Drums Of Jeopardy

"The Drums of Jeopardy" is a nifty little melodrama from 1931 starring Warner Oland of Charlie Chan fame. He plays "Dr. Boris Karlov" (no relation to the actor of similar name), a grieving father turned Bolshevik and gleeful sadist. Also featured is Clara Blandick, Auntie Em from 1939's "The Wizard of Oz;" comedy relief in what turns out to be a rather pivotal role. "Drums" was directed by the prolific George B. Seitz who wrote the screenplays for "The Perils of Pauline" and several other early serials, and later directed nearly all the Andy Hardy movies for MGM. The film was produced by poverty row studio, Tiffany Pictures, Inc. during their penultimate year in existence, but looks surprisingly handsome. It was featured in Turner and Price's book "Forgotten Horrors." This is a slightly-improved version with cleaned-up sound and titles.