The Return of Chandu, 1934 (serial) Chapter 1: The Chosen Victim

The Return of Chandu is a 1934 American 12 episode fantasy film serial based on the radio series Chandu the Magician. It was produced by Sol Lesser and directed by Ray Taylor, and starred Béla Lugosi as Frank Chandler (aka Chandu the Magician). The serial was originally released to be booked by theaters in any one of three ways: as a conventional serial of twelve chapters of equal running times; as a 60-minute feature film comprising the first four episodes, to be followed by the remaining 8 episodes in serial format; or as a stand-alone feature (the fourth episode ends not with a cliffhanger, but with an apparent resolution to the story). In 1935, the remaining 8 episodes of the serial were also edited into a feature film, of 65 minutes, released as Chandu on the Magic Island. This serial marked one of the few times that Lugosi played a protagonist rather than an antagonist: in fact, Lugosi had played the main villain, Roxor, in the 1932 film, Chandu the Magician.