The Mummy's Hand (1940)

Director:

Christy Cabanne

Writers:

Griffin Jay (story)
Griffin Jay (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

20 September 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Horror

Tagline:

The tomb of a thousand terrors!

Plot:

A couple of comical, out-of-work archaeologists (Dick Foran and Wallace Ford) in Egypt discover evidence...

Plot Keywords:

Mummy | Secret Door | Archeology | Egypt | Magic

Cast

Dick Foran	...	Steve Banning
Peggy Moran	...	Marta Solvani, Stage Name of Marta Sullivan
Wallace Ford	...	Babe Jenson
Eduardo Ciannelli	...	The High Priest (as Eduardo Cianelli)
George Zucco	...	Professor Andoheb, High Priest of Karnak
Cecil Kellaway	...	The Great Solvani, Stage Name of Tim Sullivan (as Cecil Kelloway)
Charles Trowbridge	...	Dr. Petrie of the Cairo Museum
Tom Tyler	...	Kharis, the Mummy
Sig Arno	...	The Beggar (as Siegfried Arno)
Eddie Foster	...	Egyptian Starting Fight
Harry Stubbs	...	Bartender
Michael Mark	...	Bazaar Owner
Mara Tartar	...	Girl Vendor
Leon Belasco	...	Ali, Foreman of Digging Crew

Runtime:

67 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #6497)

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The temple scenes reused sets from Green Hell (1940)

Goofs:

Continuity: Professor Andoheb has Marta strapped to a stone table. In one shot Marta is lying on the table without the straps, but in the next shot the straps reappear.

Quotes:

Andoheb: You are very beautiful... so beautiful I'm going to make you immortal. Like Kharis, you will live forever. What I can do for you I can do for myself. Neither time nor death can touch us. You and I together for eternity here in the Temple of Karnak. You shall be my high priestess.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955)

The Mummy's Hand (1940) ***

Not a sequel to Boris Karloff's THE MUMMY, but the start of an entirely different series of non-related films.

A group of likable treasure seekers search for the tomb of an ancient princess, but they encounter her still-living mummified prince instead, bent on destroying anyone who would dare defile the ancient Egyptian gods. This was the first and best of four Universal films featuring the mummy Kharis. At this stage of the game the formula was still fresh and not at all clichéd or monotonous, so that already places HAND at a distinct advantage over its other sequels and spin-off's.

Tom Tyler makes one very creepy mummy, all arthritic and twisted, with weird eyes that are optically blackened out for full effect in chilling closeups. George Zucco is deliciously cunning as the mad High Priest who keeps the mummy alive and killing via the sacred brew of nine ancient tana leaves. Dick Foran, Wallace Ford, Cecil Kellaway and Peggy Moran are all very pleasant as the awkward explorers who stumble upon Kharis' cursed tomb.

Comic relief is well used but never becomes intrusive, as the action always remains dead serious whenever the mummy takes center stage.