Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy
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| Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy | |
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 Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy Theatrical Poster |
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| Directed by | Charles Lamont |
| Produced by | Howard Christie |
| Written by | John Grant |
| Starring | Bud Abbott Lou Costello Marie Windsor Michael Ansara |
| Music by | Joseph Gershenson |
| Editing by | Russell Schoengarth |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | May 23, 1955 (U.S. release) |
| Running time | 79 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $738,000 |
| Preceded by | The Mummy's Curse (1944) Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops (1955) |
| Followed by | Dance With Me Henry (1956) |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy is a 1955 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It is also the 28th and final Abbott and Costello film produced by Universal Pictures.
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[edit] Plot
Freddie Franklin (Lou Costello) and Peter Patterson (Bud Abbott) are Americans who are stranded in Cairo, Egypt. They happen to overhear Dr. Gustav Zoomer (Kurt Katch) discussing the mummy Klaris, the guardian of the Tomb of Princess Ara. Apparently the mummy has a sacred medallion that shows where the treasure of Princess Ara can be found. The Followers of Klaris, led by Semu (Richard Deacon) and Madame Rontru (Marie Windsor), also overhear Dr. Zoomer's conversation.
Pete and Freddie go to the doctor's house to apply for the position to accompany the mummy back to America. However, two of Semu's men, Iben (Mel Welles) and Hetsut (Richard Karlan), murder the doctor and steal the mummy just before Pete and Freddie arrive. However, the medallion has been left behind and is found by Pete and Freddie, who attempt to sell it. Rontru offers them $100, but Pete knows it is worth more and asks for $5,000, which Rontru agrees to pay. She tells them to meet her at the Cairo Café, where Pete and Freddie learn from a waiter that the medallion is cursed. They frantically try to give it to one another, until it winds up in Freddie's hamburger and he swallows it. Rontru arrives and drags them to a doctor's office to get a look at the medallion under a fluoroscope. However, she cannot read the medallion's inscribed instructions, which are in hieroglyphics. Semu arrives, claiming to be an archaeologist, and offers to guide them all to the tomb. Meanwhile, Semu's followers have returned life to Klaris.
They arrive at the tomb, where Freddie learns of Semu's plans to murder them all. Rontru captures Semu, and one of her men, Charlie (Michael Ansara), disguises himself as a mummy and enters the temple. Pete follows suit by disguising himself as a mummy, and he and Freddie rescue Semu. Eventually all three mummies are in the same place at the same time, and the dynamite that Rontru intends to use to dig up the treasure detonates, killing Klaris and revealing the treasure. Freddie and Pete convince Semu to turn the temple into a nightclub to preserve the legend of Klaris.
[edit] Production
Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy was filmed from October 28 through November 24, 1954 and is the last film that Abbott and Costello made for Universal Pictures, although Universal released a compilation film of clips from their films, titled The World of Abbott and Costello in 1965.
Although Abbott and Costello were called "Pete and Freddie" in the script and in the closing credits, they used their real names onscreen during filming.
The day after filming completed, on November 25, 1954, Abbott and Costello arrived in New York City to ride on the first float of the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
In Universal's previous mummy films, the mummy was called "Kharis". In this film it is called "Klaris."
Stuntman Eddie Parker (billed as "Edwin") played Klaris the mummy. He had previously doubled Lon Chaney, Jr. as Kharis Universal's earlier Mummy films.
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