One of the most startling sequences to come out of a Universal horror film was Virginia Christine as Princess Ananka rising up out of the swamp to live again in The Mummy's Curse (1944).
Initially, Pierce devised a concoction that was risky to apply to the skin. When Christine learned of the experimental technique, she was petrified that it might disfigure her face. Universal's front office caught wind of it and derailed the idea. Pierce resorted to using a product called Denver Mud (a medicated poultice made from clay local to the Denver area).
Christine explained the process: “I was in the makeup chair, I think, at 4:30 in the morning. They took little patches of cotton, wet with Witch Hazel, put them on and lined them to fill in the youthful contours. Then Jack put on the ‘Denver Mudpack,’ just a little bit at a time, then lined that with wrinkles, then blow-dried it—each little patch until I was an absolutely rigid mask.”
With the help of Pierce’s wife, Blanche Pierce (née Craven), Christine was able to drink and use the restroom as needed while in full makeup. However, she was cautioned not to laugh during any of these humorous situations or the makeup would crack and the process would have to begin all over.
The end result was shocking and made even more so by Christine’s incredible performance. In his 1986 article from Films in Review, horror historian Gregory Mank, citing it as “one of the most dynamic performances of Universal’s long-celebrated horror shows”, recounts the startling scene: “Suddenly a hand rises out of the mud, grasping toward the rejuvenating sun. The quagmire quivers, and there arises a female mummy, horrifically caked with muck, stretching, jerking and falling as she escapes the boggy grave.” While not as iconic as his classic monsters, it still stands as Pierce’s most notable makeup since The Wolf Man.
