Following the success of Son of Frankenstein and The Invisible Man Returns, Universal decided to revive another classic monster. This time, they decided to make a follow-up to The Mummy with a modest $80,000 budget and short shooting schedule. To cut costs, plenty of stock footage from The Mummy was used, as well as reusing sets and entire scores. Saint Louis native Christy Cabanne was hired to direct, having worked with major and minor studios in the 30s – 40s. Because of the short shooting schedule, much of the cast and crew were overworked, often working until the early morning. Tom Tyler, mostly known for starring in various low-budget westerns and superhero serials, was hired to play the titular mummy. By the end, the film went over-schedule and over-budget by an additional $4,000, and finished editing by late-June. In September of 1940, The Mummy’s Hand was released.
%
Rating
Synopsis
At the Egyptian Hill of the Seven Jackals, the High Priest (Eduardo Ciannelli) must pass on his duties before dying. He passes his responsibilities onto Andoheb (George Zucco) and tells the story of Kharis (Tom Tyler), an accursed mummy. Kharis tried resurrecting his sister, Princess Anunka, using sacred tana leaves but was punished by being buried alive. Years later, archaeologist Steve Banning (Dick Foran) and his sidekick, Babe Jenson (Wallace Ford) find a broken vase in Cairo. Banning believes that the vase is an authentic artifact, its hieroglyphs pointing toward the tomb of Princess Ananka. They get their funding thanks to eccentric magician Solvani (Cecil Kellaway), but his concerned daughter Marta (Peggy Moran) joins them. During their expedition, they unknowingly find Kharis’ tomb, who’s revived by Andoheb using tana leaves to attack the group. It’s up to Steve and Babe to rescue Marta from the mummy’s hand!
Review
Compared to the original, The Mummy’s Hand is definitely a step-down, feeling more like a cash grab than genuine effort. While I had some issues with The Mummy, it was still a solid monster movie with style, suspense, and class. You can tell that this was made for not as much money given all the stock footage and reused sets. That, combined with its barely over an hour runtime, makes it feel more like a serial than a full feature. Granted, this was the second of three monster movies Universal made in 1940, so they had to make due. For the most part, the cast does a fine job, though many of them play fairly stock characters. Foran is clearly the dashing hero, Ford the comedic relief, and Moran the plucky woman who needs rescuing. For this type of film, it works, but don’t expect much.
Compared to Boris Karloff’s Imhotep, Tom Tyler is just average, playing a stock mummy that doesn’t do or say much. He mostly just lumbers about with a limp, attacks people, carries off a passed-out Moran, and follows Andoheb’s orders. They use stock footage of Imhotep’s origin for Kairis’ origin, which interestingly has the scene of servants being stabbed cut. It’s somewhat odd how that was ok for 1932 but not for 1940, but that might’ve been for censorship reasons. As I mentioned before, this feels more like an action-adventure serial from the 40s than a full-length horror film. These types of serials were very popular at the time, and they’d be used as inspiration for Indiana Jones. In that respect, it’s interesting to see for historical significance, but it’s otherwise just an average mummy movie. Overall, The Mummy’s Hand is entertaining enough but nothing too special.
Buy The Mummy’s Hand on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3jOsV84
