Drums of Fu Manchu (Republic, 1940). Screen Titles
Starring Henry Brandon, William Royle, Robert Kellard, Gloria Franklin, Dwight Frye, Olaf Hytten, Tom Chatterton, Luana Walters, Lal Chand Mehra, and Philip Ahn. Directed by John English and William Witney.
It seems like I think every serial I watch is one of the best I've ever seen, but that's probably because I've been looking for serials that were highly recommended... so they really ARE good. It's not like I'm sitting through a marathon of BRUCE GENTRY, PANTHER GIRL OF THE KONGO or HOP HARRIGAN without breaks. Anyway, I had read and enjoyed all of Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu stories over the course of a year or two (as well as his Sumuru books), and was really looking forward to watching this chapterplay.
It certainly doesn't disappoint. DRUMS OF FU MANCHU is remarkably faithful to the tone and mood of Rohmer's books. Chapter Five, where the Devil Doctor and his Dacoits assault an isolated mansion in a thunderstorm, while inside Nayland Smith vainly tries to warn an intended victim of the danger, is just like a chapter from the early books brought to the screen. We have an evil, ageless Chinese super-villain invading Western society with his army of vicious assassins, his beautiful heartless daughter and his trademark of bizarre torture methods. He even is accompanied by the Council of Seven of the dreaded Si-Fan, meeting in ceremonial robes around a dragon-emblazoned table.
Fu Manchu is opposed by staunch British Foreign Office agent Nayland Smith and his friend Dr Petrie, as well as a burly younger man delegated to handle the rougher fistfights... in this case, Allan Parker. The Devil Doctor is after some artifacts, a scroll hidden in a Dalai plaque and a shard from an ancient temple, which will give him the sacred scepter he needs to claim authority from Genghis Khan himself and thus launch an all-out holy war in Asia. (Sounds a lot like the book and film versions of MASK OF FU MANCHU, both great in themselves.) So the sides are drawn up, the hot potato is thrown from hand to hand and the fun starts.
One thing I loved about this serial is its visuals. DRUMS looks like a 'B' horror film, very atmospheric and shadowy; since the first half is set in California rather than the foggy streets of London, heavy rainfall and thunderstorms set the proper mood. The Dacoits are all as sinister as you might hope, skulking around in the shadows with their bolos and poison dart blowpipes, flinging an inordinate number of daggers into peoples' backs.
These assassins have all had brain surgery performed on them by Fu Manchu himself to remove their free will and make them absolutely obedient. As a result, they have shaved heads with a large V-shaped lobotomy scar on the brow. Some of them also have vampire fangs for some unexplained reason. (And just to show not all Asians are incarnate devils, Philip Ahn appears as the cultured Dr Chang to provide an important piece to the puzzle and to courageously stand up to Fu Manchu's threats. It's a small touch but well meant.)
Henry Brandon is just fine as Fu Manchu himself. At first, the completely bald head and 45-degree uptilted eyebrows seem odd, but Brandon gives an all-out highstrung performance that won me over. (I still like the demonic interpretation seen in MASK OF FU MANCHU better, but hey, Boris Karloff is a tough act to follow for any actor.) Gloria Franklin is not as glamorous or enticing as Myrna Loy (again, admittedly a tough act to follow) but she is malevolent and cunning as Fah Lo Suee; one thing missing from Rohmer's formula is that she doesn't harbor lustful thoughts about the Western infidels, but then serials were aimed at juvenile audiences.
As for the good guys, ah well. William Royle doesn't seem much like the gaunt, hyperactive Smith of the books (and he seems to have imsplaced his first name Denis, called "Sir Nayland Smith" throughout) but Royle is a staunch, determined pipe-smoking hero is is believable as someone capable of tackling Fu Manchu. For someone getting on in years and packing a few extra pounds, he still doesn't hesitate to trade punches with a Dacoit or to enter a certain trap. Olaff Hytten is bland but okay as Dr Petrie (and considering how badly Dr Watson was being portrayed at the time, we should be glad Petrie kept some dignity).
The surrogate hero who can be counted on for wrassling Dacoits, climbing down rope ladders from planes and leaping off crashing trains is Allan Parker (played by Robert Kellard). For someone who is supposed to be just the son of an archaologist, Allan plays pretty rough. He throws a punch like he means it, and handles a revolver with a confidence that suggests he and his father had been in tight spots on digs many times. Also tangled up in the antics are Tom Chatterton as Professor Randolph and Luana Walters as his daughter Mary, along to aid the damsel factor.
The action scenes are not quite the highly polished choreography that Republic would showcase in a year or so, but they are accordingly more believable. The punches and grappling seem more like real fights than the amazing acrobatics we would soon see in SPY SMASHER or PERILS OF NYOKA. The essence of a serial is in its cliffhanger endings, and the ones here are more imaginative than in later years. Our heres find themselves strapped beneath a swinging razor-sharp pendulum, dropped into a tank with a belligerent octopus, tied down and about to be lobobomized into an obedient slave --- all very cool chapter endings.
DRUMS OF FU MANCHU does drag a bit in the second half, once the action transfers to what is either supposed to be india (or maybe Central Asia, maybe Afghanistan?) It's a tribute to Fu Manchu that he explicitly survives to the end credits. Arm in a sling and somrewhat worse for the wear and of the fifteen chapters, the Devil Doctor humbly appears at the tomb of Genghis Khan and apologizes for his failure. But, he says, there will another day when he succeeds in conquering Asia. "This I pledge", he promises as he bows. Unfortunately, WW II made a Chinese archvillain as unworkable as a Japanese hero like Mr Moto, and so both characters were shelved for the duration.
I made a point to space out the watching of this serial instead of just viewing three or four chapters at a time, and it enhances the experience enormously. I still am neither patient nor organized enough to wait a week between chapters, but I can get a glimpse of the delicious anxiety fans must have felt waiting for the next Saturday back in 1940.
The nefarious Dr. Fu Manchu searches for the keys to the tomb of Genghis Khan, in order to fulfill a prophecy that will enable him to conquer the world. His nemesis, Dr. Nayland Smith, and his associates fight to keep the evil doctor from getting his hands on the keys.
Author Sax Rohmer created one of the most evil and diabolical villains to ever grace the screen with Dr. Fu Manchu; a Chinese genius who plots to rid China of Western imperialists through torture and assassination. Opposing Fu Manchu was the British policeman Nayland Smith and his assistant, Dr. Petrie. The characters were very similar in concept to those created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; Fu Manchu similar to Professor Moriarty, Smith similar to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Petrie similar to Dr. Watson. Regardless of the comparisons, the characters stood on their own merits and were featured in a series of successful novels and films. This was the only serial to feature the evil genius and is widely considered to be one of Republic's most exciting.
Drums of Fu Manchu (Republic, 1940). Screen Titles
Starring Henry Brandon, William Royle, Robert Kellard, Gloria Franklin, Dwight Frye, Olaf Hytten, Tom Chatterton, Luana Walters, Lal Chand Mehra, and Philip Ahn. Directed by John English and William Witney.
It seems like I think every serial I watch is one of the best I've ever seen, but that's probably because I've been looking for serials that were highly recommended... so they really ARE good. It's not like I'm sitting through a marathon of BRUCE GENTRY, PANTHER GIRL OF THE KONGO or HOP HARRIGAN without breaks. Anyway, I had read and enjoyed all of Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu stories over the course of a year or two (as well as his Sumuru books), and was really looking forward to watching this chapterplay.
It certainly doesn't disappoint. DRUMS OF FU MANCHU is remarkably faithful to the tone and mood of Rohmer's books. Chapter Five, where the Devil Doctor and his Dacoits assault an isolated mansion in a thunderstorm, while inside Nayland Smith vainly tries to warn an intended victim of the danger, is just like a chapter from the early books brought to the screen. We have an evil, ageless Chinese super-villain invading Western society with his army of vicious assassins, his beautiful heartless daughter and his trademark of bizarre torture methods. He even is accompanied by the Council of Seven of the dreaded Si-Fan, meeting in ceremonial robes around a dragon-emblazoned table.
Fu Manchu is opposed by staunch British Foreign Office agent Nayland Smith and his friend Dr Petrie, as well as a burly younger man delegated to handle the rougher fistfights... in this case, Allan Parker. The Devil Doctor is after some artifacts, a scroll hidden in a Dalai plaque and a shard from an ancient temple, which will give him the sacred scepter he needs to claim authority from Genghis Khan himself and thus launch an all-out holy war in Asia. (Sounds a lot like the book and film versions of MASK OF FU MANCHU, both great in themselves.) So the sides are drawn up, the hot potato is thrown from hand to hand and the fun starts.
One thing I loved about this serial is its visuals. DRUMS looks like a 'B' horror film, very atmospheric and shadowy; since the first half is set in California rather than the foggy streets of London, heavy rainfall and thunderstorms set the proper mood. The Dacoits are all as sinister as you might hope, skulking around in the shadows with their bolos and poison dart blowpipes, flinging an inordinate number of daggers into peoples' backs.
These assassins have all had brain surgery performed on them by Fu Manchu himself to remove their free will and make them absolutely obedient. As a result, they have shaved heads with a large V-shaped lobotomy scar on the brow. Some of them also have vampire fangs for some unexplained reason. (And just to show not all Asians are incarnate devils, Philip Ahn appears as the cultured Dr Chang to provide an important piece to the puzzle and to courageously stand up to Fu Manchu's threats. It's a small touch but well meant.)
Henry Brandon is just fine as Fu Manchu himself. At first, the completely bald head and 45-degree uptilted eyebrows seem odd, but Brandon gives an all-out highstrung performance that won me over. (I still like the demonic interpretation seen in MASK OF FU MANCHU better, but hey, Boris Karloff is a tough act to follow for any actor.) Gloria Franklin is not as glamorous or enticing as Myrna Loy (again, admittedly a tough act to follow) but she is malevolent and cunning as Fah Lo Suee; one thing missing from Rohmer's formula is that she doesn't harbor lustful thoughts about the Western infidels, but then serials were aimed at juvenile audiences.
As for the good guys, ah well. William Royle doesn't seem much like the gaunt, hyperactive Smith of the books (and he seems to have imsplaced his first name Denis, called "Sir Nayland Smith" throughout) but Royle is a staunch, determined pipe-smoking hero is is believable as someone capable of tackling Fu Manchu. For someone getting on in years and packing a few extra pounds, he still doesn't hesitate to trade punches with a Dacoit or to enter a certain trap. Olaff Hytten is bland but okay as Dr Petrie (and considering how badly Dr Watson was being portrayed at the time, we should be glad Petrie kept some dignity).
The surrogate hero who can be counted on for wrassling Dacoits, climbing down rope ladders from planes and leaping off crashing trains is Allan Parker (played by Robert Kellard). For someone who is supposed to be just the son of an archaologist, Allan plays pretty rough. He throws a punch like he means it, and handles a revolver with a confidence that suggests he and his father had been in tight spots on digs many times. Also tangled up in the antics are Tom Chatterton as Professor Randolph and Luana Walters as his daughter Mary, along to aid the damsel factor.
The action scenes are not quite the highly polished choreography that Republic would showcase in a year or so, but they are accordingly more believable. The punches and grappling seem more like real fights than the amazing acrobatics we would soon see in SPY SMASHER or PERILS OF NYOKA. The essence of a serial is in its cliffhanger endings, and the ones here are more imaginative than in later years. Our heres find themselves strapped beneath a swinging razor-sharp pendulum, dropped into a tank with a belligerent octopus, tied down and about to be lobobomized into an obedient slave --- all very cool chapter endings.
DRUMS OF FU MANCHU does drag a bit in the second half, once the action transfers to what is either supposed to be india (or maybe Central Asia, maybe Afghanistan?) It's a tribute to Fu Manchu that he explicitly survives to the end credits. Arm in a sling and somrewhat worse for the wear and of the fifteen chapters, the Devil Doctor humbly appears at the tomb of Genghis Khan and apologizes for his failure. But, he says, there will another day when he succeeds in conquering Asia. "This I pledge", he promises as he bows. Unfortunately, WW II made a Chinese archvillain as unworkable as a Japanese hero like Mr Moto, and so both characters were shelved for the duration.
I made a point to space out the watching of this serial instead of just viewing three or four chapters at a time, and it enhances the experience enormously. I still am neither patient nor organized enough to wait a week between chapters, but I can get a glimpse of the delicious anxiety fans must have felt waiting for the next Saturday back in 1940.
The nefarious Dr. Fu Manchu searches for the keys to the tomb of Genghis Khan, in order to fulfill a prophecy that will enable him to conquer the world. His nemesis, Dr. Nayland Smith, and his associates fight to keep the evil doctor from getting his hands on the keys.
Author Sax Rohmer created one of the most evil and diabolical villains to ever grace the screen with Dr. Fu Manchu; a Chinese genius who plots to rid China of Western imperialists through torture and assassination. Opposing Fu Manchu was the British policeman Nayland Smith and his assistant, Dr. Petrie. The characters were very similar in concept to those created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; Fu Manchu similar to Professor Moriarty, Smith similar to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Petrie similar to Dr. Watson. Regardless of the comparisons, the characters stood on their own merits and were featured in a series of successful novels and films. This was the only serial to feature the evil genius and is widely considered to be one of Republic's most exciting.