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The Shadow of Fu Manchu |
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"Imagine a person, tall, lean and feline,
high-shouldered, with a brow like Shakespeare and a face like Satan, a
close-shaven skull, and long, magnetic eyes of the true cat-green. Invest him
with all the cruel cunning of an entire Eastern race, accumulated in one
giant intellect, with all the resources of science past and present...
Imagine that awful being, and you have a mental picture of Dr. Fu-Manchu, the
yellow peril incarnate in one man" As
conceived by the author Sax Rohmer,
Fu Manchu's murderous plots are marked by the extensive use of arcane
methods; he disdains guns or explosives, preferring dacoits, Thuggee, and
members of other secret societies as his agents armed with knives, or using
"pythons and hamadryads... fungi and my tiny allies, the bacilli... my
black spiders" and other peculiar animals or natural chemical weapons. In
the earliest books, Fu Manchu is an assassin sent on missions by the Si-Fan, but he quickly rises to become head of that
dreaded secret society. Prominent among his agents was the "seductively
lovely" Karamaneh. She was
sold to the Si-Fan by Egyptian slave traders while still a child. Opposing
Fu Manchu are Commissioner Sir Denis Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie. They are in the Holmes and Watson tradition, with Dr. Petrie
narrating the stories while Nayland Smith carries the fight, combating Fu
Manchu with dogged determination. Nayland Smith and Fu Manchu share a
grudging respect for one another, as each believes a man must keep his word
even to an enemy. Smith
is an official of the British government with a roving commission which
allows him to exercise authority over any group that can help him in his
mission. He resembles Sherlock Holmes both in his physical description, in
his acerbic manner, and in his deductive genius. Fu
Manchu came to Radio, most popularly in 1939 - being aired in the United
States as a thrice weekly serial dramatizing the early novels. This was a
series of 156, fifteen-minute episodes, under the overall title The Shadow
Of Fu Manchu. Ted
Osborne played Dr. Fu Manchu, with Hanley Stafford as Nayland Smith, Gale
Gordon as Dr. James Petrie, Paula Winslowe as Karameneh, with Edmund OÕBrien
as Inspector Rymer and Gerald Mohr was the announcer. Four
separate serials were recorded - the adaptations were quite faithful to the
original books. Each serial ran
to 39 consecutive instalments in length and each was composed of more than
one Sax Rohmer story. Unfortunately
only the first (39 episode) serial has survived in a complete form: The
first 21 episodes are an adaptation from The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu (1913), Episode
No. 22 to No. 27 is taken from The Hand of Fu Manchu (1917),
whilst Episode
No. 28 through No. 29 dramatize The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu (1916) Want
to check this great title out? Why
not download the 30 minute Documentary: The Mysterious Dr Fu Manchu and or the first three episodes from the series? They
can be freely downloaded to your computer - just right button click on any
link below and chose "Download Linked File" (or words to that
effect). The file size of the Documentary is about 22Mb whilst each of the 15
minute episodes is about 9 or 10 Mb - download time will depend on your
(broadband) speed FMCRD_2002-10-08
The Mysterious Dr Fu Manchu.mp3 FMC_1939-05-08
Episode No.1.mp3 FMC_1939-05-10
Episode No.2.mp3 FMC_1939-05-12
Episode No.3.mp3 This
MP3 CD contains a very interesting 30 minute documentary conducted by Professor
Jeffrey Richards about Fu Manchu on Radio. As well, the first 39 episodes of
The Shadow of Fu Manchu Radio Series - a complete adventure encompassing the
three books listed above. All
episodes have been carefully restored to very nice clarity. Note: The lengthy musical introduction and conclusion
(sometimes as much as two and a half minutes each) have been
"pruned" for a more dramatic (but still atmospheric) listening
experience. A.
Fu Manchu
Documentary (30 minutes) 1. FMCRD_2002-10-08
The Mysterious Dr Fu Manchu.mp3 B.
The Insidious
Dr Fu Manchu (21 x 12 minutes) 1. FMC_1939-05-08
Episode No.1.mp3 2. FMC_1939-05-10
Episode No.2.mp3 3. FMC_1939-05-12
Episode No.3.mp3 4. FMC_1939-05-15
Episode No.4.mp3 5. FMC_1939-05-17
Episode No.5.mp3 6. FMC_1939-05-19
Episode No.6.mp3 7. FMC_1939-05-22
Episode No.7.mp3 8. FMC_1939-05-24
Episode No.8.mp3 9. FMC_1939-05-26
Episode No.9.mp3 10. FMC_1939-05-29
Episode No.10.mp3 11. FMC_1939-05-31
Episode No.11.mp3 12. FMC_1939-06-02
Episode No.12.mp3 13. FMC_1939-06-05
Episode No.13.mp3 14. FMC_1939-06-07
Episode No.14.mp3 15. FMC_1939-06-09
Episode No.15.mp3 16. FMC_1939-06-12
Episode No.16.mp3 17. FMC_1939-06-14
Episode No.17.mp3 18. FMC_1939-06-16
Episode No.18.mp3 19. FMC_1939-06-19
Episode No.19.mp3 20. FMC_1939-06-21
Episode No.20.mp3 21. FMC_1939-06-23
Episode No.21.mp3 C.
The Hand of Fu
Manchu (6 x 12 minutes) 1. FMC_1939-06-26
Episode No.22.mp3 2. FMC_1939-06-28
Episode No.23.mp3 3. FMC_1939-06-30
Episode No.24.mp3 4. FMC_1939-07-03
Episode No.25.mp3 5. FMC_1939-07-05
Episode No.26.mp3 6. FMC_1939-07-07
Episode No.27.mp3 D.
The Return of
Dr Fu Manchu (12 x 12 minutes) 1. FMC_1939-07-10
Episode No.28.mp3 2. FMC_1939-07-14
Episode No.29.mp3 3. FMC_1939-07-17
Episode No.30.mp3 4. FMC_1939-07-19
Episode No.31.mp3 5. FMC_1939-07-21
Episode No.32.mp3 6. FMC_1939-07-24
Episode No.33.mp3 7. FMC_1939-07-26
Episode No.34.mp3 8. FMC_1939-07-28
Episode No.35.mp3 9. FMC_1939-07-31
Episode No.36.mp3 10. FMC_1939-08-02
Episode No.37.mp3 11. FMC_1939-08-04
Episode No.38.mp3 12. FMC_1939-08-07
Episode No.39.mp3 |