Pharaoh's Curse (1957)

Starring Mark Dana, Ziva Shapir, Diane Brewster, George N. Neise, Alvaro Guillot
Directed by Lee Sholem
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A British captain leads the wife of an archaeologist on a dangerous trek to the site her husband is trying to unearth, which is protected by a curse that may unleash a bloodsucking monster.

Although this is a welcome mummy film after Universal's abandonment of their series, the setup unfortunately is much better than the payoff, with a creature who's not rendered on film nearly as frightening as it must have been on paper.  The scenes within the tomb are also somewhat disappointing, as although the sets are well-decorated with Egyptian hieroglyphics and sculptures, they're not given the aura of mystery through photography or music as done in superior mummy pictures.  However, the first half of the film in which we see Dana's Captain Storm sent out on his mission from a British-occupied Cairo trying to preserve order in the midst of native revolts, is most memorable, and I also enjoyed the journey to the tomb, with the mysterious Shapir urging they take a faster route while their equipment and supplies are sabotaged.   The cast is quite fine with Dana, Shapir, Ben Wright, Guy Prescott, and Terence de Marney standing out, Les Baxter's score is adequate if not distinguished, and the 1950s atmosphere is most appreciated.  It remains in my mind not a great mummy film, but worth checking out if you've never seen it.