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Reviews
The Mummy (1959)
Can't Hide from this Mummy
Although this Hammer film combines Universal's "The Mummy's Hand" and "The Mummy's Tomb" it surpasses them by making the mummy a true menace. Universal's mummy in the 1940's was so slow its victims had to trap themselves in a corner and wait to be killed. Here, one victim sees the mummy crash through the door only to have it on him before he has time move. The acting is excellent throughout the film. The only fault is in the rather dull flashback, which just goes on way too long. There are two things for the nitpickers out there - first, John refers to the mummy killing "my father and his brother", yet the credits list the names as Stephen Banning and Joseph Whemple. Finally, at the end Isobel orders Kharis to put her down, but how is it a 4000 year old Egyptian mummy is able to understand a command given to him in English, a language which didn't exist in his time? Somehow, oddities like that just add to the fun of watching.
The Solitaire Man (1933)
Forgotten thriller
This is one of those little MGM quickies that is unfairly overlooked by both film fans and historians. Without giving anything away, the plot involves a jewel theft and murder, with the suspects aboard a plane flying from France to England. There are several plot twists before and after the plane lands. It may not be hard to guess who the villain really is, but the film maintains a good level of suspense and is well acted. It's not without a major goof, at one point in the film Lionel Atwill calls Herbert Marshall "Wallace", the name of Atwill's character. How MGM let that get by is a mystery. This film is a good example of what could be done on a limited budget.