Love this piece of exotica!, April 26 2002
"The Mask of Fu Manchu" would have to be one of the unfairly maligned cinema efforts of the 30's. Myrna Loy in her great autobiography while referring to it as pure hokum also had the good sense (something you would expect from Nora Charles!!) to point out how alot of effort went into the production and it was peopled by wonderful actors ideally cast.I have always loved the sheer exotica of this film and the lavish production and look of the piece will keep you entranced from start to finish. Towering over all is Boris Karloff as the nefarious Dr. Fu Manchu... everyones favourite villian. It was a role Boris was born to play and he employs the right combination of sheer evil, cruelty and even wry humour to bring the part the right conviction. Karloff was a fine actor who too often was trapped in poor material in his Hollywood years. He does have a role of a life time here in Fu Manchu and, despite loving Christopher Lee is his interpretation of the evil doctor, I feel he has never been equalled in this role . Special mention must also be made of Myrna Loy as Fu's "ugly daughter!" She is terrific in the role of the evil daughter who has designs on the young white explorer Charles Stratton. Only one year off real stardom in "The Barbarian" with Ramon Novarro and "The Thin Man" of course with William Powell, here she is playing the last of her exotic roles before she became in the next evolution of her illustrious film career the "perfect wife" ( a title she hated). She is pure evil here and is quite startling in the controversial whipping sequence which was cut out of many prints for years . Lewis Stone lends his always excellent support as the head of the expedition to the Gobi desert in search of the fabled tomb of Genghis Khan. Full attention was lavished on the look of the film from the exotic art deco/Chinese palace interiors by Cedric Gibbons to the out of this world creations by Adrian for Karloff and Loy which will take your breath away. The film has the definite MGM feel to it so you know great care was taken in every area in mounting this production. All of the evils associated with the "good doctor" are here to be relished by the viewer.Pits of hungry crocodiles, bell tortures, the "room of a thousand fingers" which is in reality a wall of spikes and assorted creepy crawlies in glass jars. Totally engrossing stuff!!!. No one need ever take this film seriously but it is terrific fun and as a lover of films of the 30's I can't help but admire the work that went into it.
One note though, it appears that the film was edited for release onto video as I always feel that Myrna Loy's character seems to simply disappear before the finale and no explanation is ever given. The jacket cover mentions that someone betrays Fu Manchu to help release the men but that doesn't occur in the version on video. Just a little mystery that needs to be cleared up. Enjoy "The Mask of Fu Manchu" As a piece of first class froth it has no equals
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