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Le Masque d'or

Original title: The Mask of Fu Manchu
  • 1932
  • G
  • 1h 9m
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
4K
YOUR RATING
Le Masque d'or (1932)
AdventureDramaHorrorSci-Fi

Englishmen race to find the tomb of Genghis Khan before the sinister Fu Manchu does.Englishmen race to find the tomb of Genghis Khan before the sinister Fu Manchu does.Englishmen race to find the tomb of Genghis Khan before the sinister Fu Manchu does.

  • Directors
    • Charles Brabin
    • Charles Vidor
  • Writers
    • Irene Kuhn
    • Edgar Allan Woolf
    • John Willard
  • Stars
    • Boris Karloff
    • Lewis Stone
    • Karen Morley
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.2/10
    4K
    YOUR RATING
    • Directors
      • Charles Brabin
      • Charles Vidor
    • Writers
      • Irene Kuhn
      • Edgar Allan Woolf
      • John Willard
    • Stars
      • Boris Karloff
      • Lewis Stone
      • Karen Morley
    • 102User reviews
    • 51Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 nomination total

    Photos105

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    Top cast23

    Edit
    Boris Karloff
    Boris Karloff
    • Dr. Fu Manchu
    Lewis Stone
    Lewis Stone
    • Nayland Smith
    Karen Morley
    Karen Morley
    • Sheila Barton
    Charles Starrett
    Charles Starrett
    • Terrence Granville
    Myrna Loy
    Myrna Loy
    • Fah Lo See
    Jean Hersholt
    Jean Hersholt
    • Von Berg
    Lawrence Grant
    Lawrence Grant
    • Sir Lionel Barton
    David Torrence
    David Torrence
    • McLeod
    Everett Brown
    Everett Brown
    • Slave
    • (uncredited)
    Steve Clemente
    Steve Clemente
    • Knife Thrower
    • (uncredited)
    Willie Fung
    Willie Fung
    • Ship's Steward
    • (uncredited)
    Ferdinand Gottschalk
    Ferdinand Gottschalk
    • British Museum Official
    • (uncredited)
    Allen Jung
    • Coolie
    • (uncredited)
    Tetsu Komai
    • Swordsman
    • (uncredited)
    James B. Leong
    • Guest
    • (uncredited)
    Oswald Marshall
    • Undetermined Role
    • (uncredited)
    Chris-Pin Martin
    Chris-Pin Martin
    • Potentate
    • (uncredited)
    Lal Chand Mehra
    Lal Chand Mehra
    • Indian Prince
    • (uncredited)
    • Directors
      • Charles Brabin
      • Charles Vidor
    • Writers
      • Irene Kuhn
      • Edgar Allan Woolf
      • John Willard
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews102

    6.23.9K
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    Featured reviews

    7jluis1984

    Karloff shines in this movie

    Created by British author Sax Rohmer, the evil Dr. Fu Manchu appeared for the first time in 1912, in a story serialized in one of the many pulp magazines of those years. While originally a personification of the racism present during the time of its creation (the infamous "Yellow Peril"), Fu Manchu has become one of the most famous characters in science fiction, serving as model to other villainous character as one of the earliest examples of the Supervillain archetype. The fascinating evil genius (and his nemesis, Sir Denis Nayland Smith) appeared in so many successful novels that of course, film adaptations became the next step, resulting in many different versions of the stories made since the first British film serial in 1923. Many talented actors like Harry Agar Lyons, Warner Oland and Christopher Lee have played the famous criminal, but the most famous interpretation of Fu Manchu is definitely the one done by horror legend Boris Karloff in the 1932 film, "The Mask of Fu Manchu".

    Based on Rohmer's story of the same name, "The Mask of Fu Manchu" is the story of the discovery of Ghengis Khan's tomb, where his legendary Mask and Sword are supposed to be hidden. British archaeologist Sir Lionel Barton (Lawrence Grant) has discovered the exact location, but he is kidnapped by Dr. Fu Manchu's (Boris Karloff) criminal gang, in order to proclaim himself Kahn's heir and lead the Asian nations to a war against the British empire. Knowing this, Sir Nayland Smith (Lewis Stone) takes his own group of archaeologists and, along with Barton's only daughter Sheila (Karen Morley) and her fiancée Terry (Charles Starrett), attempt to find Kahn's tomb before Fu Manchu, hoping to rescue Sir Lionel Barton in the process. However, Dr. Fu Manchu and his daughter Fah Lo See (Myrna Loy) will prove to be terrible enemies for the British agent and his team.

    Written by the prolific writer Edgar Allan Woolf (with Irene Kuhn and John Willard as collaborators), the film is as faithful as possible to its pulp novel origins, keeping the essence of the Rohmer's series of books in both style and substance. As in the novels, the story flows at a fast pace, mixing horror and science fiction as the adventurers must face the criminal mastermind, who here is presented as a fascinating and very powerful adversary of Smith and his team. In fact, it could be said that the writers seemed more interested in the villains than in the heroes, as Fu Manchu and his daughter are easily the most developed characters. The treatment of Fah Lo See is really interesting, as the script (written in the years before the Hays Code) allows her to be a very sexual predator, and as wicked as her father.

    "The Mask of Fu Manchu" was directed by Charles Brabin, a very experienced director of silents who after the introduction of sound, directed several "talkies" before retiring. Brabin's experience in Silent films may be the reason behind the very visual flare of the movie, as he gives an amazing use to Tony Gaudio's cinematography to create one of the most stunningly looking pieces of science fiction of the 30s, truly capturing the "feeling" of the pulp novels where the story had its origins. As the writers, Brabin seems to fall in love with his villains, and injects them the haunting mix of sadistic eroticism that previous incarnations of Fu Manchu lacked. Interestingly, this movie, Brabin's 8th film with sound, was also the first "talkie" directed by Charles Vidor, who here received his first chance as an assistant in a big studio movie.

    As written above, it's the villains what make "The Mask of Fu Manchu" special, and fortunately, the cast portraying them was the most perfect one for the job. Myrna Loy is simply gorgeous as Fah Lo See, and while her role doesn't have too much screen time, she makes every scene memorable as Manchu's daughter. Legendary horror icon Boris Karloff makes wonders in the role of Fu Manchu, as he takes the character of the evil genius to higher levels of monstrosity. While the make-up (by Cecil Holland) is not as effective as the ones by Jack Pierce at Universal, Karloff manages to be a very convincing Fu Manchu in probably the best representation of the character. As Fu Machu's nemesis, Lewis Stone shows the necessary dignity and wit of the British gentleman he is portraying, but sadly his screen time is very limited and instead we get more of the mediocre performances by Karen Morley and Charles Starrett, who look very weak as the romantic couple.

    It seems like time hasn't been nice to this film when compared to other films inspired by pulp novels, and not only because of it's constant racism towards the Asians (like with the novels, the "Yellow Peril" stereotype is quite notorious), but mainly because it uses devises so typical of adventure films today, that it make the film look dated and clichéd; however, taking into account the times when this movie was made, one can see it as the possible source of those clichés. On a different subject matter, the movie indeed suffers from the bad performances of those put on the main spotlight, as like many directors that started in silent films, Brabin struggles with the most dialog-based scenes. Still, Karloff, Loy and Stone shine despite Brabin's own problems and the lack of talent of the two lead actors.

    True, "The Mask of Fu Manchu" looks campy and terribly dated by today standards, but it certainly has many characteristics that make it worthy of the title of "classic". It's horror elements are few, but it's an enormously influential film for the action and adventure genres (an influence that can be traced even to the "Indiana Jones" series). While not exactly a perfect movie, "The Mask of Fu Manchu" delivers a nice pack of thrills and fun, and one of Karloff's finest performances. 7/10
    6bkoganbing

    The Yellow Peril

    It didn't surprise me in the least that The Mask Of Fu Manchu was produced by Cosmopolitan Pictures. Even though the title is a bit of a misnomer. It isn't about The Mask Of Fu Manchu, it's about the mask and sword of Ghenghis Khan which Boris Karloff as Fu Manchu wants to discover and appropriate for himself so he can become a kind of Far Eastern Mahdi.

    Cosmopolitan Pictures was the production outfit of William Randolph Hearst and while it's main reason for existence was to produce films for Marion Davies, it did produce other films. The Hearst press, especially on the West Coast was very big in stirring up anti-Chinese and anti- Japanese feelings among the white people constantly using the phrase The Yellow Peril to describe how if they're allowed to emigrate her they'll be taking over in a few generations. The fictional Fu Manchu fit the Hearst agenda quite nicely.

    In the Fu Manchu stories it's like Professor Moriarty was the main protagonist. Fu Manchu's particular Holmes is Commissioner Nayland Smith played by Lewis Stone as stout a representative of the United Kingdom and their imperial pretensions as ever went out in the noon day sun.

    As I said Fu Manchu is after the warrior symbols of Ghengis Khan so he can lead the Oriental people to their rightful place. Interestingly this Oriental messiah seems to have a number of black slaves doing his bidding in the film. The British government as personified by Nayland Smith wants archaeologists Jean Hersholt, David Torrance and Lawrence Grant to find the tomb and get this so the British can display it at the British Museum in London as a symbol of their superiority. Grant is kidnapped and tortured by Karloff, but Grant's daughter Karen Morley and her boyfriend, future Durango Kid Charles Starrett takes her father's place on the expedition.

    Though I think that The Mask Of Fu Manchu is every bit as racist in its attitudes as The Birth Of A Nation, like The Birth Of A Nation it has some great performances. Led of course by that master of horror, Boris Karloff. Karloff played so many different and varied types in his long career, being Chinese was no big deal for him to play. Later on Karloff kind of made it up to the Chinese people by playing the educated detective Mr. Wong who unlike Charlie Chan never spoke in fortune cookie aphorisms.

    Myrna Loy is Fu Manchu's 'unworthy' daughter and this is at the height of the phase in her career where she played Oriental temptresses. She conceives a real liking for Starrett to turn him into her Occidental boy toy. She's a willing and eager accomplice in her father's dirty deeds, perhaps to show herself as worthy.

    The Mask Of Fu Manchu is as racist a film as you can get, but it's also holding up quite well as entertainment. And who was ever more sinister on the screen than Boris Karloff playing anything?
    BijouBob8mm

    Recently Restored

    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.
    7AlsExGal

    MGM takes a stab at adapting the Sax Rohmer character to the big screen...

    ...dIrected by Charles Brabin. Boris Karloff stars in the title role, a Chinese scientist, warlord, and master criminal bent on world domination. He believes that if he can retrieve the long lost mask and sword of Genghis Khan he will be able to gather an army of followers with which to conquer the "white man's world". Out to stop him is the intrepid Sir Nayland Smith (Lewis Stone). Also starring Myrna Loy as Fu Manchu's cruel daughter, Karen Morley, Charles Starrett, Jean Hersholt, David Torrence, Lawrence Grant, Ferdinand Gottschalk, and Willie Fung.

    Paramount had much success with a Fu Manchu series from 1929-1931 with Warner Oland in the lead. Those films are classier, and Fu Manchu is presented as more of a sympathetic character, seeking vengeance for the death of his family. In this version, he is just generically evil, more like a comic book villain. This outing has a lot going for it, though, like nice, large sets and elaborate costumes, ludicrously amusing torture devices, and ridiculous touches such as Fu Manchu's personal bodyguard squad consisting of large bald black men in loincloths. The plot is silly, and the stereotyping is both offensive and naively hilarious (apparently Chinese people literally worship Genghis Khan). One particular bit of business that I enjoyed in this was Fu Manchu's "box o' creepy creatures", a container he opens at one point that appears to hold snakes, large lizards, tarantulas and more, all just hanging out together in this box.

    The movie ran into trouble once the production code went into full effect, and heavily edited versions floated around for years, but the copy I watched was fully restored, even if some of the scenes looked to be in much poorer condition than others. This is amusing in a cartoonish, high camp way, and for fans of unusual production design.
    8ccthemovieman-1

    Sounds Corny, But Is Very Effective

    This was a bit different with Boris Karloff playing an Asian "bad guy." He plays "Fu Manchu," and man who sets out to get Genghis Khan's mask and sword which supposedly will give him the power to rule over millions of people.

    Despite the classic film casting of white people to play Asians, I found Karloff to be "cool" looking as was his evil daughter, a young Myrna Loy. I like Karen Morely, usually, but not in here where she plays an almost-hysterical daughter of one of the good guys.

    "Fu Manchu" shows some of his unique methods of torture, nothing graphic, thankfully - not like today's blood and guts.

    Some of this is amateurishly-done but overall it still a legitimate amount of real horror and terror and the cast certainly is entertaining. ("Andy Hardy" star Lewis Stone also is in here along with Jean Hersholt and Charles Starret.)

    Summary: a decent and almost-mystical adventure story that doesn't overstay its welcome, either, at a tidy 68 minutes. Pretty good stuff.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Boris Karloff actually wore a Chinese woman's wedding dress as costume.
    • Goofs
      Fu tortures Barton to obtain the whereabouts of Genghis Khan's mask and scimitar. Later on Fu is shown to have a serum that brainwashes people, so the torture of Barton was needless.
    • Quotes

      Fu Manchu: [Pointing to blonde female captive] Would you have maidens like this for your wives?

      Horde of Asians: Yeah!

      [Roars in approval, some waving swords]

      Fu Manchu: Then conquer and breed! Kill the white man and take his women!

    • Alternate versions
      In the 1970's, "Mask of Fu Manchu" was cut slightly (by about 2 minutes), removing references deemed particularly offensive to the Asian-American community (including several racial remarks and an extended version of the famous whipping scene). It is actually this cut version which MGM/UA released in the early 1990's on videotape, although the deleted segments were restored for the print of "Mask of Fu Manchu" used for the later laserdisc release "MGM Horror Classics," and the more recent DVD release.
    • Connections
      Edited into Mondo Lugosi - A Vampire's Scrapbook (1987)

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 16, 1933 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • The Mask of Fu Manchu
    • Filming locations
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA(Studio)
    • Production companies
      • Cosmopolitan Productions
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Budget
      • $327,627 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 9 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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