The Mummy in Adelaide
1933 and the Arrival of Boris Karloff
The Advertiser 17 March 1933
Very few people in Adelaide had the opportunity to see James Whale’s Frankenstein. They had heard all about it, as it was banned and subject to media attention, but, outside of photos, it was all but impossible to see anywhere in South Australia, certainly in cinemas, as it did sneak into some churches for screenings, but that’s another story. Thus the King of Horror Films in South Australia was still Bela Lugosi, as Dracula was still fresh in filmgoer’s memories. Karloff, for all the hype, was a relative unknown, even though he had been on the screen for over a decade. He was a bit player, not a star, as his two big films, Frankenstein and Scarface, were both banned.
All that changed when The Mummy began screening in Adelaide at the Hoyts Regent Theatre on Saturday 18 March 1933.
By this stage Dracula had been and gone, and had been a hit at Adelaide cinemas, but Frankenstein, which was Karloff’s big break, had been banned and not shown at cinemas in South Australia. Thus the first anyone in Adelaide had seen Karloff, in a horror movie, was in James Whale’s Old Dark House. A proper Karloff horror film was somewhat of an oddity to those living in Adelaide. They had seen Karloff’s monster make-up when it a photo from Frankenstein was placed on the front page of The News on 15 June 1932.
The Mummy was going to launch Karloff in South Australia.
The first review was tepid.
Karloff’s 'Mummy'
The monster man of the films, Boris Karloff. has made one of the most weird and bizarre films of his career in 'The Mummy,' which began today at the Regent. Whether you believe in reincarnation or not, you cannot help being thrilled by this most unusual story.
It reaches back to antiquity and reveals a love which existed 3,700 years ago in the days of the Egyptian Pharaohs, but the main theme has a modern background.
The Mail 18 March 1933
Thankfully the reviews got better.
The Mummy’ Thrills
‘The Mummy’ at the Regent-Boris Karloff, wearing grave-cloths 3,700 years old, makes love to Zita Johann, In a thriller that really thrills.
Karloff (who is English and surnamed Pratt) does a magnificent job as Im-Ho-Tep, sacrilegious priest of ancient Egypt, who was delivered to the ‘nameless death’ for loving a temple virgin. The scene in which he is buried alive in mummy-cloths is Grand Guignol at its most grisly.
Three thousand seven hundred year later the mummy of lm-Ho-Tep is found by English scientists and with it the sacred scroll of Thoth, which can bring life to the dead. Im-Ho-Tep comes to life; an English boy dies gibbering; Sir Joseph Wemble, leader of the expedition, is struck down as he is trying to burn the mischievous scroll; and Im-Ho-Tep, is Ardath Bey, tries to win back his lost virgin (Zita Johann), reincarnated as an English-Egyptian girl of today.
Horror is piled on horror in the grand manner. The settings are vast and terrifying, and the action is modelled on the plan of ‘Dracula.’
The News 20 March 1933
IN THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS
Karloff As Mummy At The Regent
It may be liked or disliked, but ‘The Mummy,’ showing at the Regent this week, is a picture to which spectators cannot be indifferent. It is too potent. It abounds with spells, curses, incantations, deaths, burials, resurrections and preparations for sacrifice, causing an atmosphere so tense as to be almost unnerving, even to the habitual theatregoer. ‘The Mummy,’ with its realistic glimpses into Egyptian life of 3.000 years ago, is certainly one of the weirdest pictures yet born in Hollywood, and reflects the creative talent of that community.
Dominating it all is Karloff, the successor of Lon Chaney. He is Im-Ho-Tep, priest of Osiris, and condemned to be mummified and buried alive for stealing from the gods the secret scroll that would bring life again to the vestal virgin whom he loved. His shrivelled, unearthly appearance is a masterpiece of make-up, to which Karloff adds another acting triumph.
Through the discovery of the scroll by a British archaeological expedition, Im-Ho-Tep is brought to life. He uses the magic powers that possession of the scroll gives him to draw Helen Grosvenor, the 20th century reincarnation of the vestal virgin, from the love of a young archaeologist. Under Im-Ho-Tep's hypnotic spell, she agrees to be sacrificed, so that their ancient love may live again.
Zita Johann, as Helen Grosvenor, is admirably cast for her part, and acts well in several difficult scenes. David Manners has a straightforward piece. As his distinguished father, Arthur Byron gives strong support, while Edward van Sloan gives credence to the part of a modem believer in the occult.
The Advertiser 20 March 1933
The Mummy ran for seven days - 18 to 24 March 1933 at the Hoyts Regent, located at 101-109 Rundle Street. It was then moved to The Grand Theatre, 23 Rundle Street, where it ran for another seven days, from 1 - 7 April. The first ads for the film began to appear Monday 13 March.
From its city screenings, the film moved into the suburbs where The Star Theatre chain picked it up and ran it at its many cinemas across South Australia for the next few months.
Karloff had arrived. He was now Karloff The Uncanny. With one magnificent movie, he had taken the mantle of the horror star from Lugosi, at least in South Australia. For those wanting to see his turn in Frankenstein, they would have to wait until May 1952, or head interstate (no easy feat in 1932/1933) and hope to see it there.
The Advertiser 25 April 1933
Not only had Karloff arrived, but horror was now well and truly entrenched in Adelaide.
The Fate of the Cinemas
Sadly, neither cinema that showed The Mummy in Adelaide during its first run still exists.
Hoyts Regent Theatre was a jewel in the Adelaide cinema crown. It opened in June 1928 and was closed down in 2004. Part of the original walling decoration can be seen in Dymocks Bookstore, Adelaide. The Grand Theatre opened on 30 November 1916 and closed in February 1976. It is now a building of offices.