John Carradine as Yousef Bey

In The Mummy's Ghost (1944), steely-eyed John Carradine brought an aura of religious fanaticism to the role of High Priest Yousef Bey. Uttering curses and condemning non-believing infidels with the thundering tones of a Jeremiah, Carradine projects a sense of total conviction into his job as the mummy's caretaker. By far the most cold-hearted of the priests of Karnak (mysteriously referred to as Arkon in this film), Carradine smiles gleefully in the background as Kharis polishes off an unlucky museum guard. Yet, in spite of his strong beliefs in the ancient Egyptian faith, he, too, falls under the spell of leading lady Ramsey Ames and is quickly dispatched by Kharis for wavering from the true path. In a recent interview with Ramsey Ames, conducted by Paul Parla and appearing in Scary Monsters Magazine (#23), Ames remembered how the melodramatic Carradine had been a lot of fun to work with, and recalled how he had purposely blown some of his sonorous lines in order to crack up the cast and crew. Carradine appeared in numerous horror film roles, and is perhaps best remembered for his portrayal of Dracula in Universal's House of Frankenstein (1945) and House of Dracula (1945.)

Learn more about John Carradine here.