Drums of Fu Manchu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Drums of Fu Manchu | |
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| Directed by | William Witney John English |
| Produced by | Hiram S. Brown Jr |
| Written by | Franklin Adreon Morgan B. Cox Ronald Davidson Norman S. Hall Barney A Sarecky Sol Shor Sax Rohmer (novels) |
| Starring | Henry Brandon Robert Kellard William Royle Gloria Franklin Olaf Hytten Tom Chatterton Luana Walters |
| Cinematography | William Nobles |
| Distributed by | Republic Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 1940 |
| Running time | 15 chapters (269 min) |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $164,052 (Negative cost: $166,312) |
| IMDb profile | |
Drums of Fu Manchu (1940) is a 15-Chapter Republic Movie Serial based on the Fu Manchu stories by Sax Rohmer, starring Henry Brandon and Robert Kellard. It was directed by the legendary serial team of William Witney and John English. It is often considered one of the best Movie Serials ever made.
In this serial Fu Manchu attempts to conquer the world by discovering the Sceptre of Genghis Khan, which will unite the people of Asia under his rule. The hero of the serial is Allan Parker, a young American character, rather than the traditional, yet older and British, opponent of Fu Manchu, Sir Nayland Smith.
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[edit] Plot
Fu Manchu attempts to find the tomb of Genghis Khan and the Khan's sceptre hidden within. With this he will be able to unite all of Asia behind him and conquer the world. Fu Manchu's old nemesis Sir Nayland Smith, along with Allan Parker and co, are set to prevent this.
[edit] Cast
- Henry Brandon as Fu Manchu
- Robert Kellard as Allan Parker
- William Royle as Sir Nayland Smith
- Gloria Franklin as Fah Lo Suee
- Olaf Hytten as Dr Flinders Petrie
- Tom Chatterton as Prof Edward Randolph
- Luana Walters as Mary Randolph
- John Merton as Loki
- Dwight Frye as Professor Anderson
- Lal Chand Mehra as Sirdar Prahni
[edit] Chapter Titles
- Fu Manchu Strikes
- The Monster
- Ransom in the Sky
- The Pendulum of Doom
- The House of Terror
- Death Dials A Number
- Vengeance of the Si Fan
- Danger Trail
- The Crystal of Death
- Drums of Doom
- The Tomb of Genghis Khan
- Fire of Vengeance
- The Devil's Tattoo
- Satan's Surgeon
- Revolt
This was one of Republic's two 15-chapter serials in 1940. The other was Mysterious Doctor Satan. Following their standard practice of 1938-1944, Republic also release two 12-chapter serials in this year, Adventures of Red Ryder and King of the Royal Mounted.
[edit] Production
Drums of Fu Manchu was budgetted for $164,052 but production negative costs ended up at $166,312, a relatively small overspend of only $2,260 (1.4% of the budget). Nevertheless, this was the most expensive Republic serial of 1940 and the longest to shoot of all Republic serials (at 47 days). On the other hand, 1940 was the first year for the overall costs of serials made to decrease on the last. Republic spent $597,528 producing serials in 1940 compared to $648,064 in 1939 (1939's total would not be beaten until the $782,204 of 1944). The studio produced four serials in each year, with the same mix of two 12-chapter serials and two 15-chapter serials.
[edit] Sequel?
An unfounded rumour suggests that there was going to be a sequel to Drums of Fu Manchu but the United States had become directly involved in World War II by that time, in which China was an ally. Various rumours imply either that the Chinese government objected to the serial, the State Department decided for themselves to suppress it or that Republic simply thought that the mood of the nation would not be in favour of a Chinese villain. However, the fact that Republic, in 1943, edited and released in the US and its other free-world venues a feature version of this serial, makes these rumouurs seem extremely unlikely.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Valley of the Cliffhangers Supplement; Mathis, Jack, 1995, ISBN 0-9632878-1-8
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Zorro's Fighting Legion (1939) |
Republic Serial Drums of Fu Manchu (1940) |
Succeeded by Adventures of Red Ryder (1940) |
| Preceded by Zorro's Fighting Legion (1939) |
Witney-English Serial Drums of Fu Manchu (1940) |
Succeeded by Adventures of Red Ryder (1940) |
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