"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, with all the resources, if you will, of a wealthy government--which, however, already has denied all knowledge of his existence. Imagine that awful being, and you have a mental picture of Dr. Fu-Manchu, the yellow peril incarnate in one man." -- Nayland Smith to Dr. Petrie, The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu, Chapter 2 Poet D. J. Enright's analysis of the classic description above.

Photograph from The Man Who Shot Garbo --The Hollywood Photographs of Clarence Sinclair Bull by Terence Pepper and John Kobal

Sax Rohmer in Vanity Fair September 1930

Additions, Comments or Suggestions?

What is that music?

News -- Last Updated:   23 October 2007

New email address:  lawrenceknapp@suddenlink.net

New Fu Manchu Short Movie "Writer/Actor Michael McQuary, along with his collaborative partner Marcman Briatack, present a DYNAMARCfilms short: "ALCHEMY: The Diabolical Experiment of FU MANCHU." Shot in Black and White, with old style art deco transitions, this 8 minute short film evokes the feel of an old 1940's movie serial. It stars Michael McQuary as the nefarious Fu, Jon Johnson as Professor Whimbley, and Eric Michael Espiritu as Ching. It will be available on DVD soon, but meanwhile can be seen at www.youtube.com/DYNAMARCfilms . "ALCHEMY: The Diabolical Experiment of Fu Manchu" Written by Michael McQuary. Directed by Marcman Briatack. More to come...

Rohmer Rights

Over the years the question of who owned the rights to Rohmer's books and, more importantly, the character of Fu Manchu has been the most frequent question. There is now a definitive answer. Al Longden has informed us of this recent development: Effective immediately the estate of Sax Rohmer is represented by Albert T. Longden Associates, of Bloomfield, NJ for World English rights.  Additionally, the much anticipated memoir of Mr. Harry Alan Towers, Mr. Towers of London, a Life in Show Business is also being represented by the agency.  You might recall that Harry is a renowned Producer in London and Hollywood with all of the Fu Manchu and Sumuru movies to his credit, including the new Fu Manchu movie, The Children of Fu Manchu due out in 2009. The agency is obviously excited at the prospect of a renewed interest in the Fu Manchu franchise and has experience considerable interest from publishers on both sides of the Atlantic.  They will also be emphasizing the considerable works of the author that are not related to the Fu Manchu series but have considerable worth for their timeless adventure, romance and mystery.  Indeed many are worthy of theatrical consideration. Al Longden, Principal Albert T. Longden Associates A Literary Agency 18 Bellevue Terrace Bloomfield, NJ 07003

Little Tich

Little Tich has been re-issued with a Foreword by one of our regular contributors, Alan Johns.

All twenty-five of the  Stoll movie cigarette cards are now posted. Many are from the collection of Gordon Lutz.

The Mystery of Dr Fu-Manchu and other Stoll productions are discussed in depth in John Soister's book, UP FROM THE VAULTS: RARE THRILLERS FROM THE 20s & 30s (McFarland & Company). The author has graciously given us permission to post an excerpt and the episode descriptions on our movie pages.

He's back. New Fu Manchu imagery and news from Michael McQuary. Ray Faiola sent in this press release:  CANNES -- South Africa-based movie company Distant Horizon is planning to bring arch criminal mastermind Fu Manchu back to the big screen. Distant Horizon president Anant Singh said the company's development slate includes a project centering on the 1960s screen criminal synonymous with actor Christopher Lee. The project will be produced by Distant Horizon's Singh and Brian Cox along with veteran indie producer Harry Alan Towers and actress Maria Rohm. Towers and Rohm were key figures in several of the popular '60s series of Fu Manchu projects starring Lee -- "The Vengeance of Fu Manchu," "The Blood of Fu Manchu" and "The Castle of Fu Manchu" -- and Singh has worked with Towers previously. Singh, speaking from South Africa before boarding a plane Wednesday to travel to the Festival de Cannes, said in an interview that he aims to make the movie in China. "We will reinvent Fu Manchu as an anti-hero who fits in with a more socially conscious world and that addresses the very complex multipolar world we all live in today," Singh said. "We have already begun to discuss Fu's rebirth with a number of exciting talents in Hong Kong and mainland China." Singh added that the project will address "the xenophobia of the original material head-on with the possible collaboration with Chinese filmmakers in a bold effort to turn (creator) Sax Rohmer's underlying sentiments on its head."   Joel Schlosberg has contributed some excellent stills from Looney Tunes "Have You Got any Castles." Page of Fu Manchu contributor William Patrick Maynard, has completed his novel, The Terror of Fu Manchu.  Bill was recently interviewed on jawbone. It's a great interview with a real Sax Rohmer aficionado who discusses the historical context of Rohmer's stories, the racist aspects of Fu Manchu, other period characters, and how he got permission to use the character in his novel. Listen to the  interview here (be patient; it's a large file) and get the novel when it's released. A Story-Teller page has been added listing the stories published there beginning in October 1912 with "The Zayat Kiss," the first Fu Manchu story. The Pyramid paperback that was never published! Robert Weinberg has provided a scan of J. Lombardero's painting for a planned Pyramid edition of The Bat Flies Low. Herman Brinkman has reported a Rohmer story in The Novel Magazine. Mark Schreiber has allowed us to reprint his article and interview with Cay Van Ash: A Footnote on the Yellow Peril. The earliest known clone has been added: The Mysterious Mr. Wu Chung Fu.

At its inception, July 25, 1997, The Page of Fu Manchu was hosted by NJIN, the New Jersey Intercampus Network which provided Internet support to New Jersey's colleges and college faculty. New Jersey's higher education institutions now have their own networks and infrastructure, so NJIN support is no longer needed. As a result, NJIN was replaced by NJEDge.Net, a non-profit corporation of the New Jersey Presidents' Council, "designed to enhance the missions of instruction, research and public service of New Jersey's colleges and universities."  While NJEDge no longer supports individual initiatives or web sites, they have kindly agreed to support our Sax Rohmer site as "a demonstration project of international scholarship and community." We are quite pleased to have their support. We continue to update the site and, as in the past, we welcome any additional titles or information.

Dr. Lawrence J. Knapp 

lawrenceknapp@suddenlink.net

First posted  July 25, 1997

All original material copyright © 1997-2006 Lawrence Knapp. All rights reserved.
Other material used with permission with copyrights retained by the owners and authors.

The Page of Fu Manchu
has been selected for the Violet Bookmark Award
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