THE ADVENTURES OF DR. FU MANCHU PART 2

Glen Gordon

THE ADVENTURES OF DR. FU MANCHU. 1956 television series.

A second crop of episodes from this short-lived series has been released. Fu is played quite well by Glen Gordon, with Lester Matthews [Life Begins for Andy Hardy] effective as Sir Denis Nayland Smith and Laurette Luez [African Treasure] rather sexy and efficient as Karamaneh, the doctor's mistress.

In "Vengeance of Fu Manchu" Sir Denis and company investigate whether a chemical company is working on agricultural interests or if its real interest, under Fu Manchu's influence, is weaponry. Lester Matthews does a great drunk bit in this. "Dr. Fu Manchu's Raid" has the villain taking advantage of a  practice emergency air raid to make Americans think their security is compromised, hoping he can take advantage of the resulting stock market plunge, but his hoax is unveiled by Sir Denis. In "The Satellites of Fu Manchu" planes with scientists aboard who are involved in space science disappear one after the other. Smith takes the place of the man he feels will be kidnapped next but when he is captured, he has to figure out if Fu is bluffing or not when he threatens to blow up the other captives. "The Assassins of Fu Manchu" was the last and possibly the best episode of the series, dealing with a young  man (Mason Alan Dinehart) who is trained to kill by Fu Manchu, who actually murdered the boy's father, an agent, years before. Most of these episodes are B- or C+ but this last episode is better and has more action than the other ones I've seen.

You can read about other episodes of this show here.

Verdict: Fu will not be beaten -- or so he thinks! **1/2.

FLAME OF THE ISLANDS

FLAME OF THE ISLANDS (1956). Director: Edward Ludwig. In Republic Trucolor.

Rosalind Dee (Yvonne De Carlo) is given a substantial check by the widow, Evelyn (Frieda Inescort), of her boss, with whom Evelyn believes Rosalind was "involved." Insulted, Rosalind takes the check, quits her job, and uses the money to buy into a club-casino in the Bahamas. Alas, little does she know that her partner, Cyril (Kurt Kasznar), who has a hankering for her (as does every other man she meets), is in league with a pack of gangsters. She brushes off wanna-be boyfriend Wade (Zachary Scott), when she re-encounters old flame Doug (Howard Duff), who once got her pregnant but now doesn't even remember her. Then we have Doug's disapproving mother, Charmaine (Barbara O'Neil of Stella Dallas), and even the Widow Evelyn shows up again at an inopportune moment. We also mustn't forget the island captain and part-time preacher, Kelly (James Arness), who also develops a longing for Rosalind. Which man will Rosalind wind up with, or will her gangster partners make sure she winds up at the bottom of the sea? Flame of the Islands, which has enough plot for ten movies, is very entertaining and well-acted by all. Lester Matthews [Life Begins for Andy Hardy] plays the lead hoodlum, Gus, and Donald Curtis is one of his associates. With a sexy De Carlo [Criss Cross] cavorting, singing and dancing, and of course, going after all the men (and vice versa), Flame of the Islands is a lot of fun.

Verdict: The Bahamas were never like this! ***.

THE ADVENTURES OF DR. FU MANCHU -- TV

THE ADVENTURES OF DR. FU MANCHU (1956). Television series.

Only 13 episodes of this series. produced by the TV division of Republic Pictures, aired in 1956, which is too bad because the show is a lot of fun. William Witney, who also directed Republic's serial Drums of Fu Manchu, directed about half of the episodes, which probably have more action in them than usual. Glen Gordon is quite good as the evil doctor, a rather handsome Fu Manchu, even if he doesn't look especially Oriental. Lester Matthews is an effective Sir Denis Nayland Smith, Fu's greatest adversary, but Clark Howat, who plays John Petrie (of the Surgeon General's office) is bland and forgettable. Carla Balenda is better as his assistant, Betty Leonard, and Laurette Luez adds a little spice as Fu's sexy mistress and helpmate Karamaneh. John George rounds out the weekly cast as Kolb, an evil midget who works for Fu.

As with the serial and films, Fu Manchu is not presented as the more dimensional and fascinating character of Sax Rohmer's novels, but simply as a comic book villain. Four of the series' episodes are available on DVD. In "The Prisoner of Dr. Fu Manchu" (the first episode) a peace delegate (Leonard Strong) from the Far East in town for a conference is replaced by a double, and Betty is mesmerized into trying to kill the original. Morris Ankrum plays an inventor who is to demonstrate his new device at the conference. In episode 2, "The Golden God of Dr. Fu Manchu," Fu steals gold bullion from a wrecked train, and orders a court-martialed soldier who's working with him (Rick Vallin) to murder a woman who turns out to be the wife he abandoned. Vallin and Jean Willes as the wife give solid performances. At one point Fu tortures another man with a red hot bar of gold. Keye Luke appears in this episode.

In episode 9, "The Death Ships of Dr. Fu Manchu," the doctor injects deadly germ cultures into melons in the hopes of having the U.S. accused of bacteriological warfare. In episode 11, "The Master Plan of Dr. Fu Manchu," Fu kidnaps a plastic surgeon and forces him to change the features of a man who turns out to be Adolph Hitler. Much of the action takes place on Der Fuhrer's island hideout and has to do with a cyclotron that will made America's atomic weapons ineffective. Steven Geray, who appeared in episode 1 as another character, is excellent as Hitler-with-a-New-Face. Fu kills one guy with a nasty "Tarantula Magda" spider. It's hard to believe, however, that Fu Manchu would be especially interested in an alliance with Hitler.

The show is decidedly atmospheric, basically well-written and well-acted, and has an excellent (uncredited) musical score as well. Hopefully the remaining episodes will be available on DVD one day. In the meantime, Rohmer's novels, generally creepier and more chilling than the series, are worth looking for on ebay and elsewhere.

Verdict: Lots of fun. ***.