made, low stakes, slow pacing, and a less creepy atmosphere temper the movie’s thrills. The film can almost be interpreted as the folly of colonial powers, screwing with local customs they they don’t understand, but ends up reading as “exotic eastern bad guy tries to seduce and kill a white woman”. The inclusion of a brown-face character adds to the film’s cringe factor. Ultimately, despite showing growth for the genre, “The Mummy” was my least favorite classic monster flick so far—I’ll stick to the fun Brendan Fraser series instead.