The Mummy (Peter Cushing)
@Anora_Eldorath (6028)
United States
October 15, 2010 7:18pm CST
Tonight I'm watching the 1959 version of The Mummy starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. What do you think of this version? I love the old Boris Karloff one myself because of the black and white. The colorization seems to almost take away from the horror of the original story. It's almost too light with not enough of the dark ominous shades that left you feeling unsettled in earlier versions. Do you feel this version does justice to the story? Are there liberties taken that were not taken in the original? I was a bit surprised at how clean they made the tomb appear. My thoughts were "Umm, that's not what a tomb would have looked liked if just opened".
Do you think that this movie though also portrays Egyptians in a poor light? So many of these appear to me to promote this sort of negative portrait of anyone foreign. Do you feel that perhaps the movies made during this time period such as The Mummy were in a sense a product of their time?
Namaste-Anora
3 people like this
12 responses
@celticeagle (189792)
• Boise, Idaho
16 Oct 10
Yes, I do. A product of their time for sure. Boris Karloff was superb in all he did. Black and white is so eery and really adds to the scariness. I am glad they bring these movies back this time of year. I also like the radio show called the War of the Worlds. Orson Welle's did a hoax on America. I was a teen and in my room listening to the radio when it came on. I heard the second announcement that it was a hoax. Loved it.
@Hatley (163772)
• Garden Grove, California
16 Oct 10
hi celtic I was too and some of our neighbors believed it and had packed all their belongins in their pickups and I do not know where they thought they were goling, then it was announced it was all a hoax. how ever could I have forgotten that. I loved it too.thanks for the memory.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (189792)
• Boise, Idaho
17 Oct 10
Yes, it was very fascinating. Orson Welles was a big name back then. I think if he hadn't been he may had some problems. And then there is the standpoint too that it was hoax and people were embarrassed.
@Anora_Eldorath (6028)
• United States
16 Oct 10
CE & Hatley-
How fascinating to have lived in that generation and experienced it first hand. I've read the stories about how people were truly scared! I wonder if that sort of hoax could ever be pulled off again? And what would the charges be lol. I'm surprised that Orson Wells was not kicked out of the country. (Not that he should have been mind you, I adored him growing up watching old movies).
Namaste-Anora
1 person likes this
@AmbiePam (120585)
• United States
17 Oct 10
I agree with you so much about how much a movie loses when they colorize what used to be a black and white film. Movies that were sinister seem less so when they bring the movie out in color. People's faces are so unnaturally bright it defies a reasonable person's ability to make believe.
2 people like this
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
16 Oct 10
We used to see The Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee movies at noon break at our high school, but mostly it was the Dracula movies and they were pretty frightening. At least with the black and white ones, I could go asleep at night. I did not see their version of the Mummy, but I did like the old black and white moves, and the Egyptian devotees seemed more sinister then even the modern version.
@Anora_Eldorath (6028)
• United States
16 Oct 10
Suspenseful-
What a wonderful experience in school! I grew up watching them on late Saturday afternoons on a local station that ran a horror show that featured all the old b/w's.
Namaste-Anora
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
16 Oct 10
I would have rather watched the black and white ones. I do have TCM and used to watch them on Tv around Halloween. i must ocnfess I liked the Abbot and Costello Meet === parodies, especially the one about the Mummy.
@Hatley (163772)
• Garden Grove, California
16 Oct 10
anora oh I loved the Boris Karloff one better, the later one is okay but it does not have that great spooky feeling of horror the first one
had. I had thoght that too now you mention it that the second one
makes Egyptians out as much less than perfect. Could it it was a product
of that time period too. The thinking of that era might be reflected in that movie.
1 person likes this
@Anora_Eldorath (6028)
• United States
16 Oct 10
Hatley-
I find it fascinating just how some things change and some things don't. Even in the newer version with Brendan Fraiser they do tend to make some look more poorly than others, save the holy men.
Namaste-Anora
@RachelleNH (1396)
• United States
16 Oct 10
How funny-I watched the newer Brendan Fraser last night and a good friend told me to watch the older version!
1 person likes this
@Anora_Eldorath (6028)
• United States
16 Oct 10
Rachelle-
Definitely go and watch it if you get the chance, it is very similar. As someone was pointing out so many of our new films hitting the theaters are simply remakes of the older ones. I'm not sure how much is truly original anymore.
Namaste-Anora
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
20 Oct 10
I rarely get the opportunity to see old black and white films but I find them rather comical and stilted, not scary at all. I've always found that these films always portray a stereotypical "goodie" and "baddie" whether it be the classic tales like "The Mummy" or a good ole Western/cowboys and Indians film.
@ElicBxn (64169)
• United States
16 Oct 10
first of all, it was a Hammer film - not the top of the line film making anyway...
and it was a product of its time, so obviously it wasn't going to treat any "non-white" as well as a "white" person.
Even the '30's flicks were products of their time, just as movies today will probably be looked back on as "oh, those turn of the 21st century are such snapshots of their times" in another 50 years...
1 person likes this
@Anora_Eldorath (6028)
• United States
16 Oct 10
ElicBxn-
I'm sure we will look back on moving making and have our comments, but even today most of the film directors praise the older movies. I do agree that Hammer did seem to go a bit over the top.
Namaste-Anora
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31633)
• United States
16 Oct 10
I prefer the Karloff version, too. Everything is more terrifying in black and white! Or maybe it's because so much of the violence and murder, etc., was implied instead of showcased.
I never thought about the second part of your question, putting Egyptians in a bad light. In fact, I never judged a people by what I saw in movies until the outcry began about portraying something wrong--to me, it was a work of fiction and entirely separate from the people in question. I think that the hysterical, hyper-sensitive people looking for something to be offended about have ruined just about everything and made it difficult to speak, write or do anything without second guessing ourselves.
1 person likes this
@crazydaisy (3896)
• Canada
16 Oct 10
I just love the old movies I agree with you that they are really great the way they do them.
cd
@thesids (22180)
• Bhubaneswar, India
16 Oct 10
Namaste Anora,
I havent seen this one though but yes, I have seen quite a few of those from the black and white era. I think that these days, we use more technology and computers to get our tasks done at the movie making. This makes us deliver great effects.
But in those days of black and white, technology was rare and to create those effects it was a hectic task. Kudos to those people who delivered so much given the constraints.
True black and white hides many flaws yet, the pains they took to deliver must be appreciated.
Cheers,
theSids
1 person likes this
