THE RETURN OF DR. FU MANCHU (1930) is a direct sequel to THE MYSTERIOUS DR. FU MANCHU. Both of these films, produced by Paramount, have been released on Blu-ray by Kino on one disc.
I reviewed THE MYSTERIOUS DR. FU MANCHU on this blog a couple weeks ago. THE RETURN OF DR. FU MANCHU picks up right after the end of first film, with an elaborate funeral for the supposedly deceased Fu Manchu. Of course the nefarious doctor isn't dead--and he's still determined to get revenge on the Petrie family, who he blames for the death of his wife and son during the Boxer Rebellion.
The entire cast of THE MYSTERIOUS DR. FU MANCHU returns for the sequel, including Warner Oland as Fu, Neil Hamilton and Jean Arthur as the young couple under threat from the evil doctor, O. P. Heggie as the intrepid Nayland Smith, and (unfortunately) William Austin as the prissy comic relief. Rowland V. Lee also returns to direct.
THE RETURN OF DR. FU MANCHU is a bit livelier visually and editorially than the first film, but one must remember that this is still a very early sound entry from 1930. Warner Oland's performance as Fu Manchu is somewhat livelier as well, but he's still different from the taciturn, majestic Fu from the Sax Rohmer novels. Here Fu makes use of an airplane (which he pilots himself at one point) and he's created a potion that can turn his enemies into zombie-like slaves. As in the first film, however, Fu's diabolical plans are aimed at the Petrie family and Nayland Smith instead of worldwide domination.
Paramount would make another film involving Fu Manchu--the 1931 DAUGHTER OF THE DRAGON, which focuses more on Fu's daughter, played by the legendary Anna May Wong. (Oland appears again as Fu, but only in a short cameo.) Unfortunately Kino was not able to include this film on this release--Tim Lucas explains why in his audio commentary. (I wrote a blog post on DAUGHTER OF THE DRAGON a few years ago.)
Kino presents THE RETURN OF DR. FU MANCHU in a 1.20:1 aspect ratio. The black & white picture quality is better than that for THE MYSTERIOUS DR. FU MANCHU, and the sound quality is improved as well.
Tim Lucas provides another of his fine commentaries, carrying over from his talk for THE MYSTERIOUS DR. FU MANCHU. Lucas calls THE RETURN OF DR. FU MANCHU the very first direct sequel to a horror film (although personally I think the movie is much more of an adventure thriller than a horror). Lucas also discusses DAUGHTER OF THE DRAGON, which I certainly hope will get a proper Blu-ray release eventually.
I'm very happy that Kino put out these two very early Fu Manchu adventures on Region A Blu-ray. Paramount's Fu Manchu isn't the international super-villain created by Sax Rohmer, but these two titles are fun, interesting adventures that many film buffs have been waiting to see.
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