The Mask of Fu Manchu
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"The injection of the serum will make his brain mine.; In other words, he becomes a reflection of my will.; He will do as I command, exactly as though I were doing it.; In the name of the British government,; I demand the release of this boy. British government?; I'll wipe them and the whole accursed white race; off the face of the Earth when I get the sword and mask that will call; the teeming millions of Asia to the uprising.; This is only the beginning.; I will wipe out your whole accursed white race."--The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932) |
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The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932) American pre-Code adventure film directed by Charles Brabin. It was written by Irene Kuhn, Edgar Allan Woolf and John Willard based on the 1932 novel of the same name by Sax Rohmer. Starring Boris Karloff as Fu Manchu, and featuring Myrna Loy as his depraved daughter, the film revolves around Fu Manchu's quest for the golden sword and mask of Genghis Khan. Lewis Stone plays his nemesis. Dr. Petrie is absent from this film.
Plot
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.
Cast
- Boris Karloff as Dr. Fu Manchu
- Lewis Stone as Sir Denis Nayland Smith
- Karen Morley as Sheila Barton
- Charles Starrett as Terry Granville
- Myrna Loy as Fah Lo See
- Jean Hersholt as Dr. Von Berg
- Lawrence Grant as Sir Lionel Barton
- David Torrence as McLeod
- C. Montague Shaw as Curator Dr. Fairgyle (uncredited)
- E. Alyn Warren as Goy Lo Sung (uncredited)
Controversy
During its initial release, The Mask of Fu Manchu was criticized by the Chinese government, and the Chinese embassy in Washington launched a formal complaint against the film for its hostile depiction of the Chinese. The speech where Fu Manchu tells his followers to "Kill the white man and take his women!" was singled out for strong criticism.
