The Mummy's Ghost (1944)

Director:

Reginald Le Borg

Writers:

Griffin Jay (story) and
Henry Sucher (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

7 July 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Nameless! Fleshless! Deathless!

Plot:

An Egyptian high priest (John Carradine) travels to America to reclaim the bodies of ancient Egyptian...

Plot Keywords:

Mummy | Princess | Reincarnation | Jealousy | Secret Cult

Cast

John Carradine	...	Yousef Bey
Robert Lowery	...	Tom Hervey
Ramsay Ames	...	Amina Mansouri / Ananka
Barton MacLane	...	Inspector Walgreen
George Zucco	...	Andoheb, High Priest of Arkan
Frank Reicher	...	Prof. Matthew Norman
Harry Shannon	...	Sheriff Elwood
Emmett Vogan	...	Coroner
Lester Sharpe	...	Dr. Ayad, Scripps Museum
Claire Whitney	...	Mrs. Ella Norman
Oscar O'Shea	...	Scripps Museum Watchman
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Kharis (as Lon Chaney)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Steve Barclay	...	Tom's Classmate (uncredited)
David Bruce	...	Radio Announcer (voice) (uncredited)
Caroline Cooke	...	Townswoman (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Scared Pedestrian (uncredited)
Fay Holderness	...	Woman (uncredited)
Mira McKinney	...	Mrs. Martha Evans (uncredited)
Jack Rockwell	...	Second Deputy (uncredited)
Jack C. Smith	...	Deputy Joe (uncredited)
Pietro Sosso	...	Priest (uncredited)
Ivan Triesault	...	Scripps Museum Guide (uncredited)
Dorothy Vaughan	...	Mrs. Ada Blake (uncredited)
Carl Vernell	...	Student (uncredited)
Martha Vickers	...	Miss McLean, a student (uncredited)
Eddy Waller	...	Ben Evans (uncredited)
Anthony Warde	...	Detective at Museum (uncredited)

Directed by
Reginald Le Borg

Writing credits
Griffin Jay		(story) and
Henry Sucher		(story)
Griffin Jay		(screenplay) &
Henry Sucher		(screenplay) &
Brenda Weisberg		(screenplay)

Produced by
Ben Pivar	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Frank Skinner		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
William A. Sickner		(as William Sickner)

Film Editing by
Saul A. Goodkind		(as Saul Goodkind)

Art Direction by
John B. Goodman
Abraham Grossman

Set Decoration by
Russell A. Gausman		(as R.A. Gausman)
Leigh Smith		(as L.R. Smith)

Costume Design by
Vera West		(gowns)

Makeup Department
Jack P. Pierce	....	special makeup artist

Sound Department
Bernard B. Brown	....	sound director
Jess Moulin	....	sound technician

Music Department
Hans J. Salter	....	musical director (as H.J. Salter)
Ralph Freed	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Charles Previn	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Hans J. Salter	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1944) (USA) (theatrical)
• Realart Pictures (1948) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Screen Gems (1957) (USA) (TV)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal (1952) (France) (theatrical) (as Universal International Pictures)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

The Mummy's Return (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

61 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Sweden:15 | UK:H | UK:PG (video rating) (1989) | USA:Unrated

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The early shot of Yousef Bey, played by John Carradine, ascending the stairs to the temple where he will present himself to the aging High Priest Andoheb (George Zucco), is actually footage of Zucco as a much younger Andoheb doing the exact same thing in The Mummy's Hand (1940).

Goofs:

Continuity: The Mummy has a limp right arm folded helplessly across his chest. When he encounters the fainted Amina, he lifts her up in both arms with no problem, and as soon as he puts her down his right arm returns to its crippled position once again.

Movie Connections:

Edited into The Mummy's Ghost (1966)

another let-down of a sequel to The Mummy's Hand

In The Mummy's Hand, George Zucco's Egyptian High Priest character very definitely was shot four times, and fell down a flight of stone steps and died. In The Mummy's Tomb, he supposedly was only shot in the arm once in the last film, but he died in this one from old age, having fulfilled his priestly responsibilities by passing on the mantle. He's back again here, inexplicably. Here, he doesn't die, which is funny since he doesn't return for the next film.

The Mummy's Ghost takes places, like The Mummy's Tomb, thirty years after The Mummy's Hand. If that film took place in 1940, this film should be set in 1970, but as in Tomb, no effort is made to create the appearance of it being set in the future.

The mummy was shot and burned in Hand, shot and burned in Tomb, and yet he's back again in this one, his bandages not even singed. In fact, he's even got his left eye back, when in Hand it was all black and in Tomb a crusty mass. Where's the script girl!?

In this one, a young university student is dating an Egyptian named Amina. A priest is sent from Egypt to retrieve Kharis and Ananka's bodies. As in Hand, Kharis can be lured by Tana leaves, something they forgot in Tomb. However, Ananka's body collapses when touched, and she is somehow reincarnated into Amina. She seems unaware of this, apart from getting a white streak in her hair that spreads.

Another odd change is that the priests are priests of Arkam now, rather than Karnak.

This wasn't terribly good, though it does have a somewhat bold tragic ending. At only an hour long, it's not a waste of time at least.