After creating the complex Dracula/vampire mythos and the ongoing fictional biography of Baron Frankenstein, Hammer Films sought a new legend to explore. Dipping into the Universal monster canon once again, screenwriter Jimmy Sangster decided to reinvent the monstrous Mummy as the next Gothic installment of Hammer horror in 1959. However, instead of remaking the 1932 Boris Karloff original, Sangster turned instead to the cursed Banning family featured in the Universal mummy sequels starring Tom Tyler and Lon Chaney, Jr. With the Hammer factory placing its full creative energy into the project, those 1940s Universal productions would be bettered artistically by Hammer's wealth of talent and creativity.

Director Terence Fisher, Hammer's creator of horror mythology and its most gifted director, crafted The Mummy as a worthy successor to recent Hammer triumphs such as Horror of Dracula and The Revenge of Frankenstein . Of course the dynamic duo from Horror of Dracula , heroic Peter Cushing and devilish Christopher Lee, would return, with Lee portraying Kharis, the reanimated Egyptian high priest/Mummy, and Peter Cushing portraying archaeologist John Banning.

Although this was not the only Hammer mummy film with which Peter Cushing was associated (he would later, uncredited, recite the narration for 1967's The Mummy's Shroud ), Cushing approached The Mummy knowing that he would not reprise the role of hero John Banning, as he would Baron Frankenstein and Van Helsing. The Professor and the Baron were iconic, larger-than-life characters, whereas Banning was a regular human being, an archaeologist caught in a complex mystery of revenge, so Cushing's played him as an ordinary man. However, Peter Cushing would never allow ordinary to become bland .

Regrettably, perhaps because George Pastell (as evil Egyptian Mehemet Bey) and Christopher Lee have the splashy roles, Cushing's performance here is one of his most overlooked, even though Cushing's Banning becomes a synthesis of all his strengths as an actor. And, as befits the star whose opening-credit billing is twice as large as Christopher Lee's, Cushing creates a memorable hero that puts David Manners and Dick Foran to shame.

From the outset, Cushing makes John Banning an invalid--literally, at first--as he's suffering from a broken leg that needs to be properly set by a doctor. Stephen Banning (Felix Aylmer), his father and leader of the Egyptian expedition they're on, tells partner Joseph Whemple (Raymond Huntley) "that's for him to decide... I'll abide by what he says," making it clear that Banning respects and trusts his son's judgment. Cushing develops a marvelous hopping gait, using a walking cane which allows his damaged leg to function in bouncy swoops that create a herky-jerky rhythm. Even though lame, Banning is always energetic and in a hurry.

Drawing upon another strength, when John Banning is shown an Egyptian artifact, the seal of Ananka's tomb, "Props" Cushing goes into immediate action by picking up a magnifying glass and looking carefully at the newly discovered relic. Cushing's face expresses curiosity, wonder, intensity, and obsession. Moving the magnifying glass all around and changing his angle of investigation, Peter Cushing demonstrates how he can take any insignificant prop and make it meaningful in a matter of seconds. Later, after his father's murder at the hands of Kharis, John wants to sort through his father's papers to discover a motive for his murder by "person or persons unknown." Cushing exploits the library-research sequence, reading and re-reading his father's papers, limping across the room, smoking a cigarette, pouring a drink from a decanter, and finally pulling a portfolio from the library shelf. The way in which Cushing commands a sequence, making all eyes turn to him, is a credit to his artistry as an actor.

Boasting an expressive face, Peter Cushing is equally blessed with a commanding voice, and both are used to good effect in an early sequence where Whemple announces to the younger Banning that his father has just now entered what he believes to be the tomb of Princess Ananka. Banning's face lights up and the twinkle gleams in his eyes as he hesitantly inquires, "Is he quite sure... no doubt at all?" In typical fashion, Cushing uses his emotive hand to push disheveled hair back into place, smiling in eager anticipation and excitement. Grimacing in pain when he tries to move his leg to investigate, he tells Whemple to get back to the tomb to help his father, understanding full well that his limp leg would slow up the proceedings. Suddenly a horrid scream is heard bellowing from the digs. Immediately, John Banning tries to swing his leg into action, but the pain is too intense, as his face reveals. After father Stephen is found raving incoherently, bent over a sarcophagus, John Banning reveals, with deliberate enunciation, "The best of my life has been among the dead. But I never worked in a place that had such an aura of menace. There's something evil in there... I felt it." Cushing's voice can stir up the heebie-jeebies every time he speaks of e-vil or the "aura of menace." And Cushing never delivers his line readings sarcastically, for his primary strength as actor is making the audience believe every fantastical occurrence by nature of his seriousness and intensity.

The chief horror of The Mummy occurs not in vampire crypts and coffins in Castle Dracula but in the expansive, ornate Banning living room, a room lined with high French windows and library shelves. After Banning orders wife Isobel to go up to bed--"Isobel, I never asked you to do anything before, but I'm ordering you now!"--Banning opens up his gun case, prepares a rifle, and paces, awaiting the arrival of the Mummy. There's a suspenseful buildup, then the Mummy comes crashing through the French windows, and John quickly fires off two shots which rip through the Mummy's gauze and decaying flesh. Even with his game leg, Banning rolls backwards over his wooden desk and climbs onto a library shelf to fetch a metal spear, which he thrusts downward through the Mummy, but the fiend keeps coming forward, finally engaging Banning in hand-to-hand combat, the Mummy quickly putting his gigantic hand around Banning's throat. As they struggle, disobedient Isobel suddenly appears, her hair worn down, the spitting image of Princess Ananka. Her appearance causes Kharis to stop in his tracks, his sad eyes mournfully pathetic. Slowly the Mummy turns and walks out of the house. This sequence, perhaps the most thrilling and energetic of the movie, demonstrates just how adept Peter Cushing is when it comes to acrobatic stunts and physical prowess.

In a later but equally impressive sequence, the Mummy again attacks, but this time from within the house, Banning expecting Kharis to appear again at the French windows. In a marvelous, fast-cut sequence shot from over Kharis' shoulder, Banning, momentarily terrified, turns, rifle in arm, but has no to time to fire before the Mummy grabs the rifle and again tries to choke the life out of him. With great strength, Kharis bends Banning back over a chair, until Isobel again appears, Banning screaming, "Your hair! Put down your hair!" Mehemet Bey, who is also present, commands Kharis to kill Isobel, but the Mummy's undying love for Ananka causes the creature to snap Bey's back instead, then carry the reincarnated beauty off to the swamp.

But perhaps Peter Cushing is best when he is intellectually challenged by a worthy adversary and the subtlety of his dialogue carries the full dramatic weight of The Mummy , suggesting the figurative nature of Banning as invalid. Such is the sequence between Banning and Mehemet Bey when Banning goes to call on his recently arrived Egyptian neighbor. The initial meeting is warm and cordial, from "Good evening; my name is Banning... hope I haven't called at an inconvenient time" to "You've come from Egypt, didn't you? I've spent many years in your country!" However, Bey soon asks about Banning's father, inquiring if he is retired, and Banning reveals the already obvious fact that his father is dead. Bey reveals his disdain for archaeology and the "desecration of tombs sealed for all time, removing the remains of kings," by putting them in the British Museum to be stared at for all eternity. Banning counters by claiming ancient Egyptians' "intelligence [was] remarkably low, believing in artificial creeds and beliefs," which leads to his insult of the god Karnac as a third-rate god: "He was insignificant, based upon ludicrous beliefs." Bey objects, "You're intolerant," to which Banning responds, calm-faced but with an obvious tinge of anger, "It occurred to me--but I dismissed it!" This causes Bey to declare, "I don't think your evil will go unpunished!" To which Banning counters, "That sounds like a threat!" Ultimately, Banning, attempting to soothe already ruffled feathers, adds, "I've only come here to welcome you. But I guess I got carried away."

Peter Cushing triumphs in The Mummy , a movie additionally supported by overall good acting, strong scripting, effective set decoration, cinematography, and direction. Cushing demonstrates his command of his craft through a characterization that thrives on physical imperfections (his broken leg), witty dialogue (his volley with George Pastell), a nimble use of props, and effective use of energized leaps, rolls, and lunges to make his no-longer-youthful hero physically effective and, well, even dashing. Whether piercing the Mummy with a metal shaft or insulting third-rate gods such as Karnac, John Banning is a character that demonstrates all the aspects we love about Peter Cushing, an actor who never gave less than his absolute best.