Daughter of the Dragon

Early talkie bears no resemblance to the book on which it is supposedly based. Wong is lovely, rest of cast wooden in tale of Fu Manchu's daughter carrying out her father's vengeance. Early Hayakawa is interesting. Several scenes, especially last ten minutes, still pack a punch, such as Hayakawa's sacrificing himself to warn others. Oland, as Fu, shows opposite of later casting as Charlie Chan.

Watch this entertaining Anna May Wong vehicle and swallow hard; some of the plot devices may be tough to handle. Once you struggle to suspend your disbelief it is an easy going 70 minutes to watch the great Anna May follow in her father's (Warner Oland's) footsteps to uphold the family honor.

It is fast-paced and great fun, and at 70 minutes just long enough so that it doesn't overstay it's welcome. Those inscrutable Chinese baddies try to match wits with a Chinese detective (Sessue Hayakawa, who was Japanese) as he tries to foil their murderous plans, and are led by Anna May herself. Hollywood racism of the time prevented her from getting meatier parts, so you have to watch her and wonder what might have been. She was a beautiful and talented actress who was shortchanged. I put my star rating in the heading as the website no longer prints mine.

I had a really good time at Museum of Modern Art's January '04 showing of this rare Paramount '31 release. Potboiler par excellence with the stunning Anna May Wong giving star presence performance as daughter who swears revenge to her dying father Fu Manchu (Warner Olan). Sessue Hayakawa is the detective smitten with Ms. Wong and who `dies a hundred deaths'. Everything's in this mystery: sliding doors, heavy brocades, Eastern mysticism, London's Chinatown. Directed by Lloyd Corrigan in a most sophisticated manner

This film continues the saga of Fu Manchu, whose wife and son were killed by a member of the Petrie family. After killing two of the four males in the family, he was not seen or heard of for 20 years and presumed dead. He returns, kills Sir John Petrie, but is shot before he could kill the last one. Anna May Wong plays exotic dancer Ling Moy who finds out Fu Manchu is her father and vows to kill the last member of the Petrie family. The film goes from there, as you see whether the revenge will be carried out. This film is a bit campy and very dramatic but it boasts the talents of two major Asian actors in the early years of cinema. Sessue Hayakawa plays officer Ah Kee, and you may remember him for his Oscar winning work in "The Bridge On The River Kwai" decades later. He was a star before this film also. Anna May Wong was an accomplished actress and later stage performer in China and Europe, even though she was born in the United States. An uncommonly beautiful lady, every film I've seen her in is worth watching. So is this one, its a good drama. It is actually not 79 minutes, the version I watched is 69 minutes. Its a good afternoon film, moving along at a good pace. The cable television station TCM recently did a tribute to Asian actors and featured Mr. Hayakawa and Ms. Wong. If they decide to repeat any of their films, they are all good. You can enjoy this one also.

First the negatives. Watching this film one would not have expected Warner Oland to have been such an excellent Charlie Chan. Keye Luke was perhaps correct when he defended the casting of Warner Oland as Charlie Chan, but watching his performance in this film, you would not have thought that possible. E. Alyn Warren, as another Chinese villain played by a Caucasian actor is also awful, and even worse.

Now the positives, two of the three top billed actors in this film are Asian, which for the time, was very unusual. SO for this reason, it is one of the reasons to see the film. Sessue Hayakawa is the hero of this film, and some may have a beef of having a Japanese actor playing a Chinese character, but for the time, and perhaps even today, it is remarkable.

Also, Harold Minjir as Rogers, who is in for comedy relief, is obvious meant to be a gay character, though their is no reference to his sexual preference. One of the positives of his character, is the ending, when he tells the young Petrie what is going on, and becomes one of the heroes of the film.

For the time, I'm sure it was a popular film, but does not entirely hold up today, but if one is interested in seeing films that were somewhat against the norm of the time, this might be an interesting film to see.