When a team of British archeologists led by Sir Joseph Whemple (Arthur Byron) in 1921 uncover the tomb containing the 3,700 year old mummy of Egyptian Prince Imhotep (Boris Karloff), and Whemple's assistant Ralph Norton (Bramwell Fletcher) reads from the Scroll of Thoth, they unwittingly bring the mummy back to life. Ten years later, the mummy (now in the guise of a mysterious Egyptian scholar named Ardeth Bay) helps Whemple and his son Frank (David Manners) uncover the tomb of his ancient love Anck-su-namun. In order to revive her completely, however, Bey needs the body of lookalike Helen Grosvenor (Zita Johann), with whom Frank has fallen in love.
The Mummy is based on a screenplay by American playwright/screenwriter John L. Balderston, who was also instrumental in bringing to the stage and screen the 1931 horror movies Dracula (1931) and Frankenstein (1931). Balderston, who was a news correspondent at the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb, was the first journalist to see the face of the pharaoh. Film producer Carl Laemmle Jr, who also brought to the screen Dracula and Frankenstein, was inspired by the opening of the tomb of the ancient Egyptian boy King Tutankhamun in 1922 combined with an alleged curse declaring death to any person who disturbs the mummy of an ancient Egyptian, so he commissioned story writers Richard Shayer and Nina Wilcox Putnam to find an idea that could form the basis for an Egyptian-themed horror film. Shayer and Putnam found references to Italian occultist Alessandro Cagliostro (1743-1795) and composed a short story about a 3,000 year old magician who survived the tomb by injecting himself with nitrates. Balderston then adapted their story into a screenplay. The success of The Mummy spawned a remake, The Mummy's Hand (1940), which led to three more movies: The Mummy's Tomb (1942), The Mummy's Ghost (1944), and The Mummy's Curse (1944), none of which starred Boris Karloff in the title role. The Mummy was rebooted in 1959 by British Hammer Film Productions as The Mummy (1959), again in 1999 as The Mummy (1999) and again in 2017 as The Mummy (2017).
Realizing that Bay/Imhotep intends to kill Helen and make her a living mummy like himself, Dr Muller (Edward Van Sloan) and Frank race over to the Museum. Meanwhile, Imhotep has begun the ceremony to kill Helen and resurrect her as Anck-su-namun. As Imhotep prepares to stab the entranced Helen with the sacred knife, Muller and Frank rush in and stop him. Suddenly, Helen rises from the altar and, declaring herself a maiden of Isis, prays to a statue of Isis to save her. Isis responds by destroying the Scroll of Thoth, which causes Imhotep to return to his mummified state. In the final scene, Frank's summons bring Helen back
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- How long is The Mummy?1 hour and 13 minutes
- When was The Mummy released?December 22, 1932
- What is the IMDb rating of The Mummy?7 out of 10
- Who stars in The Mummy?
- Who wrote The Mummy?
- Who directed The Mummy?
- Who was the composer for The Mummy?
- Who was the producer of The Mummy?
- Who was the cinematographer for The Mummy?
- Who was the editor of The Mummy?
- Who are the characters in The Mummy?Imhotep, Helen Grosvenor, Frank Whemple, Sir Joseph Whemple, Dr. Muller, Ralph Norton, The Nubian, and Professor Pearson
- What is the plot of The Mummy?A resurrected Egyptian mummy searches Cairo for the girl he believes to be his long-lost princess.
- What was the budget for The Mummy?$196,000
- How much did The Mummy earn at the worldwide box office?$58
- What is The Mummy rated?TV-14
- What genre is The Mummy?Fantasy and Horror
- How many awards has The Mummy won?1 award
- How many awards has The Mummy been nominated for?5 nominations
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