1932's "Chandu the Magician" marked Bela Lugosi's return to Fox, the one studio that kept him gainfully employed both before and after his realization of Universal's "Dracula" (this would be his 7th talkie for the studio), but is forced to take a back seat to Edmund Lowe's somnambulistic portrayal of the title character, an ordinary man named Frank Chandler emerging after three years of dedicated training to become genuine yogi Chandu, his hypnotic powers able to overwhelm all those who mean to do harm. His sister's husband (Henry B. Walthall) has been captured by Lugosi's power hungry madman Roxor, hoping to make use of his death ray device to become absolute ruler of the world (not a bad thing if you can do it), capturing various family members to apply pressure in getting what he desires. Chandu also must protect his former love, Princess Nadji (Irene Ware), also a pawn in Roxor's ambitions, using his eyes and mystical skills to foil his adversary at every turn. Only at the climax do the two actually meet and, sad to say, it ain't a fair fight as Roxor easily falls in line, helpless to prevent his own creation from being the cause of his destruction, carefully rigged to blow up the entire cast unless they can escape in time. This adaptation of a popular radio serial betrays its origins only too well, a foolish, simple minded treatment further burdened by Herbert Mundin's obnoxious drunken antics, occasionally offset by the magnificent set design and special effects, courtesy of two credited directors, Marcel Varnel and the fabled William Cameron Menzies. It's a much smaller part than expected, only one major scene during the entire first half, 16 1/2 minutes screen time out of a merciless 72 minute running time, a stock character that only Lugosi could have pulled off (he would be reunited with lovely Irene Ware for Universal's 1935 "The Raven"). Edmund Lowe was a frequent Bela costar in titles like "Women of All Nations," "Gift of Gab," and "The Best Man Wins," all of which were better suited for the tough guy actor than this Eastern mystic, so it's no wonder that Lugosi himself inherited the role for Sol Lesser's 1934 "The Return of Chandu," granting him the one time only opportunity to essay an old fashioned, two fisted action hero in a genuine serial (only two more Fox features lay ahead, 1933's "The Devil's in Love" and 1939's "The Gorilla").