Drums of Fu Manchu
| 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 (novel) |
| Starring |
Henry Brandon William Royle Robert Kellard Gloria Franklin Olaf Hytten Tom Chatterton Luana Walters |
| Cinematography | William Nobles |
| Edited by |
William Thompson Edward Todd |
| Distributed by | Republic Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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15 chapters / 269 minutes (serial) 69 minutes (feature) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $164,052 (negative cost: $166,312) |
Drums of Fu Manchu (1940) is a 15-chapter Republic movie serial based on the character created by Sax Rohmer. Though using the title of the ninth novel in the series, it actually is based on numerous elements from throughout the series to that point, cherry-picked by the writers. It starred Henry Brandon, William Royle and Robert Kellard. It was directed by the legendary serial team of William Witney and John English and is often considered one of the best movie serials ever made.
Fu Manchu attempts to conquer the world by acquiring the Sceptre of Genghis Khan, which will unite the people of Asia under his rule. Allan Parker allies himself with the traditional British literary nemeses of Fu Manchu, Sir Denis Nayland Smith and his associate, Dr. Flinders Petrie after his father is kidnapped and killed by Fu Manchu's dacoits.
Drums of Fu Manchu was budgeted at $164,052 although the final negative cost was $166,312 (a $2,260, or 1.4%, overspend). It was the most expensive Republic serial of 1940, although this year was the first in which Republic's overall spending on serial production was less than in the previous year. 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.
The serial was filmed between December 22, 1939 and February 7, 1940, the longest filming period of any Republic serial. The serial's production number was 995.
Directors Witney and English, working with photographer William Nobles, stressed the elements of mystery in the plot over the usual action. Strong use of shadows was made with "the eeriest lighting possible falling upon Fu Manchu."
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Wikipedia