The Brides of Fu Manchu

source: The Brides of Fu Manchu

The Brides of Fu Manchu

Not bad but certainly not the best of the Fu-Manchu bunch. Christopher Lee (as the world's most evil man) kidnaps a bunch of foxy girls with the hope that their scientist fathers will help him devise a way to send deadly radio frequency throughout the world. He's pursued, as always, by resilient Scotland yard cop Nayland Smith. It's silly rather than suspenseful with a plethora of studio bound action. Lee is fine and Tsai Chin is again on hand as his equally nasty daughter. Directed by Don Sharp, who, after helming the first two of this series, wisely stepped aside...the budgets for the final three went steadily downhill. Ernest Steward did the photography.

Christopher Lee is Fu Manchu and kidnaps the daughters of leading scientists in the Edwardian era in order to build a wireless transmitter that transmit power waves. He then hypnotises the women into submission (why not the scientists). In one scene, what is clearly a pre-heterodyne wireless set he sends a message to his adversary, but then in the next scene behind it is a record player when he shows the message to his colleagues, like they changed the script halfway through. There's also a scene where an actor turns off a noisy tap halfway through a telephone call, a car is shown whole after it has been crashed, a police constable that slips and slides on the road but recovers, a painful looking stage dive during a melee, and a flighty horse that looks like its about to run away.

The first sequel to 'The Face of Fu Manchu' (1965), and the only one shot at Bray and in a very wintry looking London; hence the scrap in front of the Tower of London and Burt Kwouk's presence as Lee's lab assistant, who helps man the controls of a much more modest control room than that presided over by Dr.No at the finale. (Since the locations here are far drabber than they became after Towers relocated in the East the emphasis this time round is more on drama than travelogue, and the better for it.) Nigel Green is no longer Nayland Smith, but Don Sharp is still directing, so although not a patch on the original it's still slightly preferable to the dross that followed. Tsai Chin isn't given much to do in this one, but her dryly amusing appearance disguised as a cleaning lady makes one regret that she never went out into the field in disguise again...

I love these old movies that were made when the words 'politically' and 'correct' were never used in the same sentence together. It is a bygone age of cinema where it was as simple as 'he's the good guy, that's the bad guy, sit back and be entertained'. Once again Christopher Lee absolutely owns the film whenever he's on the screen, such is the attention the man commands. Fu is a diabolical genius, he would probably be branded a terrorist in today's times. He has abducted the beautiful daughters of some of the world's prominent political figures and is using them to manipulate world politics. It's up to the equally nutty British cop Nayland Smith to cross swords with Fu (once again) and stop the yellow peril!! Not as good as 'The Face of Fu Manchu' but enjoyable nonetheless.

Sequel to "The Face of Fu Manchu", "Brides..." is even better if you look movies just to be entertained. It's the kind of silly, funny, absurd, kinky time capsule movie that never loses his charm. Of curse, plot holes and mistakes are a plenty (it's in the 20's but girls looks very 60's) but Lee's terrific performance and a good cast full of familiar faces (even Pink Panther's Cato is here!) helps to sustain interest. Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie are a later version of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, but Fu Manchu is the main character here, cruel, sadistic and totally evil, probably the best villain ever, sadly forgotten today due to his racial connotations. The franchise will continue on three more films, but "Face..." and "Brides..." (both directed by Don Sharp) are the real thing. By the way, the 5 films are available now in a box set released in Spain by Manga Films (region 2), but beware: the last 2 movies (by Jesus Franco) are in Spanish without subtitles.

"The Brides of Fu Manchu" is the second of five Fu Manchu movies produced by Harry Alan Towers and starring Christopher Lee.The film is definitely the most entertaining of all the Fu Manchu films.The production values are top notch and the film is well-directed and acted.This time Fu Manchu wants to conquer the world("In a few moments,the entire world will capitulate to me.This is the destiny of Fu Manchu."-Fu Manchu).Fu Manchu's new evil plan is to send explosive energy via sound waves to small receivers placed in various cities throughout the world.It's up to Nayland Smith(Douglas Wilmer)to stop him...Anyway I enjoyed this film and you should too,if you like British horror/crime cinema.All the actresses starring in it are beautiful,especially Tsai Chin,the evil daughter of Fu Manchu.Fu Manchu returns a year later in "The Vengeance of Fu Manchu"(1967).