''The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb'' is a 1964 British
horror film
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes.
Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...
produced, written and directed by
Michael Carreras
Michael Henry Carreras (21 December 1927 – 19 April 1994) was a British film producer and director. He was known for his association with Hammer Films, being the son of founder James Carreras, and taking an executive role in the compan ...
, starring
Terence Morgan
Terence Ivor Grant Morgan (8 December 1921 – 25 August 2005) was an English actor in theatre, cinema and television. He played many "villain" roles in British film but is probably best remembered for his starring role in the TV historical ...
,
Ronald Howard,
Fred Clark
Frederick Leonard Clark (March 19, 1914 – December 5, 1968) was an American film and television character actor.
Early years
Born in Lincoln, California, Clark was the son of Fred Clark Sr. He attended Stanford University with plans to become ...
and introducing Jeanne Roland.
Plot
"
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
in the year 1900". The mummy of Ra-Antef, son of
Ramesses VIII
Usermaatre Akhenamun Ramesses VIII (also written Ramses and Rameses) or Ramesses Sethherkhepshef Meryamun ('Set is his Strength, beloved of Amun') (reigned 1130–1129 BC, or 1130 BC), was the seventh Pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty of the New K ...
, is discovered by three
Egyptologist
Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious ...
s: Englishmen John Bray (
Ronald Howard) and Sir Giles Dalrymple (
Jack Gwillim
Jack William Frederick Gwillim (15 December 1909 – 2 July 2001) was an English character actor.
Career
Born in Canterbury, Kent, England, he joined the Royal Navy at 17 and served for over twenty years, becoming one of the youngest men ever to ...
) as well as French Professor Eugene Dubois (unbilled
Bernard Rebel
Bernard Rebel (6 October 1901, Poland – 30 September 1964, London, England) was a Polish-born British actor. His work included the role of Wormtongue in the 1955-56 BBC radio version of ''The Lord of the Rings''.
Selected filmography
* ' ...
, who died three weeks before the film's UK premiere). Assisting in the expedition is Professor Dubois' daughter, and Bray's fiancée, Annette (Jeanne Roland), herself an Egyptology expert. All the artifacts are brought back to
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
by the project's backer, American showman Alexander King (
Fred Clark
Frederick Leonard Clark (March 19, 1914 – December 5, 1968) was an American film and television character actor.
Early years
Born in Lincoln, California, Clark was the son of Fred Clark Sr. He attended Stanford University with plans to become ...
), who plans to recoup his investment by staging luridly sensational public exhibits of the Egyptian treasures. Soon after arrival, however, the mummy revives and starts to kill various members of the expedition, while it becomes evident that sinister Adam Beauchamp (
Terence Morgan
Terence Ivor Grant Morgan (8 December 1921 – 25 August 2005) was an English actor in theatre, cinema and television. He played many "villain" roles in British film but is probably best remembered for his starring role in the TV historical ...
), a wealthy arts patron whom members of the expedition meet on the ship returning to England, harbors a crucial revelation of the mummy's past and future.
Cast
*
Terence Morgan
Terence Ivor Grant Morgan (8 December 1921 – 25 August 2005) was an English actor in theatre, cinema and television. He played many "villain" roles in British film but is probably best remembered for his starring role in the TV historical ...
: Adam Beauchamp, a secretive key character
*
Ronald Howard: John Bray, the Egyptologist
*
Fred Clark
Frederick Leonard Clark (March 19, 1914 – December 5, 1968) was an American film and television character actor.
Early years
Born in Lincoln, California, Clark was the son of Fred Clark Sr. He attended Stanford University with plans to become ...
: Alexander King, the American promoter
*Jeanne Roland: Annette Dubois, daughter of Professor Dubois and John Bray's fiancée
*
George Pastell
George Pastell (13 March 1923 – 4 April 1976) was a Cypriot character actor in British films and television programmes. Sources vary as to whether his real name was Nino (IMDb) or George Pastellides (BFI). His marriage record gives his name ...
: Hashmi Bey, representative of Egypt's colonial government and worshipful supplicant of the Mummy
*
Jack Gwillim
Jack William Frederick Gwillim (15 December 1909 – 2 July 2001) was an English character actor.
Career
Born in Canterbury, Kent, England, he joined the Royal Navy at 17 and served for over twenty years, becoming one of the youngest men ever to ...
: Sir Giles Dalrymple, another Egyptologist
*
John Paul: Inspector Mackenzie
*
Dickie Owen
Dickie Owen (26 March 1927 – 7 April 2015) was a British actor primarily known for his roles in '' Zulu'', ''The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb'' and ''The Mummy's Shroud
''The Mummy's Shroud'' is a 1967 British DeLuxe colour horror film made by ...
: Ra-Antef the Mummy
*Jill Mai Meredith: Jenny, Beauchamp's maid
*
Michael Ripper
Michael George Ripper (27 January 1913 – 28 June 2000) was an English character actor.
He began his film career in quota quickies in the 1930s and until the late 1950s was virtually unknown; he was seldom credited. Along with Michael Gough ...
: Achmed, Egyptian servant
*
Harold Goodwin: Fred, one of Alexander King's workmen
*
Jimmy Gardner: Fred's mate
*Vernon Smythe: Jessop, Beauchamp's butler
*
Marianne Stone
Marianne Stone (23 August 1922 – 21 December 2009) was an English character actress. She performed in films from the early 1940s to the late 1980s, typically playing working class parts such as barmaids, secretaries and landladies. Stone appe ...
: Hashmi Bey's landlady
*
Ray Austin: Stuntman: Assassin on board ship
Production
Hammer Studios originally offered the project to
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
in 1963. The film credits Henry Younger as the screenwriter, while the screenplay was written by Michael Carreras and Alvin Rakoff.
Release
''The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb'' was released on 18 October 1964 by Columbia Pictures/BLC Films in support of ''
The Gorgon
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
''. The film was distributed by
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
in the United States on 17 February 1965 also in support of ''The Gorgon''.
In North America, the film was released on 14 October 2008 along with three other Hammer horror films on the 2-DVD set ''Icons of Horror Collection: Hammer Films'' (ASIN: B001B9ZVVC) by
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, and on a double feature
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
with ''
The Revenge of Frankenstein
''The Revenge of Frankenstein'' is a 1958 Technicolor British horror film made by Hammer Film Productions. Directed by Terence Fisher, the film stars Peter Cushing, Francis Matthews (actor), Francis Matthews, Michael Gwynn and Eunice Gayson. In ...
'' by Mill Creek Entertainment in September 2016. Its title was misspelled on the Blu-ray spine as "Curese of the Mummy’s Tomb".
Critical reception
From contemporary reviews, ''Daily Cinema'' referred to the film as being "eerie but routine shocker thrills. But, hand it to Hammer, they've got this kind of scary hokum down to a grisly art". ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' commented on the plot of the film stating that "one needs a crystal ball to sort out the reasons for some of the contrived goings on in the modest and rather slapdash horror pic". The ''
Monthly Film Bulletin
''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...
'' noted that "the sewer finale has a moderate grandeur" but stated that "it is some indication of the film's lack of inventiveness that the mummy's first appearance should be so lengthily delayed".
In a retrospective review,
AllMovie
AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne.
History
AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...
critic Cavett Binyon called the film a "rather dull mummy muddle".
References
Sources
*
External links
*
''The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb''at
Moviephone
Moviefone is an American-based moving pictures listing and information service. Moviegoers can obtain local showtimes, cinema information, film reviews, and advance tickets, as well as TV content and a comprehensive search tool that allows users ...
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Curse Of The Mummy's Tomb, The
Hammer Film Productions horror films
1964 horror films
Mummy films
British horror films
Films about curses
Films shot at Associated British Studios
Films directed by Michael Carreras
1964 films
Films set in 1900
Films set in Egypt
1960s British films