In our 3rd film in this Universal Horror series, we’re studying Karl Freund’s THE MUMMY (1932). While we travel to ancient Egypt via California and Universal City, this tale feels strangely familiar territory. Again, we see familiar faces. But have we been here before? One of the themes of THE MUMMY is reincarnation; but in many aspects, the story itself is a reincarnation of DRACULA (1931). This time around, we’ll dust off those gothic cobwebs for some fanciful Egyptian gold gowns.
As we noted in our study of DRACULA (1931), Karl Freund was the talented cinematographer who was often more hands-on than its director, Tod Browning. But for THE MUMMY, this was Freund’s first turn as a director. “Papa Karl” Freund ruled his production as a hard task master. Long hours, in addition to the up to eight hours per day in Jack Pierce’s chair for Boris Karloff, were typically running well past midnight for the entire cast and crew. Sometimes until dawn. Despite these grueling conditions, Karloff was respected and well-liked by everyone, and rarely complained.
But Freund’s methods didn’t always jive well with the lead actress. Zita Johann (Helen Grosvenor/ Princess Anck-es-en-Amon) seemed destined to play this role because she believed in mysticism and the occult in real life. A successful stage actor, she was also known for her dramatic, outspoken personality which apparently didn’t appease Freund. In her account of their on-set tensions, she insisted he made a scapegoat out of her, constantly testing her patience. For example, she didn’t have a chair with her name on it, like the other film stars. She recalls he informed her that she would need to be filmed naked waist up for a scene. Certain he was only saying this to rile her up, she replied that she was fine with that, as long as he could get it approved by the censors first (knowing that it wouldn’t). It was never brought up again.
Austrian-born Freund was a cinematographer, director, inventor, and pioneer in sound film technology. He worked as cinematographer on over a hundred films. Most notably, he began his early career with German Expressionist films and a collaboration with directors like Fritz Lang and Tod Browning including: THE GOLEM (1920), THE LAST LAUGH (1924), and METROPOLIS (1927). It was also in the early years of the motion picture industry, that Freund innovated the movement of the camera for filming. He invented the ‘unchained camera’ (no longer tethered to the tripod). Freund was notorious for moving his camera around the set – either on a cart along a track, or on a crane, or often strapped to his stomach as he walked around.
Freund came in under budget ($196,161 in total) and on time (23 days). He needed to prove himself to the studio and he did. He directed ten films in all, with MAD LOVE (1935) starring Peter Lorre as his last. But he went on as a brilliant and inventive cinematographer in films and television, in both color and black-and-white. He was nominated for Academy Awards thrice – THE CHOCOLATE SOLDIER (1941), BLOSSOMS IN THE DUST (1941), and won the Oscar for THE GOOD EARTH (1937). He founded the Photo Research Corp. of Burbank to manufacture tv cameras and exposure meters, in 1944.
But many may know his work best as the pioneering cinematographer for the “I Love Lucy” show, where “Freund designed the “flat lighting” system for shooting sitcoms that is still in use today. This system covers the set in light, thus eliminating shadows and allowing the use of three moving cameras without having to modify the lighting between shots. While Freund did not invent the three-camera shooting system, he did perfect it for use with film cameras in front of a live audience. The cameras that were used were BNC Mitchell cameras with T-stop calibrated lenses on dollies. The center camera was for wider shots. The other two were positioned 75 to 90 degrees away from center and were primarily used for close-ups.” * (“”Filming the ‘Lucy’ Show” – by Karl Freund”. www.lucyfan.com. )
The concept of THE MUMMY came from Carl Laemmle, Jr. who, like the rest of the world, was fascinated with the discovery of King Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings, about a decade earlier. King Tut’s tomb had only been robbed twice in its prior history unlike other ransacked royal burial grounds.King Tut’s tomb was buried behind the debris of two other dynasties (Ramesses V and VI) so there were more pristine treasures to be discovered.
In the early 1900s, Egypt was a British colony with excavations governed under a partage system of division between the British government, private collectors and investors, and the Museum in Cairo. The process of cataloguing these particular artifacts was a very long and meticulous process in the decade prior to THE MUMMY. Meanwhile, after some of those involved in the discovery died, rumors of a ‘King Tut curse’ spread like wildfire. Egyptian revolutions and politics disrupted slow downed the archival process, yet the global popularity of all things ancient Egypt remained even stronger.
Arthur Conan Doyle wrote a short story titled, “The Ring of Thoth.” Scenario writers Richard Schayer and Nina Wilcox Putnam wrote a 9 page treatment for Junior Laemmle, “Cagliostro,” about a 3,000 year old San Francisco magician who evades mortality by injecting nitrates. John L Balderston (writer for FRANKENSTEIN and DRACULA) took that treatment and wrote THE MUMMY screenplay. Additionally, Balderston, while a journalist for the New York World, covered the opening of Tutankhamun’s tomb unearthing. The screenplay moved the story directly to Egypt and created a more supernatural, historical fantasy.
Obviously, one of the most memorable aspects of THE MUMMY and its enduring influence is thanks to makeup artist Jack Pierce’s painstaking work on Boris Karloff. Based on Ramses III, Pierce took 8 hours to create the iconic, bandaged authentic look on Karloff. Interestingly, for all that effort for both Pierce and Karloff, there is very little screen time utilized in full makeup. Oh what an unforgettable screen image- enough to feel believable that a man is driven stark raving mad. Yet for such brief imagery, it’s what we remember the most about this film.
Many of the themes for discussion: ancient Egypt, recognized parallels with DRACULA (1931), supernatural vs. science, grave robbery (just like FRANKENSTEIN), immortality, power of suggestion/hypnotism, vulnerability of the weak minded, reincarnation, and classism.
CAST and CREW:
Directed by: Karl Freund
Writing credits: John L Balderston (screenplay), Nina Wilcox Putnam, Richard Schayer (from a story by)
Produced by: Carl Laemmle, Jr., Stanley Bergerman (associate producer)
Cinematography: Charles Stumar
Costume Design: Vera West, Eugene Joseff (costume jeweller)
Boris Karloff – Ardeth Bey, Imotep
Zita Johann – Helen Grosvenor, Princess Ankh-es-en-amun
David Manners – Frank Whemple
Arthur Byron – Sir Joseph Whemple
Edward Van Sloan – Dr. Muller
Bramwell Fletcher – Ralph Norton
Noble Johnson – the Nubian
Kathryn Byron – Frau Muller
Leonard Mudie – Professor Pearson
James Crane – Pharoah Amenophis
Henry Victor – the Saxon Warrior
C Montague Shaw – Gentleman (uncredited)