The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu
| The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu | |
|---|---|
Original film poster
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| Directed by |
Piers Haggard Peter Sellers Richard Quine |
| Produced by |
Zev Braun Leland Nolan Hugh Hefner |
| Written by | Rudy Dochtermann Jim Moloney Peter Sellers |
| Starring | Peter Sellers Helen Mirren David Tomlinson Sid Caesar John Le Mesurier |
| Music by | Marc Wilkinson |
| Cinematography | Jean Tournier |
| Edited by |
Claudine Bouché Russell Lloyd |
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Production
company |
Braun Entertainment Group
Playboy Productions |
| Distributed by |
Orion Pictures Corporation Warner Bros. |
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Release date
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Running time
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101 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $10,697,276 |
The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu is a 1980 comedy film, primarily notable as the final film of Peter Sellers, David Tomlinson and John Le Mesurier. Pre-production began with Richard Quine as director. By the time the film entered production, Piers Haggard had replaced him. Peter Sellers handled the re-shoots himself. Based on characters created by Sax Rohmer, the film stars Sellers in the dual role of Fu Manchu, a stereotypical Chinese evil genius, and English country gentleman detective Nayland Smith. Released only two weeks after Sellers death, the film was a commercial and critical failure. It was also the final screen appearance for Tomlinson, who retired from acting shortly before its release.
Sellers had previously recorded a 1955 Goon Show entitled The Terrible Revenge of Fred Fu-Manchu set in 1895. In the film his Fu insists friends call him "Fred" and that he had once been the groundsman at Eton.
In addition to Sellers, the film features Sid Caesar as FBI agent Joe Capone, David Tomlinson as Scotland Yard Commissioner Sir Roger Avery, Simon Williams as his bumbling nephew and Helen Mirren as Police Constable Helen Rage (her performance is notable for her singing the Music Hall standard, "Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me a Bow Wow").
Burt Kwouk, Sellers' longtime co-star in The Pink Panther films, makes a cameo appearance as a Fu Manchu minion who accidentally destroys the elixir vitae, prompting the joke that Fu thinks he looks familiar. John Le Mesurier has a small part in the film as Nayland-Smith's butler.
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