8mm Forum: A&C Meet The Mummy

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Posted by Brad Kimball (Member # 5) on July 25, 2007, 08:29 AM:

From U-8 on a 400' reel. Again a very nice job. Universal simply elongated the Castle cutdown and they actually did a pretty decent job. Not much else differs from the Castle version other than the fact that the story actually has some cohesiveness. There's no footage from the earlier part of the film. All the action takes place in Egypt (rather Universal's dressed up soundstage). I never was a big fan of this picture. I always thought it was a lacklustre production with cruddy continuity. Bud & Lou never calling themselves by their characters' names and Eddie Parker's Mummy bandages are so obvioulsly a jump-suit (in fact the identical jump-suit that Bud and the 'Charlie' character are wearing in the final 1/3 of the film). However, my daughter actually loves this one and isn't put off by the Mummy sequences so now I have a whole new appreciation for it and cutdowns are perfect for a child - they don't exhaust their attention spans (18 minutes is just perfect). I do have two criticisms, though..... The print during the opening credits flashes from being UBER bright to normal in two spots and the digest ends with a glimpse of the nightclub Bud erects to honor Klaris and the last frames are with the band hitting a high note in a song. There's no explanation of what we're seeing and I was hoping for the "cobra-in-the-basket" bit from the film's end, but, alas, it's not there. So, the digest sort of ends abruptly (typical of U-8 digests, though). The sound is good and clear and the overall print quality (mine is second-hand so it has some lines) is quite good and sharp.

Posted by Gary Crawford (Member # 67) on July 25, 2007, 08:58 AM:

A big cup of tana tea for your review. A useful review...because, yes..that Castle cutdown made zero sense...one of the worst jobs Castle ever did. I look forward to finding the 400 foot version ..because my 6 year old loves the Mummy....and loves Abbott and Costello, but she couldn't understand the one reeler...and neither could I.

Posted by Tony Stucchio (Member # 519) on July 01, 2009, 09:05 PM:

My copy also has the issue with bright to normal in the opening credits. I was disappointed that the cobra scene was not included at the end as well. They cut out the other best bit from the end of the picture -- the "shovel and pick" routine. I would have liked the jewelry in the hamburger routine, or the transcription scene. Instead you get a longer version of the end of the picture than the Castle had. Similar to what they did with A&C MEET F. What idiots the editors at U-8 were!

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on July 01, 2009, 11:06 PM:

Good to see another new review! Kudo's!

Posted by Douglas Meltzer (Member # 28) on July 02, 2009, 11:21 AM:

Both Castle & U-8 did a poor job with this title. They went for plot instead of jokes. Tony is absolutely right...the "take your pick" routine is a fun bit of wordplay that was missing from most of the duo's 1950's films.

Osi, we'll be coming up on the 2 year anniversary of this review!

Doug

Posted by Tony Stucchio (Member # 519) on July 02, 2009, 07:41 PM:

You're right Doug, but you can hardly call it "plot"!
[Big Grin]

The full-version of this movie holds up well until the ending (summarized in the extracts) -- then it falls flat.

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