The Mask of Fu Manchu

Plot synopsis:
Sir Denis Nayland Smith (Lewis Stone) of the British Secret Service warns Egyptologist Sir Lionel Barton (Lawrence Grant) that he must beat Fu Manchu in the race to find the tomb of Genghis Khan. The power-mad Fu Manchu (Boris Karloff) intends to use the sword and mask to proclaim himself the reincarnation of the legendary conqueror and inflame the peoples of Asia and the Middle East into a war to wipe out the "white race". Sir Lionel is kidnapped soon afterward and taken to Fu Manchu. Fu Manchu tries bribing his captive, even offering his own daughter, Fah Lo See (Myrna Loy). When that fails, Barton suffers the "torture of the bell" (lying underneath a gigantic, constantly ringing bell) in an unsuccessful attempt to get him to reveal the location of the tomb.
Barton's daughter Sheila (Karen Morley) insists on taking her father's place on the expedition, as she knows where the tomb is. She finds the tomb and its treasures with the help of her fiance Terrence "Terry" Granville (Charles Starrett), Von Berg (Jean Hersholt), and McLeod (David Torrence). Nayland Smith joins them soon afterward.
McLeod is killed by one of Fu Manchu's men during a robbery attempt, after McLeod kills one of Fu Manchu's men. When that fails, an emissary offers to trade Barton for the priceless artifacts. Despite Terry's misgivings, Sheila persuades him to take the relics to Fu Manchu without Smith's knowledge. However, when Fu Manchu tests the sword, he determines that it is a fake (Nayland had switched them). Terry is whipped under the supervision of Fah Lo See, who is attracted to him. Meanwhile, Fu Manchu has Barton's corpse delivered to Sheila. When Nayland tries to rescue Terry, he is taken captive as well.
Terry is injected with a serum that makes him temporarily obedient to Fu Manchu and released. He tells Sheila and Von Berg that Nayland Smith wants them to bring the sword and mask to him. Sheila senses something is wrong, but Von Berg digs up the real relics, and they follow Terry into a trap.
Captured by Fu Manchu, the party is sentenced to death or enslavement, but not before Sheila manages to bring Terry back to his senses. Sheila is to become a human sacrifice, Nayland Smith is to be lowered into a crocodile pit, and Von Berg placed between two sets of metal spikes inching toward each other. Terry is prepared for another dose of the serum, which will make him a permanent slave of the whims of Fu Manchu's daughter. However, Nayland Smith manages to free himself, Terry, and Von Berg. Using one of Fu Manchu's own weapons—a death ray that shoots an electric current—the men incapacitate the arch-villain as he raises the sword to execute Sheila. When Fu Manchu drops the sword, Terry picks it up and hacks him to death. While Terry frees Sheila and carries her away, Nayland Smith and Von Berg incinerate Fu Manchu's followers using the same weapon. Safely aboard a ship bound for England, Nayland Smith tosses the sword over the side so that the world will be safe from any future Fu Manchu.

Tags: murder

Review:
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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".
Wonderfully inventive exotic horror movie from the early days of talkies.An expedition from the British Museum sets out to find the long searched for tomb of legendary warlord Genghis Khan and get to the fabled sword and mask before it is found and usurped by Dr. Fu Manchu, evil contemporary warlord with an unquenchable ambition to extinguish the white race in his lust for power.'Mask of Fu Manchu' is well worth a watch for its stunning look alone.
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.
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.
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.
Fah Lo See(Myrna Loy,wife of Wm. Powell in the "Thin Man Series")is a very sexual daughter of Fu Manchu who wants to make a young expedition member Terry Granville(Charles Starrett) to be her slave for life.
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.
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.
So this time they decided to go with a major horror star.Dr. Fu Manchu (Karloff) a half mad and sadistic oriental leader hopes to become the new Genghis Khan by recovering Khan's mask and sword from his tomb.
Also after the treasure are Sir Lionel Barton (Lawrence Grant) and his expedition which includes his daughter Sheila (Karen Morley), Professor Von Berg (Jean Hersholt), Terrence Granville (Charles Starrett), McLeod (David Torrence) and Scotland Yard detective Nayland Smith (Lewis Stone) along to protect the treasure from falling into the hands of Fu Manchu.Fu Manchu abducts Barton and tries to get him to reveal the location of Genghis Khan's sword and mask.
Loy is lustful and incredibly magnetic, while Karloff seems to be having the time of his life.All in all, The Mask of Fu Manchu is a flawed film but it is a decent and fun one.
Myrna Loy, best known as Nora Charles in the "Thin Man" series, gives Boris Karloff a run for his money in "The Mask of Fu Manchu."  Sax Rohmer's well educated (degrees in philosophy, medicine, and, hmm...music?...
Boris Karloff plays the deliciously evil Fu Manchu, a man with a mission....to resurrect his long-dead hero Genghis Khan and take over the world.
By the time MGM got around to making this picture, Sax Rohmer's villainous doctor had already supplied the subject for a series of films produced by Paramount starring Warner Oland as Fu. But where Oland had been a cunning but not contemptible bad guy, Karloff in this picture is a sadistic monster.
The Mask of Fu Manchu is also very much an example of pre-Code film making with some of the wildest scenes that ever made their way onto the screen in the early 1930's--particularly those in which Fu's daughter, played by Myrna Loy in her Chinese period, drools over the recumbent, nearly naked body of an immobilized Charles Starrett.
They have to get there fast, as the evil genius Dr. Fu Manchu (Boris Karloff) is also searching, and if he gets the mysteriously powerful relics, he and his diabolical daughter (Myrna Loy) will enslave the world!
The Chinese embassy was specifically upset, and did not appreciate Fu Manchu's orders to "Kill the white man and take his women!" If we ignore the racial factor (and it may be hard), the film is actually quite good, with a dastardly villain who schemes and tortures.
The Mask of Fu Manchu is a real campy outing.A silly adventure movie which in some ways resembles the Indiana Jones movies.Boris Karloff and Myrna Loy seem to have a great time with their evil characters.It's also surprising to see Lewis Stone as the hero in this one.Its production values are of high standard,which gives the film a good look..
The Mask Of Fu Manchu came on channel 7 at 1:30am and run until 3.The room was totally dark except for the black & white television screen and the sound was down low.We were enthralled by this wild movie.Boris was slimy evil and there was water torture, alligator pits,spider venom and death rays!Cooool!
It was worth staying up that late(for once).31 years later this still is my favorite film.There is so much to see in this movie and it is surprising that it was made in 1932.We've got racism,torture,&opium dens.Myrna Loy as Fu's daughter is totally lust crazed and Boris gives one of his best performances of his long career.My only disappointment with this film is that I wasn't able to see it in a theatre.One of the very rare 10's I'll dispense..
I would like to focus on the contrast between the Eastern and Western view of women in this movie.It is interesting to observe Fu Manchu (Boris Karloff)'s attitude towards his daughter Fah Lo See (Myrna Loy) before and after she interacts with Sir Lionel Barton (Lawrence Grant).
And you should hear Fu-Manchu speak of her beloved daughter and tell about his regrets not to have a son (my insignificant daughter)!But anyway you will eat it up!When you reach such of level of drivel,you can watch it and have a lot of fun.The movie looks like a catalog of all kind of tortures :the bell (which was often imitated afterward),the whips,the modernized Virgin of Nurnberg,and more.The most amazing think is the role played by the hero :what happens to him is generally what happens to the girls .Poor Terry becomes a sex object in the hands of the nasty vicious sadistic daughter:like father,like daughter.When I was a child ,I used to read the adventures of Fu-Manchu and Nayland Smith's in my grandpa's news paper.It was also full of tarantulas,spiders and other nice animals.Gengis Khan ,you will have to wait..
Filmed reports of Hurricane in the Caribbean, DiMaggio's 57 Game Hitting Streak or "The Joan of Arc of Manchuko"* would have required our patience to wait for the weekly or bi-weekly editions of Warner Brothers-Pathe, The March of Time or Fox-Movietone Newsreels.THE public in general was so much more in awe of motion pictures in general and as well as some good knee slappin' laughs; great, scary Horror was very much in vogue.NOW, we're not saying that today's special guest disectee, THE MASK OF FU MANCHU (MGM, 1932), certainly is not a true Horror Film in the true sense; but it does manage to harness the elements of action, character, costuming, mood, setting, costuming and ambiance to complement the horrors perpetrated by the Sinister former Professional Student.
Rather, she always appears and acts in relation to the men of the film.Thus, in addition to the clear racist comments and portrayals of supporting characters , it's this stagnantly sexist and racist characterization that was most problematic for me in "The Mask of Fu Manchu." In stark contrast to the plot, which morphed into a variety of situations throughout the movie, the characters of this film, whether good or evil, Western or Eastern, were altogether uninspired and wearisome..
After just getting through couple of the Harry Alan Towers produced 1960s starring Christopher Lee Dr. Fu Manchu features ("Face of Fu Manchu" and "Brides of Fu Manchu" --- with "Vengeance of Fu Manchu" next lined up), I accidentally stumbled across the 1930s feature on cable this evening with Boris Karloff in heavy make-up and bellowing a wicked accent as the diabolical Chinese criminal mastermind.A group of British archaeologists with the help of detective Neyland Smith are in the race to retrieve the treasures from the tomb of Ghengis Khan, before Dr. Fu Manchu gets his hands on the important artifacts which could be used in his quest for global power.
While not generally associated with the great horror films of the early 1930's, MGM certainly made some noteworthy contributions to the genre during that period, most notably Tod Browning's great trio of films: "Freaks," "The Devil Doll," and "Mark of the Vampire." And then there is the fascinating "The Mask of Fu Manchu," directed by the underrated Charles Brabin and starring the man who, by 1932, had established himself as Hollywood's master of the macabre, the great Boris Karloff.Forget the convoluted plot, involving a lot of twists and turns trying to receive the mask and sword of Genghis Kahn.
The movie shows how Nayland Smith who seems to be either the British police commissioner or some thing to do with the Secret Service and who appears to be around 70 years old goes to China or somewhere in the east and almost single handedly wipes out about 1000 Orientals of some kind saving the white race as a result.
Boris Karloff plays a sort of Asian Hitler hell-bent on exterminating the white race, or how about the scene which involves Myrna Loy having a sexual fetish from seeing a man being whipped.
This is the kind of film which is so off the wall that its fun describing it in one of the purest pieces of pulp escapism to come out of the 1930's.In today's politically correct world where everything offends everyone and people are obsessed with racism (like seriously, what well-known movie doesn't have a "This movie is racist" topic on IMDB) I find there's a certain joy that comes from watching something as shocking and politically incorrect as The Mask of Fu Manchu; like a kid watching R rated movies behind their parent's back.
Like any Bond villain Fu Manchu could kill his opponents with a simple gunshot but instead puts them on devices which will kill them at a slow pace, and yes, they're able to escape and halt the bad guy's evil plans.Boris Karloff prevents the character of Fu Manchu coming off a total caricature, showing he is a man of taste and culture and one who puts the genius in evil genius, boasting that he is a doctor three times over having graduating from three different universities.
Boris Karloff plays the "insidious" Dr. Fu Manchu – a mysterious villainous leader who longs to acquire the mask and sword of the great Genghis Khan and wipe out the white race.
Boris Karloff plays Dr. Fu Manchu, an evil and powerful Asian villain who is after the ceremonial mask and sword of Genghis Kahn, with which he plots to exterminate the white race!
An Unmitigated Joy. British earnest heroes race against time to stop Asian mastermind Fu Manchu (Karloff, to whom no superlative does justice) from finding the lost mask and sword of Genghis Khan and lead the Yellow race to world domination.Aaaaah, how good it can be, from time to time, to see a completely politically incorrect film.
I seriously need to buy the unedited version of this film.Any movie which places hunky white men at the mercy of "oriental devils" is okay in my book (i can say that: i'm part Asian).Any movie which depicts a stripped-down Dartmouth grad (Charles Starrett, former football player) tied up, awaiting "re-programming" by a many-degreed evil scientist is HEAVEN (i can say that: i'm a Yale grad with a paleo degree!).The movie is what it is for the time when it was released.At least the Asians aren't played for "goofy/dumb" - which is the far more reprehensible stereotype..
Dr. Fu Manchu (Boris Karloff) with his incredibly sexy daughter (Myrna Loy) fight Nayland Smith (Lewis Stone) and his party for the mask and sword of Genghis Khan.
A group of British archaeologists led by Lewis Stone must find the grave of Genghis Khan before evil Chinese genius Fu Manchu (Boris Karloff) gets to it.
Sure, Boris Karloff plays an excellent villain and "Fu Manchu" views today as slightly dated and campy, but such a representation of Asia and its peoples breeds dangerous misunderstanding of the Eastern world, whether accepted out of 1930's paranoia or modern dismissals of past, "irrelevant" racism..
Highly entertaining is THE MASK OF FU MANCHU with Boris Karloff as Gengis Khan and Myrna Loy as his equally sadistic daughter who wants to use Charles Starrett as her slave man.Karloff is just about unrecognizable in his Khan make-up until he speaks.
We get to see Charles Starrett before he became famous in a career full of western roles, most notably as The Durango Kid. Myrna Loy dons her Oriental make-up, as she did in many of her earlier films, to play Karloff's scary daughter.
Everson, Lewis Stone was originally set for that torture but Jean Hersholt was substituted as it looked more frightening to see a fatter man impaled).The plot was the usual - Nayland Smith and cohorts discover the tomb of Genghis Khan and there is a race to be first as Fu Manchu desires the mask and sword so he can proclaim himself Khan Returned to Life and lead all Asia in a revolt against the world.
Boris Karloff has a field day in the role of evil mastermind Fu Manchu, schooled at the most prestigious colleges before becoming the biggest threat the West has ever known, with a goal to retrieve the legendary mask and sword of Genghis Khan in a desire to inspire the entire Asian populace into following him in a plan to overthrow the world.
His character of the evil Roxor wants control of a death ray to bring the world to his knees, while Karloff's Fu Manchu only needs the sword of Ghenghis Khan to fulfill his evil plans, along with his daughter Myrna Loy's perverted plans for Charles Starrett.
Boris Karloff does a great job in his first lead speaking role when he plays Fu Manchu in this 'A' list MGM film.
Boris Karloff plays Fu Manchu, who menaces an expedition looking for the tomb of Genghis Khan.