The Mummy (1959)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Terence Fisher

Writer:

Jimmy Sangster (writer)

Release Date:

16 December 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Torn from the tomb to terrify the world!

Plot:

In the 1890s a team of British archaeologists discover the untouched tomb of Princess Ananka but accidentally...

Plot Keywords:

Tomb | Mummy | Revenge | Egypt | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Peter Cushing	...	John Banning
Christopher Lee	...	Kharis, the Mummy
Yvonne Furneaux	...	Isobel Banning / Princess Ananka
Eddie Byrne	...	Inspector Mulrooney
Felix Aylmer	...	Stephen Banning
Raymond Huntley	...	Joseph Whemple
George Pastell	...	Mehemet Bey, Alias Mehemet Akir
Michael Ripper	...	Poacher
George Woodbridge	...	Police Constable
Harold Goodwin	...	Pat
Denis Shaw	...	Mike
Gerald Lawson	...	Irish Customer
Willoughby Gray	...	Dr. Reilly
John Stuart	...	Coroner
David Browning	...	Police Sergeant

Also Known As:

Terror of the Mummy (UK) (working title)

Runtime:

USA:88 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1960) | USA:Unrated | West Germany:16 | UK:X | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

Bray Studios, Down Place, Oakley Green, Berkshire, England, UK

Company:

Hammer Film Productions

Trivia:

Christopher Lee's mummy walk isn't entirely acting. Besides the injuries to his back and shoulder noted above, he also injured his knees and shins while doing scenes in the studio-tank "swamp" - he couldn't see where the various pipes and fittings under the swampy water were.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Princess Ananka's mummy's death mask has closed eyes. In reality, the eyes of an ancient Egyptian mummy mask are wide open because the Egyptians wanted their dead to be able to see and hear in the afterlife.

Quotes:

John Banning: Seems I've spent the better part of my life amongst the dead

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Candy Stripers 5: The New Generation (1999) (V)

A must see for horror fans

Far superior to the Brendan Fraser version, which relies too heavily on sterile computerized special FX. Comparing it to the classic 1932 Boris Karloff version, as so many people are doing, I feel is unfair. Karloff is not seen much in bandaged form choking people, but instead, in the Ardeth Bay persona. The Hammer Mummy has a lot more in common with the four Mummy movies Universal made in the 40's, (bandaged mummy chokes people out, the high priest out for revenge, etc.), and while those movies are fun, they don't compare to this one. Simply put, Tom Tyler and Lon Chaney, Jr. are not given the chance to pantomime with as much emotion as Christopher Lee, (kind of ironic when you consider the latter's father was the king of pantomime). Through all of the muddy bandages, there are still glimpses of human expression in Lee's eyes.

Beautiful color and well paced, I highly recommend this movie..............