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The Mummy (1959)
Country
of Origin: UK
Year of Production: 1959
Running Times: 84 mins 9 sec (UK - video)
85 mins 36 sec (UK - theatrical)
Format: Eastmancolour 35mm
Ratio: 1.66:1
Sound: mono
CREDITS
PRODUCTION
Production Company: Hammer Films
Producer: Michael Carreras
Associate Producer: Anthony Nelson-Keys
Production Manager: Don Weeks
SCRIPT
Script: Jimmy Sangster
DIRECTION
Director: Terence Fisher
Assistant Director: John Peverall
PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Jack Asher
Camera Operator: Len Harris
Labs: Technicolor
EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Supervising Editor: James Needs
Editor: Alfred Cox
MUSIC
Musical Supervisor: John Hollingsworth
Music: Frank Reizenstein
SOUND
Sound Recording: Jock May
Sound Editor: Roy Hyde
Sound System: RCA Sound Recording
MAKE UP AND
COSTUMES
Make Up: Roy Ashton
Hair: Henry Montsash
Wardrobe Mistress: Molly Arbuthnot
Egyptian Mask Maker: Margaret Robinson (uncredited)
SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects: Bill Warrington
DESIGN AND SET
CONSTRUCTION
Production Designer: Bernard Robinson
MISCELLANEOUS
Continuity: Marjorie Lavelly
Technical Advisor: Andrew Low
LOCATIONS
Locations: Bray Studios, Berkshire, England, UK
STUNTS
Stunts: Eddie Powell
CAST
Peter Cushing (John Banning)
Christopher Lee (the mummy / Kharis)
Yvonne Furneaux (Isobel / Ananka)
Eddie Byrne (Inspector Mulrooney)
Felix Aylmer (Stephen Banning)
Raymond Huntley (Joseph Whemple)
George Pastell (Mehemet Bey)
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)
Frank Sieman (Bill)
Stanley Meadows (attendant)
Frank Singuineau (head porter)
James Clarke (uncredited)
John Harrison (uncredited)
Frederick Rawlings (uncredited)
PLOT SUMMARY
In 1895, archaeologist
Stephen Banning and his son John lead an expedition that
uncovers the tomb of the Princess Ananka. Stephen is
driven mad by something he encounters in the tomb and,
three years later, is still recuperating in England and
warning John that what he saw in the tomb, a living
mummy, will come looking for him. And sure enough, thanks
to the machinations of a high priest, the mummy is in
England and is soon working its way through the survivors
of the ill-fated expedition.
CAPSULE REVIEW
The mummy has never been
the most exciting of screen monsters but in the imposing
shape of Christopher Lee at least Hammer's bandaged
avenger carries a real sense of menace. The film is
beautifully shot, as all of the early Hammers were, but
it amounts to little more than a series of violent
set-pieces enlivened by the usual top-notch performances
from Cushing and Lee.
AVAILABILITY
UK
Video Distributor: Warner Home Video (S036161)
USA
Theatrical Distributor: Universal-International
Laserdisc Distributor: Warner Home Video (11199)
CENSORSHIP HISTORY
Finland
Rating: banned in 1960
Germany
Rating: 16
UK
Rating: X (1959 - uncut); PG (1997 - uncut)
USA
Rating: unrated
TIMELINE
1959
June
17: UK - rated X by the BBFC (for theatrical release)
September
25: UK - theatrical release
November
2: Sweden - theatrical release
December
Day Unknown: USA - theatrical release
31: West Germany - theatrical release
1992
June
15: USA - laserdisc release (Warner Home Video (11199))
1997
February
20: UK - rated PG by the BBFC (for video release)
2000
May
1: UK - video release (Warner Home Video (S036161))
POSTER TAGS
Fear Will Freeze You When You Face...
Its evil look brings MADNESS! Its evil
spell ENSLAVES! Its evil touch KILLS KILLS KILLS!
Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee star as
an ancient evil is unleashed on the world.
ALTERNATIVE TITLES
La malédiction des pharaons - French
title
La momia - Spanish title
Mumia - Polish title
A múmia - Portugese title
Mumiens hämnd - Swedish title
La mummia - Italian title
Die Rache der Pharaonen - German title
Terror of the Mummy - working title
LINKS
SEQUELS
The Curse of
the Mummy's Tomb (1964)
The Mummy's Shroud (1967)
REMAKE OF
The Mummy's Hand (1940)
SEE ALSO
Chicken Park (1994)
Gorgo (1961)
The Horror of
Frankenstein (1970)
The Mummy (1932)
The Mummy Lives (1993)
The Tomb (1985)
FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
100 Years of
Horror (1996)
The Many Faces
of Christopher Lee (1996)
Peter
Cushing: A One-Way Ticket to Hollywood (1989)
REFERENCES
MAGAZINES
Cinefantastique vol.31
no.6 (June 1999) pp.40-45 (USA)
illustrated article
Daily Cinema no.8188 (7
August 1959) p.7 (UK)
review
Film Daily vol.116 no.2
(2 July 1959) p.10 (USA)
review
Filmfax no.80 (August /
September 2000) pp.30. 32 (USA)
illustrated article
Hollywood Reporter vol.155
no.43 (9 July 1959) p.3 (USA)
review
The House That Hammer Built no.2
(April 1997) pp.101-106
illustrated credits, synopsis, review
The House That Hammer Built no.10
(October 1998) p.98 (UK)
note
The House That Hammer Built no.11
(February 1999) pp.137-176
illustrated interview, article, filmography
Kine Weekly 13 August
1959 p.24 (UK)
review
Monthly Film Bulletin vol.26
n.308 (September 1959) p.124 (UK)
credits, synopsis, review
Motion Picture Herald vol.216
no.2 (11 July 1959) p.332 (USA)
review
Variety 15 July 1959
(USA)
review KEYWORDS
egypt; egyptology;
mummies; revenge; swamps; tombs; remakes; buried alive
Last Updated:
20 October, 2008
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