The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932)

Director:

Charles Brabin

Writers:

Irene Kuhn (screenplay) &
Edgar Allan Woolf (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

5 November 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Horror | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Englishmen race to find the tomb of Ghengis Khan. They have to get there fast, as the evil genius Dr...

Plot Keywords:

Tomb | Fu Manchu | Human Sacrifice | Torture | Mysticism

Cast

Boris Karloff	...	Dr. Fu Manchu
Lewis Stone	...	Nayland Smith
Karen Morley	...	Sheila
Charles Starrett	...	Terrence Granville
Myrna Loy	...	Fah Lo See
Jean Hersholt	...	Von Berg
Lawrence Grant	...	Sir Lionel Barton
David Torrence	...	McLeod
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Herbert Bunston	...	Undetermined Role (scenes deleted)
Gertrude Michael	...	Undetermined Role (scenes deleted)

Runtime:

68 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1933) | USA:Approved

Company:

Cosmopolitan Productions

Trivia:

It took Boris Karloff 2.5 hours every morning to apply makeup for this role.

Goofs:

Continuity: As Fu Manchu gets up and walks away after talking to Barton for the first time, he crosses his hands before him. In the very next shot, his hands are by his body. The position of Fah Lo See also changes between these two shots.

Quotes:

Nayland Smith: Will we ever understand these Eastern races?

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Creature Features: The Mask of Fu Manchu (#1.18)" (1971)

Death to the White Race!

"The Mask of Fu Manchu" was MGMs attempt to cash in on the horror craze of the day. They even went so far as to secure the services of the biggest horror star, Boris Karloff from Universal. Evendently, Irving Thalberg the head of production at MGM thought the studio could make them "bigger and better". MGM had released "Freaks" earlier the same year, about a group of circus freaks, but it didn't do well at the box office. 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. He then plans to unite all orientals and eliminate the white race. 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. When he refuses, Fu Manchu subjects him to the "bell torture". To free Barton, the party agrees to send Terrence to Fu Manchu with fake artifacts. Fu Manchu's equally evil daughter Fah Lo See (Myrna Loy) sets her sights on Terrence.

After subjecting him to a lashing, Fu Manchu injects Terrence with a serum that will compel him to do Fu Manchu's bidding. Terrance returns to Sheila and under Fu Manchu's influence tricks the others into coming back to Fu Manchu with the real treasure.

When the tyrant finally gets his hands on the the sword and mask, he has no further use with the explorers. First he plans to offer Sheila up as a sacrifice to the gods, subject Smith to a slow descent into an alligator pit, Professor Von Berg to impalement by a two sided wall of spikes while retaining Terrence "for the amusement" of his daughter.

This film benefited greatly from MGMs excellent production values. The set pieces including the various instruments of torture, are excellent. Being filmed before The Production Code was implemented in Hollywood in 1934, this film contains several racial remarks and sexual innuendos. Its no secret what the seductive Foh Lo See is up to.

As was usual in Hollywood, the lead oriental parts were cast with Caucasians, and the so-called Britishers with Americans using phony accents, if in fact they used them at all.

Karloff seems to relish his part being as mean and evil as he ever was. Watch the "bell torture" sequence as an example. Loy was never sexier and probably never got the chance to play such a role again. Stone, an MGM mainstay, is also good as Fu Manchu's main adversary.

Charles Starrett would go on to be Columbia's main "B" western hero in a contract that ran from 1935 to 1952. For the latter years he was better known as "The Durango Kid".

One of MGM's better forays into the horror genre.