Veteran German cinematographer Karl Freund made his directorial debut with the 1926 production Die Abenteur eins Zehnmarkscheines, released in the U.S. as Uneasy Money. Credit for the direction, however, was bestowed upon Freund's assistant, Bertold Viertel, which may be why 1932's
The Mummy is listed as Freund's first "official" directorial effort. The multistoried plotline is tied together by a ten-mark banknote, which causes no end of tragedy for the main characters. When mill-worker Anna (
Mary Nolan) brings home the note as her first week's wages, the money is stolen by her no-good brother. He buys a knife, kills a man, and is sentenced to hang. Grief-stricken, Anna takes to wandering the streets, ultimately falling into the hands of a white-slavery ring. She escapes with her virtue intact and returns to her lover -- but that's not the end of the story, as the ten-pound note continues to pass from hand to hand, spreading disaster wherever it goes until it ends up where it began, in Anna's purse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide