THE MUMMY HITS 80

Universal Studios' The Mummy held its ubiquitous debut on December 22, 1932. 

The Mummy was produced by monster-movie mogul, Carl Laemmele Jr, and directed by the maestro-cinematographer of Fritz Lang's Metropolis and James Whale's Frankenstein, Karl Freund. Boris Karloff, the latter's Monster (his guise rendered again by makeup genius, Jack Pierce), plays the disinterred Imhotep, aka Ardeth Bay, who sheds his bandages to secure his lost love, Zita Johann's Princess Ankh-esen-amun, reincarnated as socialite Helen Grosvenor.  

This Egyptian-fueled fairy tale (which rode the coattails of the nation's King Tut craze) influenced knockoffs for decades, including Universal's 1940 (Kharis) reboot series, which commenced with The Mummy's Hand, starring Tom (The Adventures of Captain Marvel) Tyler and thereafter its three sequels starring Lon (The Wolf Man) Chaney Jr.  Hammer Studios also got in on the moldy action with Terence Fisher's 1959, Christopher Lee/Peter Cushing (Kharis) retelling, and Universal resumed its Imhotep track in 1999 with a Stephen Summers/Rob Cohen, movie-serial inspired trilogy and later, a Tom Cruise/Sophia Boutella-led, Dark Universe epic. 

As for the 1932 catalyst, it shares stark similarities to Tod Browning/Bela Lugosi's Dracula and all for evident reason. The Mummy was scripted by John L. Balderston who, along with Hamilton Dean, brought Bram Stoker's Count to stage and screen. Like Dracula, The Mummy is a tale of strained and ethereal love. In this respect, much of its amorous, Svengali morbidity later came to full, ironic circle in Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 Dracula.

For the sake of the story's love triangle, David Manners' dashing archeologist, Frank Whemple (a Jonathan Harker type) wishes the exotic Miss Grosvenor for his own, regardless of Bay's determination to (re)claim her. This duel underpins the fable's mysticism, furthered by Edward Van Sloan's Dr. Muller's acknowledgement of The Scroll of Thoth as the source behind Imhotep's resurrection. With dark magic installed, Muller realizes that Whemple's quandary is monumental, and therefore, he must assist in thwarting the craggy Egyptian. 

As an additional Dracula overlap, Van Sloan portrayed Dr. Van Helsing on stage and in Browning's big-screen adaptation (as well as Dr. Waldman in Whales' Frankenstein). The unwinding contention between the insightful professor and the peculiar Bay gives the movie an acceptable air of deja vu. 

Though it may not be the first or freshest in Universal's monster series, The Mummy remains significant for the sub-genre it forged. From its taut direction, ornate (origin-building) flashback and nuanced performances, The Mummy delivers amorous chills and deserves all the spectral glory it's achieved. In other words, it's an iconic chapter that screams eternal renewal. 

Unearth The Mummy once again and come away not only fulfilled, but brimming of respect for a creation that continues to ascend the critical test of time.