''The Brides of Fu Manchu'' is a 1966

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

/West German

Constantin Film The Constantin Film AG is a German mini-major film production and distribution company based in Munich. The company, which belongs to Swiss media conglomerate Highlight Communications AG, is a large independent German maker and distributor of pr ...

co-production

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...

crime film based on the fictional Chinese villain Dr. Fu Manchu, created by

Sax Rohmer Arthur Henry "Sarsfield" Ward (15 February 1883 – 1 June 1959), better known as Sax Rohmer, was an English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu."Rohmer, Sax" by Jack Adrian in Da ...

. It was the second film in a series, and was preceded by ''

The Face of Fu Manchu ''The Face of Fu Manchu'' is a 1965 thriller film directed by Don Sharp and based on the characters created by Sax Rohmer. It stars Christopher Lee as the eponymous villain, a Chinese criminal mastermind, and Nigel Green as his pursuing rival N ...

''. ''

The Vengeance of Fu Manchu ''The Vengeance of Fu Manchu'' is a 1967 British crime thriller adventure film directed by Jeremy Summers and starring Christopher Lee, Horst Frank, Douglas Wilmer and Tsai Chin (actress), Tsai Chin. It was the third British/West German Constant ...

'' followed in 1967, '' The Blood of Fu Manchu'' in 1968, and ''

The Castle of Fu Manchu ''The Castle of Fu Manchu'' (german: Die Folterkammer des Dr. Fu Man Chu, lit=The Torture Chamber of Dr. Fu Manchu, es, El castillo de Fu-Manchu) is a 1969 film and the fifth and final Dr. Fu Manchu film with Christopher Lee portraying the ti ...

'' in 1969. It was produced by

Harry Alan Towers Harry Alan Towers (19 October 1920 – 31 July 2009) was a British radio and independent film producer and screenwriter. He wrote numerous screenplays for the films he produced, often under the pseudonym Peter Welbeck. He produced over 80 f ...

for Hallam Productions. Like the first film, it was directed by

Don Sharp Donald Herman Sharp (19 April 192114 December 2011) was an Australian film director. His best known films were made for Hammer in the 1960s, and included ''The Kiss of the Vampire'' (1963) and ''Rasputin, the Mad Monk'' (1966). In 1965 he dire ...

, and starred Christopher Lee as Fu Manchu.

Nigel Green Nigel McGown Green (15 October 192415 May 1972) was an English character actor. Because of his strapping build, commanding height () and regimental demeanour he would often be found playing military types and men of action in such classic 1960s ...

was replaced by

Douglas Wilmer Douglas Wilmer (8 January 1920 – 31 March 2016) was an English actor, best known for playing Sherlock Holmes in the 1965 TV series ''Sherlock Holmes''. Early life Wilmer was born in Brentford, Middlesex, and received his education at Kin ...

as Scotland Yard detective Nayland Smith. The action takes place mainly in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, where much of the location filming took place.

Plot

In 1924, Dr. Fu Manchu, his army of

dacoit Dacoity is a term used for "banditry" in the Indian subcontinent. The spelling is the anglicised version of the Hindi word ''daaku''; "dacoit" is a colloquial Indian English word with this meaning and it appears in the ''Glossary of Colloquial ...

s and his vicious daughter Lin Tang are kidnapping the daughters of prominent scientists and taking them to his hidden base in the Atlas Mountains, where he demands that their fathers help him to build a device that transmits

blast wave In fluid dynamics, a blast wave is the increased pressure and flow resulting from the deposition of a large amount of energy in a small, very localised volume. The flow field can be approximated as a lead shock wave, followed by a self-similar sub ...

s through a radio transmitter, which he intends to use to take over the world. He plans to keep (even wed) the girls in question. But Dr. Fu Manchu's archenemy, Nayland Smith of Scotland Yard, is determined not to let that happen.

Cast

Credits adapted from the booklet of the Powerhouse Films

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

boxset ''The Fu Manchu Cycle: 1965-1969''. * Christopher Lee as

Fu Manchu Dr. Fu Manchu () is a supervillain who was introduced in a series of novels by the English author Sax Rohmer beginning shortly before World War I and continuing for another forty years. The character featured in cinema, television, radio, com ...

as Nayland Smith *

Heinz Drache Heinz Drache (; 9 February 1923 – 3 April 2002) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 40 films between 1953 and 2002. He was born in Essen, Germany and died in Berlin, Germany of lung cancer. Selected filmography * '' Once I ...

as Franz Baumer *

Marie Versini Marie Versini (10 August 1940 – 22 November 2021) was a French film and television actress. Career Versini appeared in several international cinema productions. After playing in Karl May film adaptations she received a number of German popula ...

as Marie Lentz * Howard Marion-Crawford as Dr. Petrie *

Tsai Chin Tsai Chin may refer to: * Tsai Chin (actress) (born 1933), actress from Shanghai, also known as Irene Chow * Tsai Chin (singer) (born 1957), Taiwanese singer {{Hndis ...

as Lin Tang *

Rupert Davies Rupert Davies FRSA (22 May 191622 November 1976) was a British actor. He is best remembered for playing the title role in the BBC's 1960s television adaptation of '' Maigret'', based on Georges Simenon's novels. Life and career Military s ...

as Jules Merlin * Kenneth Fortescue as Sergeant Spicer *

Joseph Furst Joseph Fürst (13 February 1916 – 29 November 2005) was an Austrian-born international film and television actor known for his English language roles in Britain and Australia, after first appearing on the Canadian stage. Career Fürst was r ...

as Otto Lentz *

Roger Hanin Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ...

as Inspector Pierre Grimaldi *

Harald Leipnitz Harald Leipnitz (22 April 1926 – 21 November 2000) was a German actor, who was born in Wuppertal and died in Munich of lung cancer. Filmography *1961: '' The Big Show'' (Uncredited) *1963: ', as Wolfgang Spitz *1963: ', as Pedro *1964: ''The ...

as Nikki Sheldon *

Carole Gray Carole Gray (born 1938)
Linked 2017-07-11 is a Southern Rhodesia-born

as Michel Merlin *

Burt Kwouk Herbert Tsangtse Kwouk, (; ; 18 July 1930 – 24 May 2016) was a British actor, known for his role as Cato in the ''Pink Panther'' films. He made appearances in many television programmes, including a portrayal of Imperial Japanese Army Ma ...

as Feng * Salmaan Peerzada as Abdul * Eric Young as Control Assistant * Wendy Gifford as Louise * Poulet Tu as Lotus * Sally Sheridan as Shiva * Denis Holmes as Constable * Maureen Beck as Nurse Brown * Michael Chow as Guard * Kristopher Kum as Wireless Operator * Tommy Yapp as Dacoit The Brides of Fu Manchu *Ulla Berglin *Danielle Defrère *Evelyne Dhéliat *Yvonne Ekmann *Anje Langstraat *Katerina Quest *

Lucille Soong Lucille Soong (born August 15, 1938) is a Chinese-American actress. She is best known for her main role as Grandma Huang in the television series ''Fresh Off the Boat'' (2015–2020). She has acted and appeared in films and TV series since the 1 ...

*Christine Rau *Gaby Schär

Production

Sharp recalled producer Harry Alan Towers used the film to showcase "young and beautiful actresses". It was shot at

Bray Studios (UK) Bray Studios is a British film and television facility in Water Oakley near Bray, Berkshire. It is best known for its association with Hammer Film Productions. History Down Place Down Place, a large Thamesside house in the Berkshire ham ...

. Nigel Green was not available to repeat his performance as Nayland Smith so he was replaced by Douglas Wilmer. Sharp recalled filming went "smoothly but already the signs were there that" Towers could make Fu Manchu movies without having to "worry too much because the stories were okay. Well, there was more to making the movies than that."

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brides of Fu Manchu, The 1966 films 1966 adventure films 1960s crime thriller films British adventure films British crime thriller films West German films 1960s English-language films English-language German films Films directed by Don Sharp Films set in 1924 Films based on British novels Fu Manchu films Films set in London Films shot in London 1960s British films