The Return of Chandu

Unrated

10/1/19343h 23m

Theatrical Release (US)

Overview:

Chandu consults his crystal ball and sees that Nadji, Princess of Egypt, is in danger. She is about to be sacrificed by the black magic cult of Ubasti. Headed for the magic island of Lemuria, he is shipwrecked , washed ashore and captured. He becomes invisible, escapes and after numerous detours is able to rescue the princess.

Director:

Ray Taylor

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

cult
movie serial
magician

Cast

Bela Lugosi

~ as ~

Frank Chandler (Chandu)

Maria Alba

~ as ~

Nadji - Princess of Egypt

Murdock MacQuarrie

~ as ~

The Supreme Voice of Ubasti [Chs. 4-12]

Clara Kimball Young

~ as ~

Dorothy Regent

Dean Benton

~ as ~

Bob Regent (as Deane Benton)

Phyllis Ludwig

~ as ~

Betty Regent

Lucien Prival

~ as ~

Vindhyan, High Priest [Chs. 1-4]

Cyril Armbrister

~ as ~

Henchman Sutra [Chs.1-4]

Wilfred Lucas

~ as ~

Capt. Wilson [Chs. 4-12]

Josef Swickard

~ as ~

Tyba, The White Magician [Chs. 8-12]

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 6 month(s) ago
5
This might have worked better as a silent feature as it mixes up it's mythologies to allow Bela Lugosi's eponymous character (aka. "Chandler") to race to the rescue of the imperilled Egyptian princess "Nadji"(Maria Alba). Why? Well it seems that some Pharaonic cult from ages past has decided that she's the reincarnation of a goddess. What's slightly confusing is that they seem to want to sacrifice her so the goddess ("Ossana") can, well, reincarnate! Anyway, never let the plot get in the way of a rather pointlessly abridged version of the serialisation as it takes us through approximately one third of the story before we run out of reels and must search for him on his "Magic Island" film which doesn't come along til next year. To be fair, I like the genre and they do try a little with the score to create some sense of mystical peril and hypnotics, but Lugosi is at his most wooden here as he fears "grave danger" for the princess as if he were buttering his toast and Alba goes into dramatic overdrive as the damsel in distress. The "Yogi" says have faith, but somehow I fear this ought to have just stayed as a weekly serial with the odd cliffhanger and the slightest sense of jeopardy which is distinctly lacking here.