Movie Review – Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955)

In December of 1944, the audiences wondered if The Mummy’s Curse was going to be the final Mummy film made by Universal Studios.

By that point the Mummy film franchise had dwindled into a collection of mediocre films, and the whole “horror” element was mostly missing.  The Mummy himself had transformed into a humanoid monster more resembling a deranged killer rather than a mysterious and cunning creature dating back thousands of years.

In 1955, the Mummy would finally return to the cinemas in Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy.  This time around, instead of being a horror film, this Mummy movie is a comedy that spoofs the entire Mummy franchise.

Directed by Charles Lamont, Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy stars the comedy duo of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello as Pete Patterson and Freddie Franklin, a pair of Americans stranded in Cairo, Egypt.  Supporting them in the film are Marie Windsor as Madame Rontru, Michael Ansara as Charlie, and Peggy King as a singer in a nightclub.

Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy begins with two American explorers, Pete Patterson (Bud Abbott) and Freddie Franklin (Lou Costello), out of money and stuck in Cairo, Egypt.  While at the Cafe Bagdad, they, and several other people, happen to overhear Dr. Gustav Zoomer (Kurt Katch) mention that he has discovered the mummy Klaris, the guardian of the tomb of Princess Ara.  Patterson focuses on the fact that Zoomer needs a couple of men to help escort the mummy back to America.  That could be he and Franklin’s ticket out of Egypt and back home.

Meanwhile, Semu (Richard Deacon) of the Followers of Klaris has also overheard mention of the mummy’s discovery.  He has his own plans for dealing with this information.

When two thieves also overhear this news about the mummy, Madame Rontru (Marie Windsor) instructs him and his companion out to retrieve the mummy, curse or no curse.

The two Followers of Klaris find Dr. Zoomer inside of his office and they kill him.  They then locate the mummy Klaris (Eddie Parker) who is still very much alive.

When Patterson and Franklin arrive at Dr. Zoomer’s office to ask him for the job of escorting the mummy, they’re surprised to discover that the professor is missing.  The two of them decide to go around and look for clues, and Franklin runs into the mummy Klaris.  However, before Patterson can take a look at the mummy, the two Followers of Klaris have removed the mummy and his sarcophagus completely.  After that Franklin discovers the dead body of Dr. Zoomer, but again, the two Followers of Klaris keep moving the body until Patterson finally sees it himself.

Patterson decides that they need to call the police and report the murder of Dr. Zoomer.  He instructs Franklin to take a few pictures of the dead man should his body disappear before the police arrive at the office.  They then leave the office and talk about the photos, but the two thieves over them and mistakenly think that they are talking about shooting and killing the professor.  The photos are then given to a young boy who runs them to the police station.

The mummy Klaris is taken to a temple and the sarcophagus is opened by Semu.  He’s angered to discover that a medallion that the mummy should have been wearing is missing.  The Followers think that the medallion still might be in Dr. Zoomer’s office.  When they run off to look for it, Semu proceeds to give Klaris a special potion.

A short while later, Patterson and Franklin get a newspaper from a local boy.  They’re both surprised to read in the paper that Patterson is the main suspect in the murder of Dr. Zoomer.  It turns out that one of Franklin’s photographs had Patterson right next to the dead body.  Now the two of them are on the run to hunt for the real murderer and to clear their names of the crime.  When the police come looking for Patterson and Franklin, the two Americans run and hide in a local bazaar.  They pose as snake charmers to fool the policemen.

Patterson and Franklin then return to Dr. Zoomer’s office to try to find any more clues.  Inside of a small statue Franklin discovers a hidden medallion.  Just then Madame Rontru (she had been posing as a statue inside of the office) calls for the Followers to grab Patterson and Franklin.  A lengthy sequence follows as Patterson and Franklin manage to ditch the Followers and ultimately escape from Dr. Zoomer’s office while still holding the medallion.

The two of them return to the bazaar and make their way to a pawn shop.  The owner of the pawn shop (Madame Rontru in disguise) offers to purchase the medallion from Franklin for $100.  Patterson believes that the medallion is worth much more money, so he sets the price at $5,000.  The woman agrees to pay that much, but the transaction will take place in the nearby Cafe Bagdad as she doesn’t carry that much money on her.

Inside the Cafe Bagdad, Patterson and Franklin sit down at a table after listening to a singer (Peggy King) perform a song.  When they show the waiter their medallion, the waiter is spooked.  He informs them that the medallion itself is cursed.  Suddenly neither Patterson or Franklin wants to be in possession of it.  They try to pass the medallion off to a waiter, but the waiter returns it to their table.  The two guys then keep passing it back and forth and trying to trick the other into keeping it.  The sequence ends when the medallion is hidden inside of a hamburger and Franklin accidentally eats it.

When Rontru arrives, she takes Franklin back to a private dining room so they can finish their transaction.  After she pays him, Franklin reveals that he accidentally ate the medallion and that it’s currently inside of him.  Rontru and the Followers take Franklin and Patterson to a doctor’s office so they can x-ray him.  They manage to get a clear x-ray picture of the medallion, but none of them know how to read hieroglyphics.  They need to find a translator.

Semu arrives and poses as an archaeologist.  He claims that he’s able to read hieroglyphics and will be able to lead them to the Tomb of Princess Ara.

The group travels into the desert and eventually reaches the tomb.  Semu splits away from the group and goes and addresses the Followers of Klaris.  While Patterson and Franklin are helping set up the tents, Franklin accidentally discovers a secret passage into the tomb.  He runs around the passages while being scared by bats, giant lizards, and even the mummy Klaris.  Franklin eventually finds Semu and overhears his plan of killing everybody in the group.  Franklin quickly escapes and finds his way back out of the temple where he tells Patterson everything that happened.

After hearing about the living mummy, Patterson has Franklin take him inside of the tomb to find it.  They locate the sarcophagus but it’s empty.  The two of them wait for the mummy to appear, but when he does Patterson runs away in fright.  The mummy wraps its arms around Franklin and tries to choke him, but this only makes Franklin cough up the medallion.  Franklin then runs away while the mummy examines the medallion.

Patterson and Franklin make it back outside where they run into Rontru.  When she learns of Semu’s plot she tells her me to go out and capture him so that the Followers of Klaris won’t attack and kill them.  Semu is easily captured and then held as Rontru’s prisoner.  She has Charlie (Michael Ansara) wrap himself in bandages and to take Klaris’s place in the sarcophagus.

Meanwhile, Patterson and Franklin stumble upon another secret passage and find themselves back inside of the tomb.  Patterson decides to take Klaris and hide him so that nobody can steal the mummy.  He’ll then disguise himself in bandages and take the mummy’s place.  When they open the sarcophagus, they accidentally knock out and remove Charlie disguised as a mummy, thinking that he’s really Klaris.  They take him outside and bury him right next to the tomb, unknowingly burying him right next to the spot where the thieves buried the real Klaris.

Frankling and Patterson (now disguised as a mummy) then discover Semu outside of the tomb.  The accidentally set him on one of the secret doors and Semu falls into the tomb.  Patterson and Franklin then go off and try to save the treasure while the two mummies that were buried (Klaris and Charlie) rise out of the ground and head inside the tomb.

It’s chaotic inside of the underground tomb as Madame Rontru is hunting for the treasure, Patterson and Franklin try to stop her, the Followers of Klaris try to kill them all, and the mummy Klaris is prowling the hallways and scaring everybody.  Klaris ultimately confronts Rontru, and she escapes by distracting Klaris with a burning stick of dynamite.  Klaris throws the dynamite at Franklin who throws it back at Klaris right before it explodes.  The explosion kills the mummy and it blasts a hole in a wall, revealing the secret location of Princess Ara’s treasure.

Madame Rontru and her men are captured by Semu and the Followers of Klaris.  Her fate is uncertain.  Semu is uncertain of how to handle the situation now, but Patterson suggests telling the whole world about the legend of Klaris and Princess Ara.  He knows just how to keep the memory of Klaris alive forever.

Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy ends with Patterson and Franklin at the Kafe Klaris, the hottest new nightclub in Egypt.  It’s a place where Egyptian theming dominates the club, and the band members are dressed as mummies.

Is Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy a good movie?

Yes.  This was my first time watching an Abbott and Costello film (I grew up watching re-runs of The Three Stooges with my dad), and I must say that it was a decent film.  They offer a different kind of humor than the Stooges, and it works here.

One of the odd parts of this movie was that even though Bud Abbott and Lou Costello’s characters had names in the film (it’s listed that way in the end credits), you don’t really hear those names in the movie.  You’ll hear these two address each other by their real names.  Why?  I have no idea.  Just listen to the dialogue and you’ll hear it happen.

Another odd part of this movie is that although it focuses on the mummy, we rarely see the mummy until near the end of the movie.  Going into this film I was expecting, and hoping, to see more of this classic Universal Studios monster.  Unfortunately, that’s not really the case here.  The good news is that what little we do see of the mummy Klaris is pretty funny.

Of course, one cannot be honest without overlooking some of the faults in this movie.  For starters, this is perhaps the worst costume yet for the Mummy.  The ancient bandages resemble more of a bad pair of pajamas rather than rags dating back thousands of years.  Also, the snake charming scene and some of the dancing by the Followers of Klaris look like something you would expect to find in India, NOT in Egypt.

As a whole, Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy is a decent comedy movie and a pretty good farewell film for the Mummy.  This film marks the final time that we see the Mummy in a film produced and released by Universal Studios for many years.  The United Kingdom company Hammer Films would take over the Mummy and release a series of mummy movies from 1959 until 1971.  Universal Studios wouldn’t return to making films featuring the Mummy until 1999’s release of The Mummy.

Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955) – movie trailer

It’s probable that fans of classic comedy films may find more entertainment value here in Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy rather than fans of the classic horror films.  Either way, as long as you enjoy classic films in one way or another, then you really cannot go wrong with sitting back and watching Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy.  There’s plenty of action, treachery and slapstick comedy routines to keep most people amused.

Bud Abbott aka Peter Patterson – “How stupid can you get?”
Lou Costello aka Freddie Franklin – “How stupid do you want me to be?”

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Madame Rontru – [looking at a fluroscope of Freddie’s insides] “A marble, two buttons, a safety pin…”
Bud Abbott aka Peter Patterson – “I lost a tie clasp two years ago, see if that’s in there.”