Die Maske des Fu-Manchu

THE MASK OF FU MANCHU has recently had several minutes of missing material restored to it, footage that has not been seen in decades. This longer cut of the film is currently enjoying a limited theatrical release, and it would be nice to see that followed by a DVD release. Probably one of the best of the films to be based on author Sax Rohmer's stories (along with FACE OF FU MANCHU and DRUMS OF FU MANCHU), it would be nice to see a potential DVD release possibly include commentary by Boris Karloff's daughter, Sara, or a look at the making of the film. Karloff commented in interviews that MASK was a troubled production, with constant changes to the script throughout the filming. In spite of that, the final film manages to capture the feel of the pulp tales that inspired it.

The Mask of Fu Manchu is a bit campy, but if you've got a theme planned for Halloween of old horror movies, you might want to add it to the list alongside some other Boris Karloff classics. Boris stars, in heavy makeup, as Dr. Fu Manchu, who's on the lookout for Genghis Khan's lost treasure. His minions will do anything to find it, including steal it off of museum curators who tried to find it legitimately.

Lewis Stone is the head of the good guys, or if you're looking at it another way, the opposition team. Lawrence Grant, Jean Hersholt, and Charles Starrett try to find the treasure, but along the way, Lawrence gets kidnapped and held ransom. His daughter, Karen Morley, who's in love with Charles, gets involved in the adventure, and all three of the remaining try to rescue Lawrence and maintain the treasure.

Myrna Loy, in her early days, costars as Boris's daughter, and she's quite the villainess who enjoys power and violence. This one's not as scary as Frankenstein, but it's fun if that's your theme for the weekend. Where else will you be able to find Lewis Stone fighting his way through a pit of alligators, or Jean Hersholt strapped to a chair while giant spikes close in all around him? That's some pretty scary stuff for the soon-to-be Judge Hardy and Heidi's Grandfather!

Once you get past a knighted member of the British Secret Service (Lewis Stone) doesn't have a British accent, but Fu Manchu does. Another knighted Brit (Lawrence Grant) does have a British accent but his daughter (Karen Morely) does not. Somehow, Fu Manchu has people hiding in sarcophagi dressed as mummies in the British Museum, plus one guy who appears to be wearing a beret inside a sarcophagus, but disappears. Once you overlook all this, and a few other things, such as the British finding Genghis Khan's tomb in about the same amount of time that Sir Lionel Barton is kept under a constantly ringing bell, this is actually pretty entertaining.

You have Karloff as Fu Manchu who has all these elaborate methods of torture and killing people, and like in the Bond films, people tend to escape before dying. At one point, Karloff looks a bit like Carmen Miranda at the Carnival in Rio. Myrna Loy, as others have commented, seems to be a sadistic nymphomaniac, which for some people, is quite possibly the perfect mate.

Overlook all of the things that don't make a lot of sense and just enjoy!

The Mask of Fu Manchu easily could have served as inspiration for Raiders of the Lost Ark. Archaeologists dashing to retrieve relic to save Western Civilization. Feats of derring-do. Scenes of despicable torture and heroic bravery. What makes this movie even better is in Raiders you know Dr. Jones will win. The Nazis are mere obstacles in his path to run over. But in this movie, Boris Karloff's performance as the insidious Dr. Fu Manchu makes the Nazis seem like mere shadows of a threat compared to his evil genius. His Fu Manchu is a villain you not only fear, but respect. Myrna Loy as his daughter is wickedly good. While the sparks put off by Fu Manchu's diabolical invention are impressive special effects, they are nothing in comparison to the sparks emitted by the young, scantily clad Myrna Loy.

No self-respecting fan of the great Boris Karloff should miss his juicy performance in this raunchy and very unconventional film. As the evil and maniacal Asian mastermind Dr. Fu Manchu, Karloff plans to kill off "the white race" as he hunts down the highly desirable mask and sword of Genghis Khan, which winds up in the possession of a group of British treasure seekers. Boris seems to really relish his part as he tortures his captives with a grinning sadistic glee. Myrna Loy plays his self-described "ugly and insignificant daughter", who harbors a sado-masochistic appetite and nymphomania.

The sets are glorious, some sequences are disturbing for the time they were made, and there is newly restored controversial dialogue in the recent editions of the film, with "politically incorrect" slang being used on both sides of the line. There is sometimes a criticism toward the movie for its usage of this type of speech, but the time in which the feature was produced should be historically considered, as well as fairly noting that no race is spared during the length of the film. While Fu Manchu is referred to as a "yellow devil" by his victims, for instance, he is also denouncing Christianity and roaring with contempt to his eastern followers with his authoritative command for them to "kill the white men and take their women!"

There are also some unintentional laughs to be found on occasion, and many of them come courtesy of Karen Morley as "Shelia", who is just atrocious with her comedic overacting. Running a scant 68 minutes, this is a wild and wacky good time for fans of old movies, serials, and Boris Karloff in particular. Enjoy! *** out of ****