Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Boris Karloff takes one his most celebrated cinematic turns as the diabolical fiend Dr. Fu Manchu, and Myrna Loy plays his exotic daughter in this 1932 cult horror classic. This time, the evil Fu Manchu patiently awaits the discovery of Genghis Khan’s tomb. For he is certain that possession of Khan’s mask and sword will enable him to rule the East and lead it to victory over the hated Western world. When British scientists in the Gobi Desert discover the tomb, Fu captures and tortures them in his elaborate Torture Garden, hoping they will take him to the treasure he craves. But an unexpected traitor has other plans for the doctor. Based on Sax Rohmer’s original story, The Mask of Fu Manchu is ‘fast moving and humorous’ (Halliwell’s Film Guide) and full of pre-Code suspenseful horror. This restored Blu-ray presentation features the film in it’s uncut version, as first released to theaters in 1932.
REVIEW
The Mask of Fu Manchu is one of those early films from the era before the Hays Office had a finger in every film Hollywood produced, dictating what could and could not appear in their films. When the world of moving pictures came to the general public, it was pretty much the Wild West, no topic was too taboo, nudity and sexually suggestive material was not uncommon, drug use and infidelity were frequent subjects, and any manner of kinky punishments for or by evil-doers was on display to titillate audiences. Another tenet of early Hollywood was casting Caucasian actors as non-white characters, and The Mask of Fu Manchu is no exception.
Boris Karloff stars as Chinese villain Fu Manchu (a role played in cinema history by other non-Asian actors like Warner Oland, Christopher Lee and Peter Sellers), with Myrna Loy — a studio ingenue at the time — as his daughter Fah Lo See. The film does feature some Asian extras, but only one of the actors has any dialogue and that’s in the last moments of the film. Black extras play Fu Manchu’s slaves (but look closely to see at least one extra in Blackface), and there are some now-cringy bits of dialogue about ‘Chinamen’ that would not play today. None of this would play today if cast as is, but it’s good to have things like this committed to film so we can look back on our history as human beings to remember how insensitive we can be to others and adjust and adapt moving forward. The new Blu-ray from Warner Archive even comes with a disclaimer to remind viewers that this is how things were so please don’t come for us for presenting this film as an historical artifact.
The story itself is a bit out there. British explorers believe they have found the lost tomb of the conquerer Genghis Khan, but they know they have to work fast before the villainous Fu Manchu gets to it first. Fu Manchu believes possessing Khan’s mask and sword will basically make him Khan in the flesh to rule over the East … and then the rest of humankind. Nayland Smith (Lewis Stone) sends out a team headed by Sir Lionel Barton (Lawrence Grant), to dig up the artifacts but Fu Manchu is just one step ahead, capturing Barton in the hope that a little bit of torture will ‘ring’ the location of Khan’s tomb out of him. Upon hearing of the kidnapping, Barton’s daughter Sheila (Karen Morley) insists on joining the team because other than her father, no one else knows the location of the tomb. Her boyfriend Terrence (Charles Starrett) reluctantly allows her to travel with them, but just as they uncover the artifacts, Sheila and Terrence end up in Fu’s clutches, Terrence as a hypnotized double agent/plaything for Fah Lo See, Sheila as Fu Manchu’s bride-to-be. Barton is eventually rescued, Fu gets his toys, but can he be stopped before putting them to use?
The Mask of Fu Manchu is a curio of early Hollywood cinema. The character of Fu Manchu had been around in literature for a while, created by Sax Rohmer, with at least four movies based on the stories produced before 1932. Nabbing Karloff for the role, fresh off of his success in 1931 as Frankenstein’s Monster, was a real feather in the cap for MGM. Karloff, who had to endure about three hours of make-up to transform his visage, seems to be having a gleeful time in the role (and no, his lisping delivery of Fu’s dialogue is not a put on), really sinking his teeth into becoming the fearsome dictator wannabe. Myrna Loy, who had been in films since 1925 but didn’t really become a star until her casting in 1934’s The Thin Man, doesn’t have a whole lot to do as Fu’s daughter except look sultry (with just some eyeliner instead of prosthetic eyelids like Karloff) and oversee the torture of a barely clad Terrence that will make him Fu’s agent and Fah’s plaything. Karen Morley as Sheila is a bit over-the-top at times, playing to the audience in the back of the balcony … except this is a movie and not a Broadway play so the director could have had her tone down the histrionics. Starrett does a good job playing the double agent role, showing a nice subtlety when he lures Sheila in and then switches into hypno-mode (Fu has injected him with a serum to basically control Terrence like a puppet). Lewis Stone is stalwart as expected, and Lawrence Grant does a good job of making us feel Barton’s torture of the bell in some very uncomfortable scenes (so uncomfortable that some state censor boards removed them before the movie could be exhibited). If you follow the Academy Awards you may be familiar with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award that is given out on occasion. The man himself has a large co-starring role in the film, basically the comic relief with his over-the-top German accent, and features in one of Fu’s more creative torture devices. It’s neat to see the person behind the award.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
The film’s production design for Fu’s lair is sumptuous and director Charles Brabin (and an uncredited Charles Vidor, grandfather of director King Vidor) keeps things moving — the movie is just over an hour long — and employs some creative camera movements and angles to keep things visually interesting. The script feels a bit rushed and unconcerned with any real character development, but one has to wonder if the climactic moment of the film didn’t influence Steven Spielberg and the climactic scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark after the ark was opened. Over all, The Mask of Fu Manchu isn’t a great film, but it is entertaining enough, it’s fun watching Karloff chew the scenery, and it gives us some insight into the past. For true film buffs and Karloff fans, this is one you definitely want to add to your library.
VIDEO
The Warner Archive Blu-ray presentation of The Mask of Fu Manchu is nothing short of stunning, sourced from a 4K scan of the original nitrate camera negative. As is usual with films of this vintage, the titles and opening scene are of a slightly lower quality due to the optical printing process to create the titles that then dissolve into the opening scene, but once the first edit is made the image becomes clear and sharp as if the movie was of a more recent vintage. It is a stunning black-and-white image, with whites that are never blown out and blacks that show no artifacting, with many shades of gray in-between. It should be noted that there are a few bits of film that are of a slightly lesser quality, a bit more grainy as the restored footage was only available from a 16mm print, but at less than two minutes total it doesn’t detract from the presentation. The folks at Warner Archive took great care in making the footage work within the pristine footage without resorting to any egregious means to diminish the grain and detail. The detail of the sets, costumes and make-up is revelatory — notice the shockingly bad edges on Loy’s wig in her close-ups that probably were never noticeable before, while Karloff’s transformation shows no signs of badly applied prosthetics. The best part of this presentation is that it has been fully restored to its original theatrical release form, adding back those scenes and some bits of dialogue removed by various state censor boards. This is a version of the film that hadn’t been seen since 1932 and the quality of the video presentation makes it a must have for any serious collector.
AUDIO
The disc audio retains the original mono soundtrack with a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track, keeping the dialogue crystal clear (although in the 16mm scenes it becomes just a tad more tinny) and the sound effects and music at a good level that never compete with the dialogue. English subtitles are also provided on the main feature.
SPECIAL FEATURES
The disk includes two animated shorts as bonus material, Freddy the Freshman and The Queen Was In the Parlor, which are bizarre and a bit of nightmare fuel. The real bonus here is the brilliant audio commentary by film historian Gregory Mank, who actually talks about the movie we’re watching and everything that went into its production, touching on historical bits of cinema history such as ‘the yellow peril’ and what scenes and pieces of dialogue have been restored for this presentation. If you bemoan a lack of audio commentary with your movies, or are disappointed by those that meander all over the place instead of talking about the movie, this commentary track is one of the best (it should be noted that this is not a new track as it was first recorded for a DVD release of the film in 2006).
OVERVIEW
Any true film connoisseur will want to add the Blu-ray of The Mask of Fu Manchu to their libraries. Fans of Boris Karloff and Myrna Loy can’t have a complete collection without this film. Warner Archive has done a stunning job with its presentation, even with the material of lesser quality but of great historic value. Highly recommended.
Warner Archive generously provided Hotchka with the Blu-ray for reviewing purposes.
The Mask of Fu Manchu has a running time of 1 hour 8 minutes and is not rated, but contains sexual innuendo and a near nude Starrett and loincloth-clad slaves, and frightening and intense scenes of torture and horror.
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