Basil Walden | |
Aliases: | Sir Basil Walden |
Continuity: | Hammer Horror |
Notability: | Supporting character |
Type: | Scientist |
Occupation: | Archaeologist |
Gender: | Male |
Race: | Human |
Location: | Mezzara, Egypt |
Status: | Deceased |
Born: | 1862 [1] |
Died: | 1920 |
First: | The Mummy's Shroud |
Actor: | André Morell |
Basil Walden is a fictional archeologist and a supporting character featured in the Hammer Horror film series. Played by actor André Morell, he appeared in the 1967 film The Mummy's Shroud.
Biography[]
Basil Walden was an archaeologist and a knighted member of the Order of the British Empire. In 1920 he was hired by entrepreneur Stanley Preston to lead an excavation in the Rock of Death region of Egypt in search of the Tomb of Kah-to-Bey. Sir Basil brought with him Stanley's son, the Egyptologist Paul Preston, a photographer named Harry Newton, and a clairvoyant linguist named Claire de Sangre.
They lost contact with Stanley Preston, who was based out of the city of Mezzara, and had to take shelter in their tents to wait out an intense sandstorm. As they edged closer towards discovering the tomb, the group's porters abandoned them. A radical named Hasmid Ali warned them against desecrating the tomb of Kah-to-Bey, but Sir Basil pressed onward. As they were digging, Walden was bitten by a snake, and took ill. The rest of the group discovered the tomb, and the semi-preserved body of Kah-to-Bey was taken back to Walden's Restoration House in Mazzera.
Though he was back in civilization, Basil's health continued to decline due to the poison from the snake bite. Stanley Preston had no desire to share any of the fortune & glory of Basil's achievements with him, so he arranged to have him committed to a lunatic asylum. When his son Paul pressed Stanley about his involvement with Basil's hospitalization, he feigned outrage, but did not deny having him committed.
Shortly thereafter, Basil Walden escaped from the mental hospital. While wandering listlessly through the Alley of the House of Mukhtar, he was beckoned by an elderly fortune teller named Haiti. Haiti brought him into her parlor and read his fortune, which foretold of his imminent demise. Haiti's son was Hasmid Ali, who awakened the mummy known as Prem and had him kill Sir Basil. Prem crushed Basil Walden's skull in his bare hands. He then took his body back to the Restoration House where it was discovered suspended from a pantry door by a caretaker. [2]
Abilities[]
Skills[]
Notes & Trivia[]
- The character of Basil Walden was created by writer & director John Gilling and writer Anthony Hinds.
- Basil Walden is the first on-screen victim of Prem the mummy in The Mummy's Shroud.
- Actor André Morell and fellow The Mummy's Shroud actress Catherine Lacey also appeared together in the 1959 film The Shadow of the Cat for Hammer Film Productions. Shadow of the Cat was the first Hammer film shot at Bray Studios, while The Mummy's Shroud was the final Hammer movie filmed at Bray Studios.
See also[]
Appearances[]
References[]
- ↑ Date approximated based upon the relative age of actor André Morell in keeping with the timeline of the source material.
- ↑ Mummy's Shroud, The (1967). Directed by John Gilling. Written by John Gilling and Anthony Hinds.