''The Shadow of Fu Manchu'' is an adventure

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

adapted from the first nine

Fu Manchu Dr. Fu Manchu () is a supervillain who was introduced in a series of novels by the English author Sax Rohmer beginning shortly before World War I and continuing for another forty years. The character featured in cinema, television, radio, com ...

novels by

Sax Rohmer Arthur Henry "Sarsfield" Ward (15 February 1883 – 1 June 1959), better known as Sax Rohmer, was an English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu."Rohmer, Sax" by Jack Adrian in Da ...

. The syndicated series aired from 1939 to 1940 in 15-minute installments.

Characters and story

Fu Manchu (

Harold Huber Harold Huber (born Harold Joseph Huberman, December 5, 1909September 29, 1959) was an American actor who appeared on film, radio and television. Early life Huber was born in the Bronx to Jewish immigrants from Imperial Russia, who had arrived in ...

) was a diabolical criminal mastermind. British official

Nayland Smith Denis Nayland Smith is a character who was introduced in the series of novels Dr. Fu Manchu by the English author Sax Rohmer. He is a rival to the villain Dr. Fu Manchu. History The character of Denis Nayland Smith was created in 1912 by Sax Roh ...

(

Hanley Stafford Hanley Stafford (born Alfred John Austin, September 22, 1899 – September 9, 1968), was an actor principally on radio. He is remembered best for playing Lancelot Higgins on ''The Baby Snooks Show''. Stafford also assumed the role of Mr. Dithers ...

), assisted by Dr. Petrie (

Gale Gordon Gale Gordon (born Charles Thomas Aldrich Jr., February 20, 1906 – June 30, 1995) was an American character actor perhaps best remembered as Lucille Ball's longtime television foil—and particularly as cantankerously combustible, tightfiste ...

), 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.Cox, Jim, ''Radio Crime Fighters''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2002.

References

External links

"In the Shadow Fu Manchu" by Martin Grams, Jr.
originally published in ''

Scarlet Street ''Scarlet Street'' is a 1945 American film noir directed by Fritz Lang. The screenplay concerns two criminals who take advantage of a middle-aged painter in order to steal his artwork. The film is based on the French novel ''La Chienne'' (literal ...

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Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logs: ''The Shadow of Fu Manchu''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shadow of Fu Manchu, The 1930s American radio programs 1939 radio dramas 1940s American radio programs American radio dramas Fu Manchu