The Mummy's Hand is a 1940 American horror film directed by Christy Cabanne and produced by Ben Pivar for Universal Studios.

Shot in black-and-white, the film is about the ancient Egyptian mummy of Kharis (Tom Tyler), who is kept alive with a brew of tana leaves by The High Priest (Eduardo Ciannelli) and his successor Andoheb (George Zucco).

Meanwhile, archeologists Steve Banning (Dick Foran) and Babe Jenson (Wallace Ford) persuade magician Solvani (Cecil Kellaway) to finance an expedition in search of the tomb of Princess Ananka.

Kharis is ordered to kill off expedition members Dr. Petrie (Charles Trowbridge) and Ali (Leon Belasco), while Andoheb becomes attracted to Marta who he plans to kidnap and make immortal.

In Cairo, down on his luck archaeologist Steve Banning and his buffoon sidekick, Babe Jenson, discover the remnants of a broken vase in a bazaar.

Banning is convinced it is an authentic ancient Egyptian relic, and his interpretation of the hieroglyphs on the piece leads him to believe it contains clues to the location of Princess Ananka's tomb.

Banning and Jenson meet an American stage magician, Solvani, who agrees to fund their quest in return for a share of the spoils of the tomb.

After administering the tana brew from nine leaves, the monster quickly dispatches Petrie by strangling him with one hand, and escapes with Andoheb through a secret passageway to the temple on the other side of the mountain.

Marta had overheard Andoheb describe the secret of the tana fluid and tells Banning and Jenson that Kharis must not be allowed to drink any more of it.

[1][3] The producer for the film was Ben Pivar, who Reginald LeBorg described as the epitome artless, noncreative studio executive who was often crude and occasionally seemed illiterate.

[3] The Mummy's Hand's production continued into mid-June, which led director Christy Cabanne and his crew to film into overtime hours.

[4] Unlike some of the other horror films produced by Universal, The Mummy's Hand was not reissued for theatrical release in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

[12] The Mummy's Hand was included in the Universal Classic Monsters: Complete 30-Film Collection Blu-ray box set in August 2018.

[7] Graeme Clark of The Spinning Image, comparing the film with Boris Karloff's and granting 6 out of 10 stars, writes: "This was no eerie love story across the millennia, this was straight fright fare with Universal Studios' least-loved monster, here in the form that viewers would know him best, shambling, strangling, singleminded and mute."