Tom Weaver Presents Scripts from the Crypt #13 - The Mummy's Hand

When in Egypt…Fear the DEAD more than the Living!

Here, for the first time in over 3,000 years, is complete The Mummy’s Hand coverage, excavated by the best team of Universal Horror archaeologists this side of the Scripps Museum.

"We’ve covered a number of these fan-intense books in the past, and several have earned good places on the shelf, like the 2019 book on The Brute Man with its heavy-duty research on Rondo Hatton and its mug-shot round-up of beloved ugly-mug actors through Hollywood history.

With this tome, the SFTC series digs further into 1940s Universal lore, of which Tom Weaver & cohorts might be the reigning authorities. The centerpiece of the book is the full shooting script, in this case actress Peggy Moran’s copy via collector Ron Borst. It takes up 155 pages or so in the book’s center.

Then there's Weaver’s lengthy production history section -- a couple of them, actually. Armed with studio records, trade paper research, and a number of personal interviews, Weaver relates the day-to-day business of cranking out program pictures as if Universal were a small-town factory. Weaver overwhelms with facts, figures, photos, and dozens of fascinating side stories.

Weaver’s co-authors provide good sidebar essay chapters on the actors, with deep bio dives for Dick Foran & Wallace Ford (Laura Wagner), Peggy Moran (Bob Koster), etc. Well-known film historian Gregory William Mank contributes an engrossing piece on George Zucco, demolishing the lies about the actor circulated by the Hollywood Babylon II book.

More solid fact-finding academia comes with comprehensive chapters on mummy movies silent (Gary D. Rhodes) and sound (Frank Dello Stritto), which include info on more than a few titles, plus some surprising images.

With all of this solid content, The Mummy’s Hand SFTC isn’t as scrapbook-y as some previous installments. The text is frequently interrupted with little photo explanations, old advertisements, personal keepsakes from the actors, and odd grabs from the file.