The Mummy's Hand

The Mummy's Hand is a 1940 American black-and-white horror film directed by Christy Cabanne and produced by Ben Pivar for Universal Studios. The film is about an Egyptian mystic named Andoheb (George Zucco) who is ordered by his High Priest (Eduardo Ciannelli) to guard over the mummy of Kharis (Tom Tyler), who can be revived or neutralized by burning a handful of tanna leaves. Meanwhile, archeologists Steve Banning (Dick Foran) and Babe Jenson (Wallace Ford) try to persuade magician Solvani (Cecil Kellaway) to finance an expedition in search of Ananka's sarcophagus. They are joined by Solvani's daughter Marta (Peggy Moran) and Andoheb disguised as the professor of Egyptology at the Cairo Museum. Kharis is ordered to kill off expedition members Dr. Petrie (Charles Trowbridge) and Ali (Leon Belasco) while Andoheb becomes attracted to Marta who he plans to kidnap and make immortal.

The Mummy's Hand was made after the financial success of two other Universal Products: Son of Frankenstein and The Invisible Man Returns which led to the studio making a follow-up to The Mummy. The film had what was described as "modest" budget and reuses footage from The Mummy as well as reusing nearly the entire score from Son of Frankenstein. The film was shot with a planned budget of $80,000 but went $4,000 over-budget as production completed. The film was released on September 20, 1940, and was followed by a sequel titled The Mummy's Tomb in 1942.