Drums of Fu Manchu [DVD] [1940] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

I have two words to all potential buyers of this DVD: BUY IT! It is fantastic! This is probably one of the best movie serials ever made! Fifteen exciting chapters of trains wrecks, chases, car crashes, fights, fights and more fights, featuring one of the best villians in all of fiction, Dr. Fu Manchu. Brillantly played by Henry Brandon, whom most sf/ fantasy fans may know from John Carpenter's "ASSAULT ON PRECEINT 13". He is perhaps the best Fu in movie history, even better than Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee! He is that good, I kid you not! The serial is not based on the Sax Rohmer novel of the same name, but uses some of the plot of an earlier Fu novel and the Karloff film "THE MASK OF FU MANCHU". Normally this would make me an unhappy camper, but this serial is such a joy to watch and is so exciting, that I can forgive the producers for ignoring Rohmer's great book ("DRUMS" is one of my favorite Fu novels). All of the cast is pretty good. I liked Gloria Franklin as Fu's daughter Fah Loo Suee although she mysteriously disappears from the proceedings after about 12 chapters. And fans of Universal horror films will be happy to see the familiar face of the fly-eating maniac Renfield from the Lugosi Dracula, Dwight Frye in a small role in the 5th chapter. And wait until you see Loki, the lead Dacoit, one of "Fu Manchu's men-of-murder". He's a hoot! The picture and sound on the DVD are very nice and the extra's give a nice history of both Fu Manchu and the serial. There is a nice booklet included with the "HISTORY OF FU MANCHU" by Eric Hoffman and a photo gallery on the dvd and star and director bios and filmographies. Let me close by saying: this is one great DVD. BUY IT, YOU'LL LIKE IT!!! - George Bauch.

Well put-together serial, made wonderful by Brandon's believable performance as the villain. We have a host of usual types for this kind of film supporting Brandon: the dauntless young hero, the relentless older law enforcement official, the courageous sweet young thing, her sneaky female counterpart working with the villain, the requisite professors and experts and others, all lining up in a titanic struggle of good and evil to determine who rules India. The cliffhanger endings involve a variety of fiendish plots by Fu Manchu to get rid of one or another of the heroes, so that the good guys are not just saved every episode by jumping out of a car at the last moment before it goes over the edge of a cliff or blows up . The writers actually put together a scenario that goes in one direction from beginning to end. It all comes down to Brandon as Fu Manchu though. His is the only character with any depth and he creates a believable performance. I also own the VHS of this serial and the DVD has been restored to far, far superior quality. I recommend it if you are into this kind of entertainment.

VCI Entertainment and Republic Pictures present "Drums of Fu Manchu" (1940) (digitally remastered), 15 Chapters of fiendish cliffhangers mixed with hair breadth escapes ending each episode...the plot is a dangerous and exciting one as 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...Dr. Fu Manchu nemesis is Dr. Dennis Nayland Smith, he and his associates fight to keep the evil Fu Manchu from getting his hands on the keys that will enable him to take over the world...will Fu Manchu secure the long lost scepter of Genghis Khan with which he hopes to gain control of various Himalayan tribes which in turn will lead him to eventual world domination...can the his long time nemesis Sir Nayland Smith and his young partner Allen Parker save the day...all this and more is waiting for you to savor.

Under director's John English and William Witney with stories suggested by Sax Rohmer...an Asian mysterious screenplay by Franklin Adreon and Morgan Cox...the cast include Henry Brandon as Dr. Fu Manchu (appeared in "The Searchers" as the villainous Indian Chief "Scar"), William Royle as Sir Dennis Nayland Smith (Scotland Yard), Robert Kellard as Allan Parker (the hero), Gloria Franklin as Fah-Lo-Suee (daughter of Fu Manchu), Olaf Hytten as Dr. Flinders Petrie, Tom Chatterton as Prof. Edward Randolph, Luana Walters as Mary Randolph, John Merton (Republic henchman & all around villain) as Loki, George Cleveland as Dr. James Parker and Dwight Frye (from the "Count Dracula" and "Frankenstein" films) as Prof. Anderson...another great serial provided by Republic Pictures during their heyday of the early '40s...contains the superior Republic stuntwork and action sequences that the studio was noted for. check out Robert Kellard the action sequences...Kellard resembled Republic's ace stuntman David Sharpe, and this my friend was no coincidence...Sharpe visibly doubled Kellard in the action scenes, many are still classics in my book.

Chapter Titles
1. Fu Manchu Strikes
2. The Monster
3. Ransom in the Sky
4. The Pendulum of Doom (from Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum")
5. The House of Terror
6. Death Dials A Number
7. Vengeance of the Si Fan
8. Danger Trail
9. The Crystal of Death
10.Drums of Doom
11.The Tomb of Genghis Khan
12.Fire of Vengeance
13.The Devil's Tattoo
14.Satan's Surgeon
15.Revolt

SPECIAL FEATURES:
Video Commentary by Scarlet Street Publisher Richard Valley
Cast Bios for
WILLIAM WITNEY
HENRY BRANDON
WILLIAM ROYLE
ROBERT KELLARD
GLORIA FRANKLIN
Photo Gallery: include great stills from "Drums of Fu Manchu"

Check out other VCI Cliffhangers of: ADVENTURES OF THE FLYING CADETS (Bobby Jordan & Jennifer Holt), ADVENTURES OF RED RYDER (Don "Red" Barry), BUCK ROGERS (Buster Crabbe), DICK TRACY & G Men (Ralph Byrd), JUNGLE JIM (Grant Wihers & Raymond Hatton), KING OF THE ROYAL MOUNTED (Allan "Rocky" Lane), LAST FRONTIER (Lon Chaney Jr), MIRACLE RIDER (Tom Mix), THE PHANTOM (Tom Tyler)...if you crave action, drama and plenty of adventure then this is the place for all of the above.

Great job by VCI Entertainment and a special thanks to Ray Faioloa for supervising the digital transfere with a clean, clear and crisp print, Eric Hoffmann (film collector & historian) for writing the liner notes and a very special thank you to Richard Valley (publisher of Scarlet Street Magazine) for his excellent and enlightening commentary...a spectacular train wreck, a giant realistic looking octopus and the swinging pendulum torture device borrowed from Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum"...looking forward to more of the same from the '40s vintage...order your copy now from Amazon or VCI Entertainment, stay tuned once again with a top notch serial from VCI...just the way we like 'em!

Total Time: 269 mins on 2 DVD's ~ VCI Entertainment 8296 ~ (2/25/2003)