The Brides of Fu Manchu

Evil Oriental mastermind Fu Manchu (CHRISTOPHER LEE) abducts ten beautiful girls from around the world whose fathers are distinguished scientists and engineers. He then forces them to construct a "death ray", which generates phenomenal energy through radio waves. First he uses his new weapon to destroy "The Windsor Castle", an ocean liner, which was carrying several VIP's in order to show the world the extent of the damage he could do unless his demands are met. His next intended target is London's "St Paul's Cathedral" where an international arms conference is to take place. Nayland Smith (DOUGLAS WILMER) must locate his arch enemy's new installation and destroy the weapon, but in such a way that the lives of the girls will not be threatened.

THE BRIDES OF FU MANCHU was the first sequel to the popular FACE OF... (1965), which went into production at the legendary Bray studios (once the home of the Hammer horror factory) on 12 January 1966 while its predecessor had barely completed its run of the UK's cinemas. The film also came with a huge publicity stunt, in which Lee would travel around different countries in Europe and select ten suitable girls (not necessarily an actress) to be Fu Manchu's brides in the film.

THE BRIDES OF FU MANCHU is in no way as stylish as its predecessor, but its not bad as sequels go with the James Bond style plot carrying a little more weight than any of its subsequent successors. Director Don Sharp was wisely retained in the director's chair along with Cinematographer Ernest Steward whose lighting did so much for the first film. Between them they still brilliantly recreate the period atmosphere of 1920's London giving it a Conan Doyleish edge. The main problem with the film is that the script places more emphasis on torture and sadism here (one of the faults in subsequent entries) like when Fu Manchu forces one of the girls (in a state of trance) to throw another into his snake pit so the light-heartedness of the original is gone. A more explicit version filmed for overseas audiences apparently exists and Douglas Wilmer who was very popular on British television at the time as Sherlock Holmes is a disappointing substitute for Nigel Green as Nayland Smith.

In summary, though by no means a perfect film, The Brides Of Fu Manchu is still the last of the good Fu Manchu's. From this point on the series was to sadly degenerate into shambling nonsense with lacklustre scripts, lower budgets and poor overall execution.

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.

Surviving his cataclysmic demise at the end of Don Sharp's The Face Of Fu Manchu (1965), Christopher Lee dons the stick-on Eastern eyelids a second time, utterly and entertainingly unconvincing as Sax Rohmer's villain-to-end-all villains. With his daughter and resident henchmen led by Burt Kwouk (Kato in the Pink Panther series), Fu is now blackmailing the world's top scientists to create a doomsday device by kidnapping their daughters. Douglas Wilmer replaces The Face Of Fu Manchu's Nigel Green as Neyland Smith, Fu Manchu's lantern-jawed arch nemesis from Scotland Yard, and battles all manner of Cartoon oriental stereotypes before rescuing the reluctant harem from the firey finale. Lee utters the immortal words `The world shall hear from me again!", thus ensuring a further three sequels (Vengeance..., Castle... and Blood Of Fu Manchu, all released in 1968) for producer Harry Allen Towers - the last two in the series helmed by Spain's infamous hack Jess Franco (whose filmic Midas Touch could grind the Star Wars series to a halt!).

This is the sequel to 'The Face Of Fu Manchu'. Once again Harry Alan Towers is the writer/producer, Don Sharp is the director, and Christopher Lee plays the fiendish Dr Fu Manchu, criminal mastermind. Fu Manchu's arch enemy Nayland Smith is played this time around by Douglas Wilmer ('The Vampire Lovers'), replacing Nigel Green. I miss Green but Wilmer is pretty good and Lee is terrific as always. Smith's Watson-like sidekick Dr. Petrie is once again played by Howard Marion-Crawford, and Tsai Chin returns as Fu Manchu's evil daughter Lin Tang. Horror buffs will get a kick out of seeing Heinz Dracher ('Circus Of Fear') as Franz and Rupert Davies ('Witchfinder General') as Jules Merlin. Also keep an eye out for Burt "Kato" Kwouk as Fu Manchu's assistant Feno. The plot concerns Fu Manchu's development of a death ray with which he plans to dominate the world. He kidnaps beautiful girls from various countries who are the daughters of prominent scientists or politicians to force them to cooperate. But Nayland Smith (who is kind of Sherlock Holmes to Fu Manchu's Moriarty) is soon onto his scheme and it becomes a race against time to stop Fu Manchu from taking over the world. I always thought that Sax Rhomer's Fu Manchu was a terrific villain, but in these politically correct times it's unlikely we'll see him return to our movies screens. Even the recent comic adaptation 'The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen' left his character out. Lee makes a perfect Fu Manchu even if he is sometimes let down by a mundane script and budgetary limitations. 'The Brides Of Fu Manchu' is just as entertaining as 'The Face Of Fu Manchu', so if you enjoyed the first movie you'll have fun watching this one. There were three more movies in the series and it is generally thought that each was progressively worse than the last, so proceed with caution...

The second film in producer Harry Alan Towers' Fu Manchu series is the only one to be filmed entirely in England, and went before the cameras only one month after "The Face of Fu Manchu" premiered in the USA. This compact little thriller is harmed by some last-minute cost saving measures, made in response to the disappointing boxoffice returns of the first film. It was not filmed in cinemascope and was processed in eastmancolor, the cheaper cousin of technicolor. The resulting film is dark and actually ugly-looking at times; its predominant color is washed-out red.

Choosing to emphasize the sexual aspects of his story, Towers arranged an international beauty contest to find the world's most beautiful women to play the title roles. The contest, held after the film was already finished, was a publicity ploy to generate interest in the film as it sat on the shelf for almost one year before release. The "brides" were actually actresses and models, cast through standard agencies and for their willingness to appear in nude scenes for the racier European version.

A lesser film than "Face", "Brides" is still an acceptable diversion, especially considering the nosedive the series would take after this. It would be director Don Sharp's last film in the series, and his considerable contribution would become evident after his departure.