Cheap Drums of Fu Manchu (DVD) (William Witney, John English) Price

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Customer Reviews of Drums of Fu Manchu

What a classic
What a great movie.With one of the best villians of the 20th Century you can't go wrong.This movie is a pleasure to watch.The plot is remarkable.Controlling people using lobotimies and the implementation of the infernal "drum".Wow they had great ideas back then that won't be out of place today.The way they compelled you to watch the next chapter was brilliant.You know he will survive but wonder how does he escape.I tell you this movie deserved at least 3 oscars.The picture is perfect but the sound is average(when you are used to 5.1 surround then tell me again).How they got the picture like that I don't know.If you are a serial-movie fan or a classic movie collector even a film student.Buy this!!In a nutshell this movie lived up and exceeded the hype it generated and quite frankly this film is a masterpiece.One of the best movies of the 20th Century.

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Memorable Henry Brandon performance distinguishes the serial
Henry Brandon -- a master character actor who usually played villains -- got his only leading role in this 1940 Republic serial, "suggested by" Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu stories. Brandon steals the film from the supporting players and the squadron of athletic henchmen (who do not speak -- eerie!).

The serial is about par for Republic. The plot concerns an archaeological search for the artifacts of Genghis Khan, but you won't care much. The story characters are sketchily written and competently if not brilliantly acted (although one must admire hero Robert Kellard's enthusiasm). There are the usual chases, fistfights, and narrow escapes for cliffhanger fans, and a good musical score.

As the treacherous warlord Fu Manchu, Henry Brandon's careful, eloquent performance is a masterpiece of economy. He speaks volumes with a swift extension of the forearm, a slight smirk, a raised eyebrow, a dramatic pause, a sly drawl. He even plays an effective bereavement scene. when he discovers one of his coterie has died. Brandon is far better than his material in this one.

The original negative of this serial was presumably unavailable, so the DVD producers had to make do with a copy. What survives looks like a good to excellent third-generation print in excellent physical condition. The image has more contrast and less detail than other DVDs, but it's certainly watchable and enjoyable.

All in all, a decent show made better by the leading actor.

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Fu Do Something to Me
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.