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

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

Director:

Jesús Franco (as Jess Franco)

Writers:

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

Stars:

Christopher Lee, Richard Greene, Howard Marion-Crawford

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Christopher Lee	...	Fu Manchu
Richard Greene	...	Nayland Smith
Howard Marion-Crawford	...	Doctor Petrie (as Howard Marion Crawford)
Günther Stoll	...	Dr. Curt Kessler (as Gunther Stoll)
Rosalba Neri	...	Lisa
Maria Perschy	...	Marie / Ingrid
José Manuel Martín	...	Omar Pashu (as Jose Manuel Martin)
Werner Abrolat	...	Melnik (as Werner Aprelat)
Tsai Chin	...	Lin Tang
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Stanley Baker	...	Running Man (archive footage)
Dirk Bogarde	...	Running Man (archive footage)

Storyline

The evil mastermind Fu Manchu plots his latest scheme to basically freeze over the Earth's oceans with his diabolical new device. Opposing him is his arch-nemesis, Interpol's very British Dr. Nayland Smith.

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Plot Keywords:

chinese | fu manchu | interpol | fifth part | actual animal killed | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Adventure | Crime | Horror

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

West Germany Italy Spain UK Liechtenstein

Language:

English German

Release Date:

1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sax Rohmer's The Castle of Fu Manchu

Filming Locations:

Rumelihisari, Sariyer, Istanbul, Turkey

Company Credits

Production Co:

Balcázar Producciones Cinematográficas, International Cinema, Italian International Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min (DVD) 80 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The last movie of Howard Marion-Crawford, who died shortly after completing this.

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

Fu Manchu: [opening line] This is Fu Manchu. Once again the world is at my mercy. I have conquered not only the mysteries of the continent but now of the oceans too. In the tropical waters of the south Atlantic my hand stretches out to turn water into ice - and to transform safety into the deadliest peril. In a few moments the proof of my mastery will be complete.

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Crazy Credits

Maria Perschy's character is called Dr. Ingrid Koch but on the credits her character's name is given as Marie.

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Alternate Versions

As usual in 'Jesus Franco' movies, the credits of the film contain different (and often incongruous with each other) info in every country's version. While the English version lists Peter Welbeck (nom-de-plum for Harry Alan Towers) as the author of the screenplay, the Spanish version (with a credits sequence that replaces the exterior shots of the castle from the original with a cheesy drawing of a red dragon) lists Manfred Barthel as the author of the story and screenplay, and Jaime Jesús Balcázar as the author of the dialogue. This version also credits some actors (such as Gustavo Re and Osvaldo Genazzani) and crew members not credited in the English version, and the cast order is different as well.

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Connections

Featured in Nightmare Theatre's Late Night Chill-o-Rama Horror Show Vol. 1 (1996)

User Reviews

Fu Manchu -Christopher Lee's last entry lousily directed by Jess Frank or Jesus Franco

Final outing in Fu Manchu-Christopher Lee series set in Turkey and based on Sax Rohmer's characters . Christopher Lee returns in this fifth chapter as the evil genius Fu Manchu who doesn't give up easily, and is out to destroy world or bent on conquering it . This time has designed a fantastic gadget to fleece water on oceans and he threatens world leaders by forcing a ransom . The baddies are Jose Luis Martin a Spanish actor usually playing the villain-role in Spaghetti Western and Christopher Lee, as always acting as a magnificent evil-doer . Nayland Smith-Richard Greene his perennial adversary and arch-nemesis takes the center of attention when is assigned the dangerous mission . Howard Marion Crawford of Britain's Home Office is the assistant of Nayland Smith , a Watson-alike . And of course, the Fu Manchu's daughter , habitually played by T Sai Chin, acting perfectly as a nasty murderous.

At the film there are action, adventures, thrills, sadism and exotic outdoors filmed in Estudios Cinematográficos Balcázar (Spanish producers are Alfonso and Jaime Jesus Balcazar), Esplugues De Llobregat, Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain (studio), Istanbul, Turkey and Parque Güell, Parque De Ciutdadella , Barcelona , Cataluña , Spain.

Fifth in Christopher Lee's Manchu series several pegs below his predecessors ; it is a bizarre blending of adventures, thriller and action with low budget . This exciting picture is full of Chinese killers , British adventurers, and nasty drug dealers . Weak performance by Richard Greene working below capabilities as Nyland Smith who in former episodes was best interpreted by Nigel Green , and Douglas Wilmer . The villain T Sai Chin stand out as Fu Manchu's daughter named Li Tang and the smuggler Jose Luis Martin overacting as an ominous bandit , furthermore turns up Burt Kwouk, Pink Panther-Sellers series's usual , in a brief appearance . The beautiful girls are two Eurotrash Goddeses as Maria Perschy and Rosalba Neri . This is the second collaboration between Jesus Franco and the producer Harry Alan Towers ( producer of the Fu Manchu's five movies ) and to be continued in several films . Well photographed by Manuel Merino , being recently fine remastering , though previous versions were awfully photographed.

Most critics felt this outing was one of the weakest entries along with ¨The blood of Fu Manchu¨ also directed by Jess Frank with similar casting , plenty of stock-shots , zooms and a Z-series style . The best installments were ¨Face of Fu Manchu(1965, Don Sharp)¨, and ¨Brides of Fu Manch( 1966, Don Sharp)¨ and the inferior ¨Vengeance of Fu Manchu(1967) . Only for completist , the outcome is one of the worst Fu Manchu movie ever made . Rating : Bottom of barrel , below average .