Chandu the Magician Reviews

Wild-eyed, turbaned Lugosi once again holds an inventor captive while he tries to find out the secret of a death ray designed to (what else?) wipe out civilization. This is a filmed version of an old radio adventure series, and since neither Lowe nor Lugosi is killed off in the end one could safely assume Fox had some hopes of continuing the serial's success on the screen. The film was not warmly received at the time of its release because the acting styles of Lowe, in the title role, and Lugosi, as the villain, were so different. Lowe underacted, while Lugosi gave one of his celebrated melodramatic performances, leading one critic to comment that they seemed to be in different films--just the sort of thing that would make the picture high camp now. Sol Lesser, an independent producer, obtained the rights to the Chandu character and instituted a serial, THE RETURN OF CHANDU, in 1934, starring Lugosi, which further confused viewers who had fixed him in the villainous Roxor role. (Moreover, Lugosi's evil Roxor image was preserved in a wax replica in the Motion Picture Museum and Hall of Fame in Hollywood.) Ralph Morgan was originally signed to play the role of the death-ray inventor, but he was replaced by Walthall early in the production. Lowe got the original Chandu role because he had been effective as the magician in THE SPIDER (1931), also codirected by Menzies. (Menzies' career was spectacular; this multi-talented man was not only the art designer for GONE WITH THE WIND in 1939, but he directed the great sci-fi film THINGS TO COME in 1936.)