Steve Banning

Biography (film)

Universal:

The Mummy’s Hand (1940)

Steve Banning was a ne’er do well Egyptologist who was trapped in Egypt after a failed expedition, along with his friend “Babe” Jensen. After coming across a bizarre piece of pottery with odd hieroglyphics on it, Steve became convinced it led to the lost tomb of Princess Ananka. Despite being told it was a fake by his old teacher and friend Professor Andoheb (Who was actually leader of a cult whose purpose was to protect her tomb), he managed to talk a wealthy magician named Solvani and his daughter Marta into financing an expedition. Andoheb brought the mummy Kharis to life and had him begin killing off the members of the expedition. Andoheb then tried to make Marta his bride. Steve foiled his plans, while Babe shot Andoheb. Steve knocked over a brazier which apparently burned the temple to the ground, including Kharis.

The Mummy’s Tomb (1942)

Thirty years later, Steve was now an elderly man with a son of his own named John. Steve had retired to a mansion in New England, and was saddened by the loss of Marta to old age. He did not know that Andoheb was alive and had sent Kharis to America to kill him. Kharis strangled him to death, but left behind a piece of his bandages which enabled his son John to track down the undead monster.

Dick Foran played Banning in both films, old and young.

It is possible that Brendan Fraser’s character Rick O’ Connell in Universal’s modern series of Mummy films (1999-2008) is based off of the young Steve Banning.

Hammer:

The Mummy (1959)

In this film, Stephen J. Banning (Felix Aylmer) is already an elderly man with a son named John when he finds the tomb. He is attacked by Kharis and goes mad, ending up in a mental institution before being killed off. The role of the hero goes to John in this version, played by actor Peter Cushing, Although based off of John Banning from The Mummy’s Tomb, his character more closely approximates Steve as seen in Hand. They are both British in this version.

Comics

Steve appears in Warren’s adaptation of Hand that ran in the second issue of Monster World. This adaptation uses tracings of film stills. Some of the panels of Steve are taken from Dick Foran’s other roles in westerns.

He also appears in the adaptation of the 1959 film in Hammer Halls of Horror.