Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Long unavailable in any format, "The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu" is one of those see-it-to-believe-it kind of shows that remind us that not EVERYTHING made in the Golden Age of Television shone. This impoverished effort was produced by Republic Studios, which in 1940 had turned out the highly regarded serial "The Drums of Fu Manchu" starring Henry Brandon. Any relation between that Fu and this one, though, is coincidental, since none of Republic's trademark technical quality is in evidence (the sets are so rudimentary and flimsy they shake). Employing a halting way of talking, a bizarrely misplaced smile (possibly to keep the wobbly moustache from falling off) and a wrinkly bald cap, caucasian Glen Gordon is a total loss as Fu Manchu. He might have gotten the part simply because he resembled Henry Brandon enough to use stock footage from the serial, and his laughable "Chinese" accent and delivery sounds just like Peter Sellers' take-off of Charlie Chan in 1976's "Murder by Death." Almost as funny are Clark Howat as the Joe Friday-ish narrator Dr. Petrie, and John George, who is completely unintelligible as Fu's "Eurasian" dwarf henchman. That said, there is one reason to watch this DVD (hence the two stars): an outrageous episode titled "The Master Plan of Dr. Fu Manchu," which might be the ultimate in the "Villain-meets-Villian" genre. In it, Fu actually teams with Hitler (!) and the two try once more to conquer the world from the ubiquitous Republic Studio's cave set. This episode alone could become one of the great, jaw-dropping trash classics of all time.
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