Dick Graham (Billy Quirk) is in love with Florence Hicks (Constance Talmadge) and wants to marry her. Florence’s father, Professor Thaddeus Hicks (Lee Beggs) is a scientist who is trying to create an elixir to prolong life. Dick asks the professor for his daughter’s hand in marriage. The professor refuses to allow Florence to marry Dick because he wants his daughter to marry a rich man. Dick gets upset at the older man and gets kicked out of the house. Since he can’t marry Florence, Dick becomes depressed and decides to end it all. His attempt fails.
In the meantime, the professor finds the formula he is looking for. The formula promises to restore the life to the dead, even a mummy that has been buried for thousands of years. This gives the professor an idea. He puts an ad in the paper looking to buy a mummy to experiment on. He is willing to pay $5000 for it.
When Dick sees the ad, he gets an idea. He hires a hobo named Tim (Joel Day) to pretend to be a mummy. He sends the landlady’s son to visit the Professor to offer to sell him a mummy. The professor agrees. The landlord’s son then goes to a pawn shop and buys an empty sarcophagus. Tim is wrapped in cloth, placed in the sarcophagus and delivered to the professor. The professor injects Tim with his elixir and gets more than he’s bargained for.
“The Egyptian Mummy” was released in 1914 and was produced and directed by Lee Beggs, who also starred in the film as Professor Hicks. It is a black and white silent comedy short. The film is in the public domain.
The film is a fun and quirky short. Although it is not a real mummy it is rather enjoyable, I’ll take it.
Director Beggs does a decent job as the professor. Constance Talmadge was the sister of Norma Talmadge. Constance became very popular in the silent film industry. This was one of her earliest films. She did at least a dozen shorts the same year this one was released.