The Shadow of Fu Manchu
Encyclopedia
The Shadow of Fu Manchu was an adventure radio drama
adapted from the first nine Fu Manchu
novels by Sax Rohmer
. The syndicated series aired from 1939 to 1940 in 15-minute installments.
) was a diabolical criminal mastermind. British official Nayland Smith (Hanley Stafford
), assisted by Dr. Petrie (Gale Gordon
), set out to stop Fu Manchu at any cost. In Radio Crime Fighters (2002), Jim Cox wrote:
Radio drama
Radio drama is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance, broadcast on radio or published on audio media, such as tape or CD. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the characters and story...
adapted from the first nine Fu Manchu
Fu Manchu
Dr. Fu Manchu is a fictional character introduced in a series of novels by British author Sax Rohmer during the first half of the 20th century...
novels by Sax Rohmer
Sax Rohmer
Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward , better known as Sax Rohmer, was a prolific English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Dr...
. The syndicated series aired from 1939 to 1940 in 15-minute installments.
Characters and story
Fu Manchu (Harold HuberHarold Huber
Harold Huber was an American actor who appeared on film, radio and television.-Early life:Huber was born Harold Joseph Huberman in the Bronx to Joseph Huberman and "Mammie" Glassberg, Jewish immigrants from Imperial Russia, who had arrived in the United States as infants. His father was the...
) was a diabolical criminal mastermind. British official Nayland Smith (Hanley Stafford
Hanley Stafford
Hanley Stafford . An actor principally on radio, he is remembered best for playing Lancelot Higgins on The Baby Snooks Show. He is commemorated by a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.-External links:...
), assisted by Dr. Petrie (Gale Gordon
Gale Gordon
Gale Gordon was an American character actor perhaps best remembered as Lucille Ball's longtime television foil—and particularly as cantankerously combustible, tightfisted bank executive Theodore J. Mooney, on Ball's second television situation comedy, The Lucy Show...
), set out to stop Fu Manchu at any cost. In Radio Crime Fighters (2002), Jim Cox wrote:
- The plots of Rohmer's insidious figure and Smith and Petrie's attempts to thwart the archenemy formed a repetitive theme in the story line. A stunningly exotic Karamaneh became the slave girl of the evil doctor; an objective of the combatants was to secure her release. The series, though brief, is memorable, and focused on one of the most effective villains to surface in adolescent radio.
External links
- "In the Shadow Fu Manchu" by Martin Grams, Jr., originally published in Scarlet StreetScarlet Street (magazine)Scarlet Street was an American film magazine that primarily specialized in the genres of horror, mystery and film noir. Its initial concentration was on Sherlock Holmes and related film and television productions, but later its subject matter expanded to include a variety of other genres.The title...
- Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logs: The Shadow of Fu Manchu