Sax Rohmer's The Castle of Fu Manchu (1969) The Castle of Fu Manchu (original title)

Director:

Jesús Franco

Writers:

Jaime Jesús Balcázar (dialogue: Spanish version)
Manfred Barthel (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

1972 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

He's Back!!! The World's Most Evil Man with a Fiendish Plan of Conquest

Plot:

An evil Chinese mastermind plots to freeze the Earth's oceans.

Plot Keywords:

Chinese | Fu Manchu | Interpol | Disaster | Actual Animal Killed

Cast

Christopher Lee	...	Fu Manchu
Richard Greene	...	Nayland Smith
Howard Marion-Crawford	...	Doctor Petrie (as Howard Marion Crawford)
Günther Stoll	...	Curt (as Gunther Stoll)
Rosalba Neri	...	Lisa
Maria Perschy	...	Marie
José Manuel Martín	...	Omar Pashu (as Jose Manuel Martin)
Werner Abrolat	...	Melnik (as Werner Aprelat)
Tsai Chin	...	Lin Tang
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jesús Franco	...	Inspector Ahmet (uncredited)
Osvaldo Genazzani	...	Sir Robert (uncredited)
Burt Kwouk	...	Feno (uncredited)
Gustavo Re	...	Professor Heracles (uncredited)
Gene Reyes	...	Ahmet's Aide (uncredited)

Directed by
Jesús Franco		(as Jess Franco)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jaime Jesús Balcázar		dialogue: Spanish version
Manfred Barthel		screenplay
Manfred Barthel		story
Michael Haller		uncredited in English version
Sax Rohmer		characters
Harry Alan Towers		screenplay (uncredited in Spanish version) (as Peter Welbeck)

Produced by
Harry Alan Towers	....	producer
Jaime Jesús Balcázar	....	producer (uncredited in English version)

Original Music by
Charles Camilleri
Malcomb Shelby

Cinematography by
Manuel Merino

Film Editing by
John Colville

Production Design by
Santiago Ontañón		(as Santiago Ontanon)

Costume Design by
Berenice Sparano

Makeup Department
Ascensión Hernández	....	assistant makeup artist
Adrián Jaramillo	....	key makeup artist
Peter Jonas	....	assistant makeup artist
Vicenta Salvadó	....	hair stylist (as Vicenta Salvador)

Production Management
Juan Estelrich	....	production manager (as Juan Estelriech)
Remo Odevaine	....	production leader

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Federico Canudas	....	assistant director
Ricardo Franco	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Adrian McDonald	....	dubbing editor
Tommy Myers	....	dubbing mixer
Hermann Storr	....	sound editor

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Helga Lange	....	assistant wardrobe
María Luisa Soriano	....	wardrobe (as Maruja Soriano)

Editorial Department
María Luisa Soriano	....	supervising editor

Music Department
Charles Camilleri	....	conductor

Other crew
Herminia Arnau	....	script supervisor
Bruno Leder	....	production assistant
Lamberto Palmieri	....	production assistant
Ginés Rodríguez	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Balcázar Producciones Cinematográficas
• International Cinema
• Italian International Film (co-production)
• Terra-Filmkunst (co-production)
• Tilma Films
• Towers of London (associate production)

Distributors

• International Cinema Corp. (1972) (USA) (theatrical)
• Anglo-EMI Film Distributors (1972) (UK) (theatrical)
• MGM-EMI (1972) (UK) (theatrical)
• Maron Films (1973) (USA) (theatrical)
• Constantin Film (1969) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• International Film Distributors (1975) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Electric Video (EVI) (1981) (USA) (VHS)
• Sinister Cinema (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• Blue Underground (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Stomp Visual (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• Dolores Sostre Sobre (1972) (Spain) (theatrical)
• American Videotape (video)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2009) (Germany) (DVD)
• Mahier (Spain)
• Moore Video (video)
• Peter Rodgers Organization (1969) (worldwide) (all media)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2008) (Australia) (TV)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2008) (Australia) (video) (VOD)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2009) (Australia) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"The Castle of Fu Manchu" - West Germany (original title)

Runtime:

Germany:85 min | Spain:92 min | USA:92 min | USA:92 min (DVD version)

Country:

West Germany | Italy | Spain | UK | Liechtenstein

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | USA:PG | West Germany:12 (nf) | UK:PG | Singapore:NC-16 (DVD rating) | Singapore:PG | Canada:G (Quebec) | Germany:12 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Estudios Cinematográficos Balcázar, Esplugues de Llobregat, Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain

Company:

Balcázar Producciones Cinematográficas

Trivia:

Although credits state that locations were "filmed in Istanbul and surroundings", most of them correspond to Barcelona (Spain).

Goofs:

Factual errors: In scenes that were supposed to have taken place in Turkey in the 1920s, characters are shown wearing the fez, the wearing of which Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk banned (because of its connections with feudalism) in the 1920s.

Quotes:

Omar Pascha:I am Omar Pascha.
Denis Nayland-Smith:And I am Nayland-Smith of Scotland Yard.
Omar Pascha:I thought I could smell a policeman.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Fall of Fu Manchu (2003) (V)

Subtle and insidious torture

Handsome but utterly incoherent nonsense. Nice locations and sets and Lee looks really impressive in those Mandarin robes, but cripes, it's got about 30 extraneous characters, a vague and torturous plot, and a nonexistent ending. Bad in a way cheaper movies can't be; you can't help thinking it *must* have a plot because it *looks* well-made, so you end up blaming yourself for not getting it and you feel wretched and vaguely ill...agh. Took a grave toll on the Satellite of Love's morale and it will on yours.