A mad doctor is determined to take revenge on the family he believes is responsible for his daughter's death.A mad doctor is determined to take revenge on the family he believes is responsible for his daughter's death.A mad doctor is determined to take revenge on the family he believes is responsible for his daughter's death.
Photos
Julia Swayne Gordon
- Aristocrat at Banquet
- (uncredited)
Ruth Hall
- Banquet Guest
- (uncredited)
Robert Homans
- Detective
- (uncredited)
Murdock MacQuarrie
- Stephen - the Butler
- (uncredited)
Broderick O'Farrell
- Dr. Brett
- (uncredited)
Harry Semels
- Karlov's Henchman
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMad scientist Warner Oland's character's name, Dr. Boris Karlov, was decided upon before the general public became aware of the name of the actor who played Frankenstein Monster. Karloff went on to become the ultimate mad scientist in many subsequent films.
- Quotes
Abbie Krantz: Dead or alive, Kitty Conover, you oughtn't have a man in your room at this hour of the night.
- ConnectionsRemake of The Drums of Jeopardy (1923)
- SoundtracksLittle White Lies
Composed by Walter Donaldson
Published 1930
Played at piano by June Collyer (as 'Kitty Conover')
Featured review
Average Thriller
The Drums of Jeopardy (1931)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Mildly entertaining mix of melodrama, horror and thriller as Dr. Boris Karlov (Warner Oland) seeks vengeance against the noble family he blames for the death of his daughter. The "drums", of the title, refers to a mysterious necklace that the doctor steals and whoever gets a piece of it is officially warned that they're going to die next.
As far as "B" mystery-horror-thrillers go, THE DRUMS OF JEOPARDY isn't too bad but at the same time it's not all that good either. If you've seen enough of these types of films from the 1930's then you know that it seems they were being released weekly so you never quite know what you're going to get. Some of them feature nice budgets that allow their director's to do something with their weak screenplays whereas others have no effort behind them. This film is really split into two because it appears the first half was working on a decent budget and it almost feels as it was slashed because the second half of the picture takes away most of the action and instead features mostly dialogue scenes.
The first half of the film is without question the best because it gives us a great set-up and a pretty effective scene as the grieving father confronts his dying daughter and this is followed up with a scene where he witnesses her death and takes it out on the family. From here we're given a couple effective murders scenes including one where we just see the shadows of the killer's hand going towards the victim. With that said, the second half really gets dragged down due to some boring locations as well as some dialogue scenes that just really drag on without much excitement.
Oland, coming off playing Dr. FuManchu and a getting ready to take on a long Charlie Chan series, is in fine form, although, to be fair, this is the type of role that he could have played in his sleep. He's at least got enough energy to help carry the picture and a certain screen presence to help take the lower tier screenplay and bring it up a notch. The supporting cast isn't nearly in the same league and no one really stands out among them. THE DRUMS OF JEOPARDY isn't going to win any major awards and there are certainly much better thrillers out there but if you're a fan of the genre or Oland it's still worth watching.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Mildly entertaining mix of melodrama, horror and thriller as Dr. Boris Karlov (Warner Oland) seeks vengeance against the noble family he blames for the death of his daughter. The "drums", of the title, refers to a mysterious necklace that the doctor steals and whoever gets a piece of it is officially warned that they're going to die next.
As far as "B" mystery-horror-thrillers go, THE DRUMS OF JEOPARDY isn't too bad but at the same time it's not all that good either. If you've seen enough of these types of films from the 1930's then you know that it seems they were being released weekly so you never quite know what you're going to get. Some of them feature nice budgets that allow their director's to do something with their weak screenplays whereas others have no effort behind them. This film is really split into two because it appears the first half was working on a decent budget and it almost feels as it was slashed because the second half of the picture takes away most of the action and instead features mostly dialogue scenes.
The first half of the film is without question the best because it gives us a great set-up and a pretty effective scene as the grieving father confronts his dying daughter and this is followed up with a scene where he witnesses her death and takes it out on the family. From here we're given a couple effective murders scenes including one where we just see the shadows of the killer's hand going towards the victim. With that said, the second half really gets dragged down due to some boring locations as well as some dialogue scenes that just really drag on without much excitement.
Oland, coming off playing Dr. FuManchu and a getting ready to take on a long Charlie Chan series, is in fine form, although, to be fair, this is the type of role that he could have played in his sleep. He's at least got enough energy to help carry the picture and a certain screen presence to help take the lower tier screenplay and bring it up a notch. The supporting cast isn't nearly in the same league and no one really stands out among them. THE DRUMS OF JEOPARDY isn't going to win any major awards and there are certainly much better thrillers out there but if you're a fan of the genre or Oland it's still worth watching.
helpful•23
- Michael_Elliott
- Feb 18, 2015
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- La marca del terror
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 15 minutes
- Color
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Top Gap
By what name was The Drums of Jeopardy (1931) officially released in Canada in English?
Answer