3. The Mummy joined the Universal pantheon in 1932
Universal and other studios made several horror pictures during 1931 and 1932, but the next of the great Universal monsters to appear was the Mummy, in the film of that name, released in December, 1932. Boris Karloff appeared as the mummified remains of Imhotep, a man bandaged and interred as a mummy while still alive. Loosely based on a story by Arthur Conan Doyle (of Sherlock Holmes fame) it took eight hours per day for Karloff to don the makeup as the Mummy. Karloff later described the production as the “most trying ordeal I ever endured”.
The Mummy was another success for Universal at the box office and with critics. Karloff received near-universal praise for his performance of the Mummy and his portrayal as Egyptian Ardath Bey. Several following films featured a mummy character, but none were true sequels, and Karloff did not return to the role. Nonetheless, the Mummy’s enduring walk, with one hand cast forward and bandages trailing behind from the other arm, was created by Boris Karloff, as was the Mummy’s status as one of the classic film monsters of the 1930s.