The Mummy Unwrapped

The mummy came to life in the 1940s out of Universal Pictures’ need to produce quick turnaround, low budget “B” movies. Universal produced The Mummy’s Hand, The Mummy’s Tomb, The Mummy’s Ghost, and The Mummy’s Curse (originally The Mummy’s Return) and thus created a popular franchise that is still supported today by a following of loyal fans. (Universal was prompted to produce a remake of its Mummy films in 1999.)
This book is devoted entirely to Universal’s Mummy movies of the 1940s. It reveals lost action and dialogue by analyzing scenes that were edited out days before The Mummy’s Hand was released to theaters, treats readers to other dialogue that was filmed and then cut down to almost nothing before being included in the films, and compares and contrasts the original story of The Mummy’s Return to the final shooting script of what was later renamed The Mummy’s Curse. Each of the films has its own chapter, and chapters are also devoted to the actors who played the heroes, heroines, high priests, victims, and mummies in the films, and to the filmmakers who brought the mummies to life.

Universal Horror enthusiast Thomas M. Feramisco is a prize winning script writer. He lives in Thousand Oaks, California.

Thomas M. Feramisco
Foreword by Peggy Moran Koster
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 240
Bibliographic Info: 30 photos, appendix, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2008 [2003]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3734-4
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0792-4
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments     v

Foreword     viii

Preface     1

1 The Mummy’s Hand     5

2 The Mummy’s Tomb     35

3 The Mummy’s Ghost     55

4 “The Mummy’s Return”     85

5 The Mummy’s Curse     99

6 The Heroes Who Saved the Day     133

7 The Heroines Who Were Whisked Away     149

8 Who Were the High Priests?     161

9 Getting to Know the Victims     181

10 The Mummies     195

11 Behind the Scenes     205

Appendix     217

Bibliography     223

Index     227

“entertaining critical analysis”—Chiller Theatre; “heartily recommend[ed]…fascinating”—Classic Images; “very thorough…fascinating”—Hitch; “critical commentary…offers a fresh perspective”—Video Watchdog; “a major archaeological find…you’ll love unwrapping the bandages”—Film Review.