The 1955 film "Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy" is a comedy about two Americans stranded in modern Egypt who become involved with a living mummy, the ancient cult who owns the mummy, and treasure hunters looking for the grave of a princess. Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were a comedy team which had been making films since 1940. Beginning in 1948 they made several films featuring various Universal Studios monsters including the Frankenstein monster, Dracula, the Wolf Man, and the Mummy. The pair hear that a sacred medallion has clues to the location of the grave of Princess Ara where there would be a treasure. Some treasure hunters led by Madame Rontru are after the medallion, along with an ancient cult led by a man named Semu which has guarded the grave for 4,000 years with the assistance of the living mummy Klaris. The medallion shown in the film appears to have been manufactured specifically for the film and it is shown several times. Some of the decorations on the medallion imitate ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.

The film opens with a scene of modern Cairo.

Accompaning the scene is a spoken prologue:

Lou Costello and Bud Abbott have been in Cairo for a while and want to go back to America.

They overhear a Dr. Gustav Zoomer discussing his find of the mummy Klaris which has a sacred medallion inscribed with the location of the tomb of a Princess Ara. He intends to ship the mummy and the medallion to America. Bud and Lou visit Dr. Zoomer's house to apply to accompany the mummy on his trip. Dr. Zoomer's house has a door sign which reads: "Gustav Zoomer Prof. Dr. Ägyptol. Exporter Egyptian Artifacts." At the house they find Dr. Zoomer dead and Bud suggests that Lou take some photographs.

The camera is one of the first of the Polaroid Corporation instant cameras with self-developing film. Unknown to the pair, the doctor was murdered by members of Semu's cult who have also taken the mummy Klaris with them. They could not locate the medallion. Semu's cult operates out of an ancient temple in the Egyptian desert. The members meet to perform a ritual which will be incomplete without the medallion.

The cult members watch a dance troupe perform.

The dance troupe is Chandra Kaly and His Dancers, a group of exotic dancers who performed at nightclubs, hotels, and in motion pictures during the 1950's.

San Francisco's Mark Hopkins Hotel has a display of programs from a performance which mentions this film.

The back of the program reads:

After the dance, Semu takes a goblet and offers Klaris a drink to awaken him.

Bud and Lou return to Dr. Zoomer's house for another search and find the medallion.

At a cafe a waiter tells Bud and Lou that the medallion is cursed and Lou accidently swallows it. The pair are approached by Madame Rontru who offers to purchase it. She and Lou head for her apartment to negotiate the price.

Her assistant, hidden under the rug, tries to pick Lou's jacket pockets and drops a currency note.

The bills are standard Mexican Revolution motion picture stage or prop bills. For more information on these bills please visit: Mexican Revolution Currency Notes.

Madame gives up her attempt and calls her assistants to locate the medallion. They take Lou to a doctor's office which has a fluoroscope (a type of x-ray machine).

The photograph shows the medal in Lou's stomach but Madame can not read the inscription as it is written in hieroglyptics.

Semu, posing as an archaelogist, offers to translate the inscription for her and to guide her group to the tomb area for a share of the loot. All of the groups head for the temple in the desert.

Lou activates a trick lock which drops him into the temple.

A giant iguana lizard appears and then runs off. Klaris appears and grabs Lou.

The medallion is then shown.

Many similar medallions were manufactured from the 1920's to 1940's as "good luck coins." This one appears unique and may have been manufactured specifically for the film. Klaris takes the medallion with him.

Madame Rontru has brought a metal detector to locate the treasure. By this time, both Bud and Habid, one of Madame's assistants, have disguised themselves as mummies.

Madame pulls out a pistol and fires at the mummies causing two imitators to run off. The real Klaris is left and someone throws a bomb at him which explodes revealing the tomb.

With the mummy Klaris destroyed and the tomb of the princess found, Semu realizes that the need for the guardian cult is gone. He wonders aloud how to keep the legend of Klaris alive. Bud suggests a solution.

The club has an ancient Egyption theme, Semu is the head waiter, and there is an orchestra.

Bud and Lou attend the opening.

What first emerges appears to be two cobra heads is then revealed to be a pretty girl. Lou tries playing the flute hoping for the same result.

Bud Abbott as himself
Lou Costello as himself
Eddie Parker as Klaris the Mummy
Marie Windsor as Madame Rontru
Richard Deacon as Semu
Michael Ansara as Charlie
Chandra Kaly and His Dancers as Temple Dancers
Director: Charles Lamont
Writers: John Grant, Lee Loeb