The Mummy mood I'm in keeps moving forward into the past, and that's why this Saturday Night Special is called "The Mummy's Foot!"
That's probably the worstest Mummy title I've ever heard, but this is actually a pretty good little tale, even if there's not a real bandaged up Mummy in it!
I've never read the story, but from what I can tell, this TV show is absolutely based on this story by Théophile Gautier, even though they give him no credit at all, and instead credit the story to Stanley Rubin. It's either that or just a coincidence that the main character is named
"The Mummy's Foot" was episode number 4 out of 26 episodes from a television show called
"Your Show Time" that ran for one season back in 1949! The host, or The Bookshop Man as they call him, was Arthur (Daughter of Dr. Jekyll) Shields! Lucky Strike must have been the sponsor, because he chain smokes through all his parts!
"Your Show Time" that ran for one season back in 1949! The host, or The Bookshop Man as they call him, was Arthur (Daughter of Dr. Jekyll) Shields! Lucky Strike must have been the sponsor, because he chain smokes through all his parts!
Herbert Anderson has the role of a writer named Peter who is writing a play set in ancient Egypt. Yes, his apartment is adorned with Egyptian stuff, and he is walking like an Egyptian to get in the right frame of mind.
This is Peter's girlfriend, soon to be his fiancée, Sylvia, as played by Peggy Dow.
"The Mummy's Foot" was the first of Peggy's ten credits. Maybe being in a movie with a human-sized invisible rabbit named "Harvey" was enough for her because she quick acting soon after that.
Peter might already have a lot of Egyptian antiquities, but he's really happy because he just found a 3000 year old mummified foot at an antique store! Sylvia is less enthralled!
This was Herbert Anderson's first appearance on TV, but he ended up being on a number of shows over the years. Probably the epoch of his career was his five year, and 146 appearances as Dennis The Menace's Dad, Henry Mitchell.
Look who just walked in the room! It's Princess
Peter is taken off guard and is totally astounded by the sight of her!
Why has the Princess just shown up out of the blue?
She's come to regain her foot that looters stole from her tomb!
The gorgeous Princess
Peter's digging the idea for more than one reason!
Who cares how, but somehow they are magically scooted off to ancient Egypt!
She really wants Peter to marry her, and become her seventh husband. Her other six husbands were all stuck into large urns and unceremoniously dropped into the Nile River when they pissed her off!
The Princess shows her Father that she got her foot back!
The Father is played by J. Edward (Son Of Dracula) Bromberg. He was accused of being a Communist in 1950, and was blackballed from acting after that. His health soon went to Hell, and he had a heart attack the following year! He was only 47 years old!
Oddly enough, something we don't see in these old movies much any more, Phyllis Coates and Peggy Dow are still both alive which puts them both in their early 90's!
No Mummy's curse here!
When Peter gets back home, he wakes up, and realizes the whole thing was a dream, but there's just one thing!
The foot is gone!
I luv me some Phyllis Coates! Her Lois Lane was fascinating, and a bit 'spookier' than Noel Neill's Lois, which perhaps - via a time traveling casting director maybe? - had something to do with her getting the role here of Princess Hermonthis - or Hermonthat - or Hermonwhatever-the-heck!
ReplyDeleteToo bad about J. Edward Bromberg's blackballing in those McCarthy years. I once had a lady friend whose late husband (a radio and film writer and actor) had his career killed as well, and he died due to his own blackballing back then.