Chandu on the Magic Island

Chandu on the Magic Island (1935)

** (out of 4)

Second feature film made from the serial The Return of Chandu. A woman is kidnapped by a jungle tribe in order to be sacrificed so it's up to Chandu (Bela Lugosi) to rescue her. The most interesting thing is seeing Lugosi play the good guy/hero but he doesn't do too much with the role. He's pretty flat throughout the film and some of his dialogue is quite laughable. The ending is quite nice and action packed and the thing is edited down quite nicely but it doesn't work most of the time.

Return of Chandu, The (1934)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Chandu (Bela Lugosi) has to fight off black magic in order to save a Princess who has been chosen for a sacrifies. This is the second feature version of the 15-chapter serial, which also goes by this title. The first feature version, Chandu on Magic Island has a lot more action but this version here is the overall better movie because istead of going for the "cliffhanger" sequences, this one here goes for a more character driven tale. This creates some slowness but it's nice seeing Lugosi play the good guy even though he really doesn't pull it off too well.

To deliver another adventure featuring "Chandu" the radio hero, they cobbled this together as "Chandu on the Magic Island". It is parenthetically subtitled "A Sequel to 'The Return of Chandu'." Both look like they were re-edited from serial footage; as usual, the soundtrack music is a dead giveaway. It's unfortunate film preservations don't restore serials, because you can see this was exciting stuff for the time with above average visuals for the genre. At the time, Bela Lugosi and Clara Kimball Young were considered big stars passing their prime; with some fresh faces and supporting veterans, they add up to a good cast.

**** Chandu on the Magic Island (1935) Ray Taylor ~ Bela Lugosi, Maria Alba, Dean Benton, Clara Kimball Young

Second feature made out of the serial The Return of Chandu picking up the second half of the serial as Bela Lugosi, playing Chandu, his niece, nephew, and sister, travel to the ancient island of Lemuria where the beautiful Princess Nadji as been taken to be sacrificed to the god(s) of the cat worshipers inhabiting the isle. This edited feature suffers many of the same problems of the first edited feature: continuity concerns from bad editing, questionable character motivations from bad editing, poor direction in general, and inferior special effects, but this second feature, coming in at a whopping 70 minutes, does indeed have the resolution to the serial included and much more action. If you miss the first half, you can easily involve yourself in this film as the story is very easy to follow. Again, Lugosi is fun to watch as the hero.

The first film is Chandu the Magician (1932), second is The Return of Chandu (1934) and "Magic Island" is the 3rd film in the Chandu film series starring Bela Lugosi.

While this 3rd film is not quite as good as the first two films, you will want to watch it if you have gotten interested in the series - it's worth your while to watch.

This time, Chandu is on the mystical island of Lemuria. Chandu is trying to help his family escape the island but finds that is mortal and magical strengths are gone - useless on the island that is powered by black magic and run by the cult of Ubasti.

6.5/10

This Chandu feature, edited from the serial, is mostly worth seeing for Bela Lugosi in the title role, which gives him a chance to play the good guy for a change. The movie as a whole is watchable, and it has a fair amount of action and suspense, but most of the rest of it is hardly on a par with Lugosi's performance.

The 1930s Chandu features can be just a little confusing to sort out. In the original movie, "Chandu the Magician", Lugosi played Chandu's evil antagonist, but in the following serial - listed here in the database as "The Return of Chandu" (1934/I) - Lugosi was given the role of the heroic magician himself. The serial was also edited into two feature length movies, with the first part released as "The Return of Chandu" (1934/II) and this second part as "Chandu on the Magic Island".

So this feature picks up towards the middle of the story, although the important points are easy enough to grasp right away. Chandu is contending with a group of cat worshipers who have decided to capture and sacrifice the Egyptian princess Nadji, in the belief that this will bring back their own long-dead goddess. They also menace Chandu's sister, nephew, and niece as a means of discouraging him.

Because it was edited from a serial format, the story has a number of stops and starts from the chapter breaks. There are frequent predicaments, with most being of a similar nature. As a full-length movie, it gets just a bit repetitive after a while for that reason. Lugosi is always able to carry his scenes, though, and he had the screen presence and the mannerisms to pull off even the most banal lines of dialogue.

The production values are uneven, with some special effects that work fairly well but other action sequences with too many seams showing. As the princess, Maria Alba is very nice to look at, but otherwise the supporting cast does not contribute all that much. Yet many of these old serials have a certain appeal, regardless of quality, to fans of old movies, and this feature gives you a chance to see the whole story at once.