The Castle of Fu Manchu

The Castle of Fu Manchu (German: Die Folterkammer des Dr. Fu Man Chu, lit. 'The Torture Chamber of Dr. Fu Manchu', Spanish: El castillo de Fu-Manchu), released in 1969, is the fifth and final Dr. Fu Manchu film with Christopher Lee portraying the title character. Directed by Jesús Franco, is an English-language co-production among various European countries including the UK, Spain,^[6] and West Germany.^[7]

The Castle of Fu Manchu
German theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jesús Franco
Screenplay by	English version: Peter Welbeck[1] German/Spanish versions: Manfred Barthel[2]
Spanish dialogue by	Jaime Jesús Balcázar[3]
Based on	Fu Manchu by Sax Rohmer
Produced by	Harry Alan Towers Jaime Jesús Balcázar[2]
Starring	Christopher Lee Tsai Chin Maria Perschy Howard Marion-Crawford Richard Greene
Cinematography	Manuel Merino[2]
Edited by	John Colville[2]
Music by	Charles Camilleri Malcomb Shelby
Production companies	Balcázar Producciones Cinematográficas Terra-Filmkunst Italian International Films Towers of London (Films)[1][2]
Distributed by	MGM-EMI Distributors (UK) Constantin Film (West Germany) Dolores Sostre Sobre (Spain)
Release dates	30 May 1969 (1969-05-30) (West Germany) 24 September 1970 (1970-09-24) (Kingston, Jamaica) December 1970 (1970-12) (UK) 18 September 1972 (1972-09-18) (Barcelona)
Running time	92 minutes[4]
Countries	United Kingdom West Germany Spain Italy Liechtenstein[5]
Language	English

The film is also known as Assignment Istanbul.^[8]

Plot

Supercriminal Dr. Fu Manchu plots to freeze the world's oceans with a diabolical new device. With his beautiful but evil daughter, Lin Tang, his army of dacoits, and the help of the local crime organization led by Omar Pasha (whom Dr. Fu Manchu double-crosses), Dr. Fu Manchu takes over the governor's castle in Istanbul, which has a massive opium reserve, to control the largest opium port in Anatolia, since the drug is an important ingredient for the fuel for his machine. Dr. Fu Manchu needs the help of an intelligent scientist with an ailing heart whom he has imprisoned. In order to keep the scientist alive, he kidnaps a doctor and his wife to give the scientist a heart transplant from one of his obedient servants. Opposing him from Britain's branch of Interpol are his nemeses, Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie.

Cast

• Christopher Lee as Fu Manchu
• Tsai Chin as Lin Tang
• Maria Perschy as Dr. Ingrid Koch
• Richard Greene as Nayland Smith
• Howard Marion-Crawford as Dr. Petrie
• Günther Stoll as Dr. Curt Kessler
• Rosalba Neri as Lisa
• José Manuel Martín as Omar Pasha
• Werner Aprelat as Melnik

Uncredited:

• Mike Brendel as Pasha's Gunman
• Jesús Franco as Inspector Hamid
• Herbert Fux as Governor
• Osvaldo Genazzani as Sir Robert
• Burt Kwouk as Feng (archive footage from The Brides of Fu Manchu)
• Gustavo Re as Professor Heracles
• Gene Reyes as Hamid's Aide
• Moisés Augusto Rocha as Fu's Henchman

Production

The film was shot in Istanbul and Barcelona.^[7]

Release

The Castle of Fu Manchu was released on May 30, 1969 in West Germany and on September 24, 1970 in Kingston, Jamaica.^[9][10] This was followed by screenings in the United Kingdom in December 1970, Barcelona on September 18, 1972 and Madrid on May 28, 1973 and Seville on July 6, 1974.^[11]

Home media

Blue Underground released the film on DVD under The Christopher Lee Collection in 2003.^[12]

Reception

The film is considered the worst of the Fu-Manchu series with Lee.^[13]

In popular culture

In 1992, The Castle of Fu Manchu was featured in Mystery Science Theater 3000 (Season 3, Episode 23). Towards the end, Joel Robinson comments that Roger Ebert liked the movie; however, in 1993 Ebert stated he had "never seen it."^[14]

See also

• A Night to Remember - Titanic sinking scene used for this movie
• List of films considered the worst