The Mummy (1932) Universal/Horror RT: 73 minutes No MPAA rating (terror and off-screen violence) Director: Karl Freund Screenplay: John L. Balderston Music: James Dietrich Cinematography: Charles Stumar Release date: December 22, 1932 (US) Cast: Boris Karloff, Zita Johann, David Manners, Arthur Byron, Edward Van Sloan, Bramwell Fletcher, Noble Johnson, Kathryn Byron, Leonard Mudie. Box Office: N/A
Rating: *** ½
With the new reboot of The Mummy opening this week, I decided to rewatch the Mummy Trilogy (1999-2008) even though they have nothing to do with the new movie. When I finished with those, I decided to revisit the 1932 version of The Mummy starring Boris Karloff (Frankenstein) in the title role. It’s a classic and for good reason; it’s eerie as hell! Inspired by the opening of King Tut’s Tomb in 1922, it manages to be scary without the aid of expensive special effects and unnecessary noise. Back in the 30s, audiences were still in awe of moving pictures with sound. Also, filmmakers still knew how to use silence to great effect; it was only five years since sound was introduced to film.
The story opens in 1921 with Sir Joseph Whemple (Byron) and his friend Dr. Muller (Van Sloan) looking over the artifacts they uncovered during an archeological expedition. Chief among them is the mummy of a priest named Imhotep who was executed for trying to resurrect his forbidden lover Princess Ankh-es-en-amon. He was mummified alive, a terrible way to die. An assistant (Fletcher), despite warnings to the contrary, reads aloud from the Scroll of Thoth and awakens Imhotep who immediately escapes and disappears, taking the Scroll with him.
Ten years later, a creepy guy calling himself Ardath Bay approaches Whemple’s son Frank (Manners) and Professor Pearson (Mudie) with information leading them to the location of Ankh-es-en-amon’s tomb. Okay, we all know it’s Imhotep in human form. He still intends to bring his true love back from the dead. That’s when he sees Helen (Johann), a woman he believes to be the reincarnation of Ankh-es-en-amon due to the strong resemblance between the two women. Now he has a vessel for the soul of his soon-to-be-resurrected lover. That is, unless the guys stop him.
Director Karl Freund keeps The Mummy simple which is what makes it so effective a horror film. He relies on mood and atmosphere to drive the movie. The Mummy positively overflows with both. The black-and-white cinematography is gorgeous. Freund uses the score sparingly; quiet can be much more unnerving than a score that tells you how you’re supposed to feel. Karloff is incredible as Imhotep/Ardath Bay/The Mummy. He was such an iconic actor. The rest of the cast does a fine job as well, especially Johann as Helen/Ankh-es-en-amon.
I think The Mummy is a great old horror film, but I can see where today’s audiences wouldn’t like it. It moves slowly and contains not a single CGI effect. The makeup job on Karloff is terrific; I actually prefer that to digital renderings of ancient beings with scary appearances. I can’t say how the new movie will turn out; that it stars Tom Cruise isn’t very encouraging. However, I can say that the original version of The Mummy is worth seeing at least once so you can see how horror films are supposed to be done.
