DRUMS OF FU MANCHU (1940)

I have long been fascinated with the movie serials of the 30's and 40's; I've read at least two books about them and watched bits and pieces of several serials over the years. In the abstract, I still think the idea of an adventure movie, presented in theaters in short episodes spread out over several weeks, is a cool one, partly because I'm a sucker for nostalgia, especially for things that I wasn't able to experience first-hand. In practice, however, watching these movies in the home video format is difficult. They are incredibly formulaic and repetitive and I can't watch more than a couple of episodes at one sitting (even though each "chapter" is only about 20 minutes long). If I try to watch one chapter a week, I forget where I am in the plotline--which, I realize, is ultimately not that important in enjoying these movies. Before this DVD, I had tried watching 4 or 5 other serials and failed before I got halfway through any of them. DRUMS, however, has a reputation as one of the best of the old serials, and VCI put out a semi-restored 2-disc set last year, so I girded my loins and plunged in. It's taken a few months, but I can finally say I've finished a movie serial!

I must admit to a very un-PC affection for Fu Manchu, the insidious "yellow peril" villain featured in a series of stories and books (from 1912 through the 50's) written by Sax Rohmer. In the books, he's a mysterious and powerful figure often out for world domination. The 1932 Boris Karloff film THE MASK OF FU MANCHU succeeded quite well in bringing him to life. This serial from Republic Pictures had, I imagine, a lower budget (despite being four times longer than the Karloff movie) and, as with most of the serials done on the cheap, atmosphere takes a bit of a hit, with rather silly costumes, bad day-for-night filming, and occasional tell-tale cardboardish sets. But if you lower your expectations, it works fairly well. The first few chapters are devoted to a race between Fu and the British government (represented by Sir Nayland Smith and his buddies) to put together a broken map (in stone) in order to find the long-hidden tomb of Gengis Kahn. Once that's found, Fu steals Kahn's scepter in an attempt to wield great power in the East and start a war against the West (essentially the same plot as the 1932 movie). The good guys and bad guys seesaw back and forth in holding the upper hand; usually each chapter ends with a good guy seemingly about to bite the dust, but the next chapter begins with a reversal of fortune. There are some nice touches along the way, such as Fu's daughter scamming some natives into believing that a giant statue has come to life, and there are some silly touches as well, such as the title "drums" that beat loudly (and apparently telepathically) whenever Fu is about to commit mischief. The acting is about par for the B-movie course. Robert Kellard is hunky enough as the action hero Alan Parker, young assistant to Sir Nayland; Luana Walters is the plucky heroine (though she drops out of the movie about halfway through); William Royle is a rather drab Sir Nayland; Dwight Frye has a very small role in one chapter as a museum director. Fu is played by Henry Brandon, usually a reliable villain in B-movies (though I know him best as Acacius Page, the nudist teacher in AUNTIE MAME), but here he is clearly too young to play such a hardened bad guy, and the Oriental makeup is barely serviceable. He gives most of his lines a rather campy inflection, though it probably didn't sound that way in 1940. Still, it's all about what you expect. If you don't expect too much, this provides some good adventure fun, especially in the first and last few chapters. The print is OK and the DVD comes with a nice booklet on the history of Fu Manchu. [DVD]