The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu

Very early talkie featuring pre-Charlie Chan Oland as mad Doctor, primitive with slow stretches, but watchable. They couldn't stray far from the microphone, so some scenes are VERY static with nobody moving. Comic relief just plain stupid. Interesting trivia: William Austin (Sylvester) later played Batman's butler, Alfred, in serials, while Neil Hamilton (Jack Petrie) MUCH later played Commissioner Gordon in the 60s TV Series. O. P. Heggie, a very wooden Nayland Smith, gained immortality as the blind hermit who befriends the monster in BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN.

That famous quote, which appears at the end of Christopher Lee's Fu Manchu movies, is particularly appropriate for this new double feature from Kino Lorber for the first two Fu Manchu films which were made in 1929 and 1930. Both movies were big budget affairs from Paramount and showcased future Charlie Chan star Warner Oland. In fact it was these two pictures that got Oland the job of portraying Chan which he would do over the course of 16 movies made over a span of 7 years from 1931 until his death in 1938. Also appearing in these two films were Jean Arthur before she became a big star in the 1930s and Neil Hamilton long before he played Commissioner Gordon in the 1960s BATMAN TV series.

THE MYSTERIOUS DR. FU MANCHU sets the stage by showing how Fu Manchu developed his hatred for the British. The film opens during the Boxer Rebellion in China (1899-1901) where a stray artillery shell hits Fu's home killing his wife and young son. Unhinged by the experience, Fu vows vengeance on the British officer responsible for firing the shell and on his son and his grandson. MYSTERIOUS then moves forward to what was then a contemporary setting (1929) where Lia Eltham (Jean Arthur), a British orphan raised by Fu Manchu, becomes the instrument of his revenge. She is loved by the grandson of the Petrie family (Neil Hamilton). Fortunately Fu's plan ultimately fails leading to his "demise".

The success of MYSTERIOUS quickly led to a sequel, which unlike most sequels, was better than the original. Just as lavish in its settings as the first movie, THE RETURN OF DR. FU MANCHU benefited from the advance in sound technology which allowed for more camera movement and a less theatrical style of acting from the performers. Having escaped death in the first movie, Fu returns to try and get the last Petrie and fufill his revenge. He is opposed (as in MYSTERIOUS) by Sotland Yard Inspector Denis Nayland Smith (O. P. Heggie) who here, for some reason, is referred to only as Smith. After various escapes worthy of a Republic serial, Fu Manchu is vanquished once again. But is he?

For years these movies were very hard to find and the copies were of very poor quality. In fact, I didn't believe that decent prints existed until I saw this Blu-Ray. Hats off to Kino Lorber for bringing these films back in such good condition. The picture image is sharp and clear for movies of this vintage and the early sound has been cleaned up and is a revelation. Both movies come with astute and informative commentary by Tim Lucas which gives us background not only on the films, but on the Fu Manchu character and author Sax Rohmer. Oland would play Fu one last time in DAUGHTER OF THE DRAGON (1931) with Anna May Wong (not availabe for this set). Fu's next feature appearance would be in MGM's THE MASK OF FU MANCHU (1932) with Boris Karloff...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

Restored Version Available? Or better yet a colorized version? The original book is free on Gutenburg. The film that is shown now is practically unwatchable but the story and the actors are engaging in the film and would make it worthwhile watching in an HD or colorized version. Oland, Hamilton, and Arthur were all engaged in the silent film era and this is their plunge into the talkies. So you have skilled actors with a good story, but the display is wanting. This is the first Fu Manchu film of the talkies era and it was good. However 83 years later the film itself is in tatters. Message me if you have a lead on an A+ quality version of the film and I (and many others) will snap it up quickly.

The eponymous Chinese gentlemen is sure that his house will be safe during the famous Boxer revolution that attempted to drive the foreign devils from their country at the start of the 20th century. Reduced to just the British legation, though, the Europeans fight back and his home is accidentally struck resulting in a devastating tragedy. This kindly gent now swears vengeance on those who instigated those killings and over a period of years, he narrows down his dwindling list of targets to just the London-based "Petrie" family. Luckily, Scotland Yard's finest - "Insp. Nayland Smith" (O. P. Heggie) is on the case to try and stop the body count from mounting - but is he a match for the fiendishly clever "Fu Manchu" (Warner Oland)? It's probably about twenty minutes too long this - and most of that could be cut from the rather meandering denouement; but Oland makes for quite an entertainingly vengeful villain and Heggie turns in a decent effort too as the shrewd detective. Otherwise, the lighting needed extra wattage and the dialogue maybe a little less verbiage as the story takes us down loads of secret passages and introduces us to the unforgiving ancestors. I actually had some sympathy with the baddies all along here and quite enjoyed this mystically charged thriller.

An important artifact in Orientalist cinema. Dr Fu is given a sympathetic origin story, which reads easily as a cautionary tale for the colonial collaborator. After the Brits initiated the Opium Wars in order to loot China, they mercilessly put down the \ Boxer Rebellion with unprecedented foreign imperialist support -- the US was also complicit -- and unprecedented savagery (Boxers were strapped to canons which where then fired, for example). Fu is an intellectual who is friendly to the Whites, quite blind to the carnage around him until they kill his family while cannonading Boxer partisans in his courtyard. From here, things move to the heartland of the Empire in London and Fu uses a sort of mustard gas powder to kill off the commanders who initiated the attack. One of Fu's weapons is a white girl he saved and raised. Her hypnotic trance walk and attempted assassination of an upper class Brit is the greatest scene in the film, capturing some true delirium and sensuality a la German Expressionism. Warner Oland gives it his all, charming the camera with his death jokes and cackling with great devilish chivalry as the imperialists die. The climax offers an in-joke on the pulp novels of people like Sax Rohmer, the racist hack who invented the Fu Manchu mythos. Despite these moments, the film is still somewhat set bound. But Rowland V Lee, a fine workman, keeps things zipping along. Apparently, Joseph Mankiewicz added to the script and the racy Pre-Code atmosphere is palpable, if not over the top. There were two sequels, of which the third, 'Daughter of the Dragon' with the great Anna May Wong, is especially lunatic and memorable.