The Return of Chandu *** (1934, Bela Lugosi, Maria Alba, Lucien Prival) – Classic Movie Review 9136

Chandu the Magician returns from the hit 1932 Chandu the Magician in The Return of Chandu (1934) and he is played by a different actor – the very same man who played his madman foe Roxor in the original – Bela Lugosi. This tactic pays off as Lugosi is far more amusing than Edmund Lowe who played Chandu the Magician.

This 65-minute feature splices together the first four chapters of the Fox serial of the same title, with the serial’s episodes expressly written to work as a stand-alone B-movie, so it is not a hacked-together mashup with continuity problems. Producer Sol Lesser planned it carefully to market it either as a feature or a feature-length first episode, kicking off the 12-episode source serial. Unfortunately he didn’t throw money at it, though, so there are cheap production values and useless special effects.

However, Lugosi rejoices in the role of hero for once, and the attractively weird story about Chandu fighting a group of cat worshipers wanting to abduct Princess Nadji of Egypt (Maria Alba) and sacrifice her on the isle of Lemuria is very entertaining. Lemuria’s Ubasti cult believes Nadji is a reincarnation of their ages-dead goddess Ossana whom they could resurrect by sacrificing Nadji.

The director is Ray Taylor and the writer is Barry Barringer.

It is followed by Chandu on the Magic Island (1935), also with Lugosi as Chandu.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 9136

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