Even though Harold McGrath's novel "The Drums of Jeopardy" had been filmed in 1923 with Wallace Beery, Tiffany's all talking remake featured Warner Oland and was actually a reworking of Florence Ryerson's script "The Return of Fu Manchu" - a character that by 1931 Oland had made his own. It may have been only a Tiffany (probably the most prestigious of poverty row studios) but this must be one of Oland's best films and Mischa Auer, who for years had been playing eccentric bits, finally broke out with his characterization of a decandent syncophant.When scientist Dr. Boris Karlov (Oland) learns his daughter has attempted suicide but refuses to divulge her lover's name, he finds one clue - a necklace known as the "drums of jeopardy", that belongs to the aristocratic Petrov family. Doesn't take the viewer long to figure out which is the cad - the guilty, shifty looks of Prince Gregor (Wallace MacDonald) leave no doubt and with Karlov vowing to return the drums "one - by - one" (as only Oland can deliver that line) the game is now afoot!!1930, New York and Karlov has managed to intercept a letter to Martin Kent (Hale Hamilton) in which the desperate Petrov's ask for help before the crazed Karlov wipes out the entire family!! It's hard not to feel pity for Karlov - for coming to Petrov's house and confronting the family about the suicide of his daughter (Florence Lake, older sister of Arthur) he was sent to Siberia but with the Petrovs fleeing to America, he has more than had his revenge.This is just a rip snorter action packed film - before the boat docks, Nicholas (trusty Lloyd Hamilton) and Gregor are just one step ahead of Karlov, sometimes not even that!! Nicholas receives a blow to the head and finally collapses after convincing apartment owner Kitty (luminous June Collyer) that he is not a bad guy and getting her and her crotchety aunt (Clara Blandick) thoroughly involved in the doings of the mad doctor. For once the romance doesn't slow down the action - Collyer is not a damsel in distress but a vital part of the proceeding - it's the men who are collapsing around her!!A highlight of the film are the witty exchanges between criminologist Martin Kent and Karlov ("I'm disappointed in you Kent, I didn't think you would have walked into my trap so blindly", "Would it surprise you to find out I deliberately let your man lead me here etc...") Gregor, the real villain goes to Karlov's laboratory to point the finger at his unsuspecting brother in exchange for his life. The laboratory is a treasure trove of bubbling test tubes ("I am just going to test this mixture" ... and as the room is filled with blood curdling screams - "Ah yes, it's perfect"!!) - there is also a dungeon where Nick and Kitty are thrown. Nick has to kill Kitty with this huge butcher's knife ("as you killed my daughter, so you must kill the one you love" drawls Karlov who still believes Gregor's lies). Once back with his test tubes he chortles that he hopes they look for an escape, as they loosen the bricks water spurts from nowhere, quick enough to send them to a watery grave!!The production has a sumptuous look - lavish sets (the Petrov palace with a huge oval dining table, an art deco studio flat that has more of the look of a Park Avenue penthouse, an ocean liner and a State of the Arts laboratory)!!!!

Totally implausible/ridiculous but good fun. A pre-Charlie Chan Warner Oland, a Swede, is Russian this time. He's bent on revenge and hams it up all the way.Neither Oland or the other Russian characters utter a word of Russian. The fleeing royals reach New York and bump into an ingenue and her peppery aunt who, of course, shelter the strangers in their country house. Wouldn't you?The lights go out more than once. The phone is dead. A claw-like hand jumps out of the curtain to grab the girl. Stuff used a thousand times. The plot creaks and the print used for the DVD is battered, but you could do worse for an early talkie.Mischa Auer lurks around in a pre-screwball role.

This movie is very curious when it comes to the name of the villain. Warner Oland stars as 'Boris Karlov'--and I am sure the real life Boris Karloff (famous for his horror films) took notice. Why they changed his name from Gregor in the 1923 version to Boris is curious. While the real Karloff was quite prolific in films by the time the 1931 remake debuted, he was not yet a star--and his iconic role in "Frankenstein" was still six months in the future. Perhaps it's just an odd coincidence.Now I mentioned that the film starred Warner Oland. If you aren't familiar with him, he popularized the character Charlie Chan and played him in a ton of films during the 1930s. He was a very prolific actor and starred in a lot of films other than the Chan series--though today he's known mostly as 'that Swedish guy who played Charlie Chan'. You might also notice Mischa Auer in a supporting role--a role totally unlike his usual comic ones.The film begins with Karlov's daughter on the brink of death. Boris blames her condition on a noble Russian family and he devotes his entire life to wiping them out--on-by-one. The drums, by the way, refer to a necklace. Karlov takes it apart and sends a piece of it to the victims before exacting his revenge.So is the film any good? Well, it's not "Gone Withe the Wind"! However, compared to other B suspense films, it's pretty good--with decent production values, a fast-paced script and plenty of suspense. But the film has its deficits as well--in particular, some really bad acting in some of the minor roles (it's like they are reading from cue cards) and a few of these scenes should have been re-shot (but for economy's sake, B movies did this as seldom as possible). But some of the acting was quite good--I liked Clara Blandick as the grouchy aunt and Oland seemed to have a lot of fun dispatching his victims! For example, I loved the wonderful poison gas scene at the 52 minute mark. Overall, you should not expect high art--just a decent and entertaining murder mystery/suspense picture-especially if you like this genre.By the way, this film is available through Alpha Video. And while I have mentioned this in many of my reviews, viewers should note that Alpha's DVDs have no restoration of any sort done to them. Like most of the rest I have seen, this one is in rough shape--though not so bad that you shouldn't watch. Unfortunately, many of Alpha's films just aren't available anywhere else, so if you are a fan of these sorts of films you have to just take what you can get.

WARNING: SPOILERS: It doesn't matter to me how many reference books place this under the genre "fantastic cinema," this does not qualify. The only possible "horror" is that Warner Oland is a bit more sadistic than the normal grieving father, but then again I've seen Mel Gibson in revenge films that far surpassed this one - and Gibson's are not horror either. In fact, "Karlov" (nod to Boris) is more akin to Lenin in this film so, in that regard, this is an anti-Communist message. As for the supposed "curse" of the jewelry, it's a mcguffin that has only a few moments, and no real link to the film. On to "science fiction," the closest we come is a mysterious formula that we know nothing of, that has an effect we don't see. The mere idea that he's a "scientist" is of little interest, even if, in the beginning of the film, we see him tinkering with some test tubes in a secret lab.Now, the film itself is OK, with many clichéd characters, such as Oland's "Fu Manchu" type, gangsters, cops, spunky women, etc. Additionally, the print I saw was choppy with much film damage, but I tried not to let it cloud my judgment. 6 of 10.