The Mummy

"It comes to life!"

1932 1h 13m EN

👍

6.7

SOLID

🔥

90%

CERTIFIED FRESH

⭐

6.9

IMDB

★6.7TMDB · 730🍅90%Rotten Tomatoes★6.9IMDB · 32,775

Horror

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

An ancient Egyptian priest named Imhotep is revived when a British archaeological expedition finds his mummy and one of the researchers accidentally reads an ancient life-giving spell. Imhotep escapes from the field site and searches for the reincarnation of the soul of his lover.

“It comes to life!”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Boris Karloff
Imhotep / Ardath Bey
Zita Johann
Helen Grosvenor / Princess Anck-es-en-Amon
David Manners
Frank Whemple
Arthur Byron
Sir Joseph Whemple
Edward Van Sloan
Dr. Muller
Bramwell Fletcher
Ralph Norton
Noble Johnson
The Nubian Servant
Kathryn Byron
Frau Muller

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Karl Freund
Writers: John L. Balderston, Richard Schayer, Nina Wilcox Putnam
Languages: Arabic, English, French
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Tight 73-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.2M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 1% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

94 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Arabic, English, French.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "The Mummy (Universal) Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Karl Freund, shot by Charles J. Stumar. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by James Dietrich. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Karl Freund directs. Charles J. Stumar behind the camera. James Dietrich scores. Milton Carruth cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in Arabic, English, French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Tight 73-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
2Shot for just $0.2M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
3Earned back only 1% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
494 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
5Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Arabic, English, French.
6Part of the "The Mummy (Universal) Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
7Directed by Karl Freund, shot by Charles J. Stumar. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
8Original score by James Dietrich. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
9Editor Milton Carruth shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
10Boris Karloff and Zita Johann and David Manners carry the top of the cast.
11Marketing tagline: "It comes to life!".
12IMDB entry: tt0023245 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
13Classified under 26 themes, including "virgin", "egypt", "excavation", "museum".
14Released under 14 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Charles J. Stumar
Original score: James Dietrich
Editing: Milton Carruth
Costume design: Vera West
Makeup / hair: Jack Pierce
Runtime: 73 min · 1h 13m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $196,000
Box office: $1,408
Return: 1% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: The Mummy (1932)
Rotten Tomatoes: 90% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 6.9/10 · 32,775 votes
MPAA: Not Rated

Awards

1 win & 4 nominations total

Part of

The Mummy (Universal) Collection

A Universal Production film series beginning with The Mummy in 1932 and followed by four sequels up to 1944.

Also by

Karl Freund

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

tiailds2016-01-16
★ 6/10
After watching Frankenstein and Dracula, this one is far above them. "Is it interesting?" This one kept my interest for quite a while, though the editing was a major flaw. 2 out of 3. "Is it memorable?" If I think of classic monster movies, I will think of this one. Especially the story. 2 out of 3. "Is it entertaining?" That is the biggest problem. We have a great bad guy with a recognizable motivation, but out protagonists bumble along. The characters aren't evenly represented. I knew who was going to win or lose and stopped caring why. Just was waiting to find out how. 1 out of 3 Start with 1, 1+2+2+1=6 It might be a while but would watch again. Would also mention it to others, but let them judge how good it was. It's not for everyone.
John Chard2016-07-10
★ 7/10
Put it back. Bury it where you found it. You have read the curse. You dare defy it? The Mummy is directed by Karl Freund and written by Nina Wilcox Putnam, Richard Schayer and John L. Balderston. It stars Boris Karloff, Zita Johann, David Manners, Arthur Byron, Edward Van Sloan, and Bramwell Fletcher. Music is by James Dietrich and cinematography by Charles J. Stumar. The first of Universal's Mummy films follows the story of Imhotep (Karloff), who after being awaken from his tomb by expedition workers, believes his lover has been reincarnated in the body of a modern woman. It's undeniably slow moving, it's stagy, and away from Karloff the acting and dialogue is just about reaching average qualities. Yet there's a haunting quality to the pic, with a number of genuinely eerie sequences. The shadowed photography helps greatly for funereal atmospherics, while it's somewhat refreshing to find a film of this type not resorting to shock tactics to get your attention. An important film in a lot of ways and well worth a look for those interested in the history of Horror Film. 7/10
CinemaSerf2023-07-23
★ 7/10
When a team of British Museum explorers discover the tomb of an Egyptian princess, they also discover the mummy of her forbidden lover "Imhotep" (Boris Karloff) and a secret scroll that has the power, when read aloud, to restore the dead to life. It's on reading that document in the crypt that the mummy is restored to life and escaping for the moment, he determines to return and rescue his princess at all costs so he can restore her too. As it happens, ten years later, a young woman "Helen" (Zita Johann) whose father is a British administrator, is in Cairo - and she is the spitting image of the dead princess. Might she even be a reincarnation? Well "Imhotep" certainly reckons so and she is to be the body selected for the soul of his reincarnated love. It's quite interesting in that this mummy lives in plain sight. There are no bandage wrappings to trail behind him, there is no lurching statically - Karloff's depiction is far more human; and I felt far more menacing. His personification here has a calculating menace to it that I thought worked quite effectively as the story heads to it's actually rather sad denouement. The supporting cast - including the rather sterile Johann - are competent enough at providing a template for our mummy to plunder and though maybe there is just a little too much dialogue - perhaps an overcompensation from silent films - it's still one of my favourite iterations of this compelling and mysterious story.