1943's "The Mummy's Ghost" was third in the Kharis series, second to star Lon Chaney in the title role, and was, like all its predecessors (including Karloff's 1932 original), included in Universal's popular SHOCK! package of classic horror films issued to television in the late 50s (five appearances on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater). An improvement on the listless "The Mummy's Tomb," Chaney's Mummy sports a different mask but actually shows more range, whether stalking a helpless victim like Frank Reicher (also back from "Tomb"), or recklessly shattering a glass museum exhibit, which resulted in a visible gash on the mummy's chin. John Carradine lends his exquisite sepulchral tones to Yousef Bey, High Priest of Arkham (Karnak having retired from shame), who leads Kharis to Manhattan's Scripps Museum to recover the mummy of the Princess Ananka, only to see the body disappear from its wrappings before their very eyes. Incredibly, by returning to Mapleton, they're able to find the girl now possessed by Ananka's reincarnated soul, who proves to be too much for Yousef to resist, forcing Kharis to eliminate the competition in typical fashion (apparently, Egyptian priests were never taught about the birds and the bees). Once again, we get stuck with a belligerent, unsympathetic 'hero' in Robert Lowery, so the climactic twist actually makes sense, the reincarnation theme successfully revived from Karloff's 1932 classic. Director Reginald Le Borg, a recent graduate from short subjects, worked well with Lon Chaney, continuing with "Calling Dr. Death," "Weird Woman," "Dead Man's Eyes," and "The Black Sleep." Deputising for the injured Acquanetta, Ramsay Ames proves sadly lacking, her Amina Mansouri registering as a total blank (she was little better as Chaney's unfaithful wife in her Universal finale, "Calling Dr. Death"). George Zucco contributes another welcome cameo (his last in the series), but Barton Mac Lane is woefully out of place in his only Universal horror, the dead end investigation trailing behind Lowery (this time, Kharis scrupulously avoids crowds). Look fast in the opening reel for Martha Vickers ("The Big Sleep"), previously seen in "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man" and "Captive Wild Woman." Next up for Chaney was the final entry, "The Mummy's Curse," which amazingly continued the upswing from the previous two, now set in the Louisiana bayous.
Review of The Mummy's Ghost
