Line #17 Film/TheMummy1959


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5	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mummyposter.png]]
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7	->''"He who robs the graves of Egypt, dies."''
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9	The first Film/HammerHorror film to feature, yes, a {{Mummy}}, released in 1959 and reuniting the director (Terence Fisher) and the stars (Creator/PeterCushing and Creator/ChristopherLee) of the studio's previous hits ''Film/TheCurseOfFrankenstein'' and ''Film/HorrorOfDracula''.
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11	In 1895 Egypt, a team of British archeologists led by John Banning (Cushing) opens the tomb of Princess Ananka (Yvonne Furneaux), despite warnings of a death curse which will fall upon any desecrators. Three years later in England, a vengeful Egyptian man arrives and unleashes the living mummy Kharis (Lee) on the men. But the mummy's revenge is complicated when he discovers that Banning's wife Isobel is the spitting image of his beloved, long-dead Ananka.
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14	!!This film provides examples of:
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16	* ActionGirl: Isobel. She proves this not once, but TWICE even though she never gets physical when saving John from Kharis despite the former specifically telling her to lock herself in her room for her own safety prior to the first attack, and to stay outside with Inspector Mulrooney during the second, although she ends up fainting and being carried away by Kharis.
17	* AdaptationAmalgamation: Although intended as a remake of ''Film/TheMummy1932'', the plot and most of its principle characters are taken from ''Film/TheMummysHand'' and ''The Mummy's Tomb''. The 1932 movie's famous and early scene of the sight of the mummy walking across the tomb floor driving a member of the archaeological team insane is re-created here, but not seen in any of the 1940s movies. The finale of ''The Mummy's Ghost'' is also interpolated into this movie, albeit with a somewhat different outcome. Despite all this, there is no credit to any pre-existing source material at all.
18	* AdaptationDistillation: The film condenses the overarching plot of Universal's ''Film/TheMummysHand'', ''The Mummy's Tomb'', and ''The Mummy's Ghost'' into one movie while removing some major plot holes from the originals. It also incorporates several elements from the original Universal ''Film/TheMummy1932''
19	* AdaptationalWimp: In the original Universal film, the Mummy was the BigBad and a gifted sorcerer who was able to mask his true nature as an undead in order to pose as a modern Egyptian scholar. Here, he's TheDragon to Mehemet and is little more than DumbMuscle. Even Kharis is considerably less durable here, in comparison with his original portrayal in ''Franchise/UniversalHorror'', where neither, bullets and even fire or swamps can't really harm him.
20	* AnswerCut: John, wondering who could want to hurt his father, says "As far as I know, he hasn't an enemy in the world." Cut to Mehemet Bey summoning the Mummy from the bog.
21	* ArtisticLicenseReligion: Karnak was not an Egyptian deity. It's the name of a temple complex near Thebes.
22	* AxeBeforeEntering: Kharis crashes through doors to get his hands on Joseph Whemple.
23	* BigBad: Mehemet Bay, who is controlling Kharis.
24	* {{Brownface}}: Christopher Lee playing an Egyptian in the flashback.
25	* BuriedAlive: When Kharis was caught trying to bring Ananka back to life after her death in the past, he was punished by getting [[MummyWrap wrapped in a shroud]] and being entombed alive to guard her in the afterlife.
26	* CompositeCharacter: The Mummy in this movie is a version of Kharis, and he took the strength, backstory and being TheDragon to the priests from Karnak. But he is a High Priest here, as Imhotep in ''Film/TheMummy1932''. In the ''Franchise/UniversalHorror'' version, Kharis was a Prince from the Royal House.
27	* CompressedAdaptation: The film takes elements from all of Universal's ''Mummy'' movies and puts them in one package.
28	* ConversationCut: From the drunken hunter in the inspector's office, telling the inspector about seeing the mummy in the woods, smoothly transitioning to the drunken carter in the pub, telling the instructor about losing the crate that contained "Egyptian relics".
29	* CurseOfThePharaoh: Similar to the 1932 version except that an egyptian warns the explorers to not enter the tomb at all and the Mummy (named Kharis in this version) is specifically focused on killing the people who entered his dead lover's tomb.
30	* DropDeadGorgeous: A kind of disturbing scene in which the body of Ananka is prepared for burial, with a nude Yvonne Furneaux's naughty bits [[SceneryCensor carefully hidden either by extras or pieces of scenery]].
31	* EmergencyImpersonation: Thanks to her resemblance to late Princess Ananka, John's wife Isobel stops Kharis from strangling her husband by making herself look even more like her (she lets her hair out).
32	* EvilPoacher: Averted, he's portrayed as more of a comical figure hunting to eat.
33	* {{Flashback}}:
34	** A lengthy sequence set in AncientEgypt explains how Anakara was killed and Kharis came to be mummified.
35	** Another flashback fills in what we didn't see in the opening sequence, namely, Kharis coming out of his wall tomb and shocking Stephen into madness.
36	* ForScience: John's justification when Mehemet Bay politely but accurately accuses him of desecrating sacred graves.
37	* TheFundamentalist: Mehemet Bay is a fervent follower of the Karnak religion, and doesn't take it kindly when British archeologists dig up ancient Egyptian dead and put them in museum.
38	* GoMadFromTheRevelation: John's father Steve is left a gibbering wreck from what he sees in the tomb of Ananka. He's sent to a nursing home.
39	* HandicappedBadass: Banning has a bum leg but he doesn't hesitate to go after Kharis with guns, an arrow and his bare hands.
40	* IdenticalStranger: Isobel bears a striking resemblance to the long-dead Princess Anakara. This comes in handy later.
41	* INeedAFreakingDrink: The hunter who just happens to see the mummy shambling through the woods races back to the nearest pub and demands whiskey. No one believes his story.
42	* IShallTauntYou: John Banning tricks Mehemet Bay to sic Kharis on him (and consequently, into his trap) by visiting him under a friendly neighbour guise (revealing himself to be still alive in the process), acting snooty and being dismissive about the Karnak religion.
43	* TheLostLenore: Princess Anakara to Kharis.
44	* MoralityChainBeyondTheGrave: Kharis loved Princess Anakara very much in life. Isobel, whom bears an uncanny resemblance to her, is able to disarm and stop Kharis through EmergencyImpersonation.
45	* {{Mummy}}: He's mad as hell, and he's not going to take it anymore.
46	* PluckyGirl: Isobel. She manages to save her husband from Kharis not once, but twice just by her mere presence, and quick thinking.
47	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Inspector Mulrooney is understandably skeptical about the idea of a curse but keeps an open mind during his investigation, talks to all of the right people, is willing to acknowledge when his findings make a curse seem likely and plots guards to protect John and Isobel.
48	* SceneryCensor: Used very carefully in the flashback scene where Princess Ananka's body is prepared for mummification.
49	* TimeSkip: Three years from the opening sequence in 1895 to the rest of the story set in 1898, after Mehemet Bay has liberated Kharis from the tomb.
50	* TongueTrauma: Kharis's tongue was cut from his mouth before he was entombed alive in the past. This also explains why the mummy never makes any noises.
51	* VillainBall: Mehemet tries to kill Isobel (who resembles Anakara) himself in front of Kharis. It doesn't bode well for him.
52	* VillainHasAPoint: Let's be honest, Mehemet Bey is exactly right when he accuses John of looting and desecrating graves and taking what he finds to the British Museum.
53	* YouKilledMyFather: John resents Mehmet and Kharis due to their previous victims being his father and uncle.
54	* ZombieGait: Averted; Kharis moves a lot faster than his Universal-era counterpart.

Context Film / TheMummy1959