5 Things You Didn't Know About 1932's 'The Mummy' (2024)

1932’s The Mummy was the sixth Universal Monster film ever made, and the third of the classic era. But unlike Dracula and Frankenstein before him, Imhotep, the ancient Egyptian priest who is brought back to life by a magical spell, was Universal’s unique creation. Instead of being derived from classic literature, he was developed in response to America’s obsession with ancient Egypt — and the supposed curses inflicted on anyone who disturbed its tombs.

How did a cloth-covered corpse (played by Boris Karloff) become one of the most enduring characters in American horror? Read on to find out … but if you happen to find any ancient scrolls along the way, try not to read those.

1The Film Was Inspired by America’s Obsession With Egypt … and Egyptian Curses

In the Victorian era, America became obsessed with all things Egypt. Homes were decorated with Egyptian motifs, buildings were built in the shape of pyramids or other Egypt-related styles, and Egyptologists (historians and archaeologists who studied ancient Egyptian artifacts) were celebrated in popular culture.

People also became obsessed with the idea of “mummy’s curses” — spells placed on pharaoh’s tombs, ensuring that harm would befall anyone who disturbed them. Several real Egyptologists reported suffering from mysterious bad luck after removing artifacts and mummies from tombs, and it became a popular horror story concept in the 1800s — even Little Women author Louisa May Alcott wrote a story about a curse that allowed a mummy to come back to life and seek revenge!

After the 1922 exploration of Pharaoh Tutankhamen’s tomb, four expedition members died in seven years. This brought public interest in Egyptian curses to an all-time high … and got Universal’s producers interested as well.

2It’s the First Universal Monster Movie Not Based on a Book

Before the Mummy shambled from his sarcophagus, Universal had already released five monster movies — the silent movies Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, The Phantom of the Opera and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and the 1931 Frankenstein and Dracula films that kicked off the Universal Monsters classic era.

Every single one of those films was based on a classic horror tale. However, The Mummy grew out of a directive by the studio to find new projects for Universal stars Karloff and Bela Lugosi. Screenwriters turned in a tale about an ancient Egyptian alchemist and black magic practitioner who lived to be 3,000 years old. Studio heads, who felt it was “too sci-fi,” demanded rewrites, and assigned a journalist who had actually visited King Tut’s tomb to help. From there, the story’s plot shifted, the 3,000-year-old man turned into a 3,000-year-old corpse, and eventually, The Mummy was born.

3It Was the First Famous Mummy Movie … But It Wasn’t the First Mummy Movie

That honor would go to the 1911 short silent film The Mummy, which told the story of a mummy that, through an electric shock, is brought back to life as a beautiful Egyptian princess. Unlike The Mummy, however, this silent movie is pure comedy — the plot is said to involve the mummy turned princess becoming lovesick for a young businessman and wrapping him up like a mummy when he rejects her overtures. Also unlike The Mummy, the actual film is lost — the film still above is some of the only remaining evidence that the movie ever existed.

4Karloff’s Makeup Took Eight Hours to Apply

By 1932, Karloff was no stranger to time-consuming costumes — his Frankenstein makeup took four hours to apply each day, and over two hours to remove. However, The Mummy took it took a new level — it took him a mind-bending eight hours to be transformed into Imhotep, a process that involved being coated in layers of clays, and then wrapped in 150 feet of linen bandages. (Some accounts claim parts of the makeup were secured with an application of rubber cement.) When he saw Karloff in costume, Frankenstein director James Whale exclaimed that the actor looked like he’d had a pail of garbage thrown over him.

5It Almost Had a Very Different Name

Given the pure simplicity of most Universal horror titles, it’s tough to imagine The Mummy as anything but The Mummy. But during production, the titles Imhotep and The King of the Dead were considered, too.