The Return of Chandu

Bela Lugosi gets to play one of his rare good guy roles in a serial based upon the long running radio hit (which was also the source of a feature film where Lugosi played the villain.) Lugosi cuts a fine dashing figure and its sad that he didn't get more roles where he could be the guy in command in a good way. Here Chandu returns from the East in order to help the Princess Nadji who is being hunted by the leaders of the cult of Ubasti who need her to bring back from the dead the high priestess of their cult. This is a good looking globe trotting serial that is a great deal of fun. To be certain the pacing is a bit slack, more akin to one of Principals (the producing studios) features then a rip roaring adventure, but it's still enjoyable. This plays better than the two feature films that were cut from it because it allows for things to happen at their own pace instead of feeling rushed or having a sense that "hey I missed something". One of the trilogy of three good serials Lugosi made, the others being SOS Coast Guard and Phantom Creeps

Unlike others on this site, I really enjoyed the dreamlike spookiness of CHANDU and I assume PRINCIPAL Pictures were absorbed into REPUBLIC the following year along with Monogram and Mascot. I was watching each chapter or two with a smart 3 year old and we eagerly looked forward to the next episode, probably in the right spirit as it was meant to be seen. For a cheap production using leftover sets it has some really effective eerieness and apprecizated the MUMMY - like pagan witchcraft on offer. We both loved the wizardy cat costumes, the cardboard temples and madness that pervaded each chapter. The opening titles and the Gong intro is wonderful. CHANDU almost works because of the mangy production values and is very enjoyable on any level.

Not a bad B picture with Lugosi as the romantic lead. The sets are kewl -- wonder where they came from?

Don't expect Indiana Jones and you'll be OK

The Plot.

The Black Magic cult of Ubasti, based on the isle of Lemuria, believes that Nadji, a princess of Egypt, is a reincarnation of their long-dead goddess, Ossana, and intend to sacrifice Nadji so that Ossana may be resurrected.

Nadji has taken refuge at the California home of Frank Chandler, an American raised in the east and possessed of White Magical powers, who calls himself "Chandu". Vindhyan, high priest of the cult's California outpost, learns of this and ultimately succeeds in placing her in a trance which Chandu cannot easily break, propelling him to move her to safety, choosing the port of Suva in the South Seas.

There, aided by his sister Dorothy, nephew Bob and niece Betty, Chandu is able to revive her and deal with Vindhyan, only to have the evil Voice of Ubasti, highest of the high priests, spirit her to Lemuria through the magic Circle of Ola.

The Black Magic cult of Ubasti needs to kidnap the last known living princess from Egypt so they can sacrifice her to their cat god. However, the good swami Chandu won't let this happen and spends most of the movie fighting these evil goons until they are, naturally, vanquished.

Since this film is called THE RETURN OF CHANDU, you can rightly assume it is a sequel. Just a short time earlier, Edmund Lowe starred as the Westerner who learned the secrets of the yogis. Using these great mental powers, he was able to save a kidnapped scientist and stop the death ray from being used on mankind! For a Saturday morning escapist suspense film, it was a dandy and Bela Lugosi was there to provide wonderful color as the evil villain.

Oddly, in this film, Lowe is nowhere to be seen and Lugosi actually plays Chandu!! So in the first film he was a super-villain and here a super-hero! Plus, in the first film he had a wife and kids, while in this film he hangs with his sister and her two grown kids and by the end of the film he's wooing a young lady!! Talk about continuity problems!!!

This film is a bit similar to the plot in the original, since it involves kidnapping but the level of excitement and the many, many wonderful and weird story elements from the original film are missing. Missing as well is the comic relief--making this film good, but certainly nowhere near the film the original was. Oddly, while it was made by Universal Studios, the film looked pretty cheap and was an obviously low budget film. Apparently, originally, this film was the first half of a serial of the same name. The second half was retitled CHANDU ON THE MAGIC ISLAND and is significantly worse than this first half. Still, it is entertaining and fans of Bela Lugosi will no doubt find it worth seeing.

A final note--The DVD version of this film I saw was from Passport Video and was of very dubious quality (it came in "The Bela Lugosi Box"). This company specializes in releasing public domain films and consistently does nothing to clean up the prints. This one was almost unwatchable due to terrible sound and no captioning. Also, Passport imprints their logo at the bottom right corner of the screen--which seems like a lot of nerve considering they didn't pay for the film!! Public domain AND emblazoning their name across it like they made the film?! Gimme a break. See if you can find a different and cleaner version.

Bela Lugosi is not typecast in this fantastic twelve-part adventure serial, playing the lead as Frank Chandler/Chandu the Magician, enjoying his role as a representative of the forces of White Magic pushed against those of Black, while displaying vigourous fighting skill, successfully wooing a young Egyptian princess, and cutting a lean and dashing figure in yachting gear, complete with nautical cap. The somewhat lumpy plot engages Chandler/Chandu in an ongoing series of escapades pointed at achieving the rescue of his fiancee, Princess Nadji(Maria Alba) and others from the clutches of the idol-worshipping sect of Ubasti, which covets Nadji's blood in order to revivify an ancient mummified princess entombed upon the mysterious island of Lemuria. Director Ray Taylor, an old hand at such entertainments keeps events moving briskly, but repeated scenes and footage, a good deal of which is to be found in the previous year's Skull Island setting from KING KONG, and the port locale from SON OF KONG, reduces original action to less than 60 minutes from the serial's running length of over two and one-half hours and, if viewed at one sitting, becomes lacking in effect to most viewers, unless insomniac.