Myrna Loy may be my favorite actress of all time. Her and William Powell in "The Thin Man" picture's (mostly just the first two) epitomize the breezy, witty elegance I love about old Hollywood. Their performance's and intoxicating (pun intended) chemistry together are what make the film's so wonderful- not the workmanlike direction (despite some fine work by James Wong Howe), not the screenplay which doesn't do justice to the source material- "The Thin Man" is a screen classic because it's star's willed it to be by being so damn charismatic and watchable. Well, Dashiell Hammett's essential novel has to be credited, too. Even though it's richness and dark side were watered down in translation to the screen, it's sense of humor remained intact, and Loy and Powell perfectly capture the dynamics of the crime solving couple. Two year's before "The Thin Man" would make her a bona fide Hollywood legend, Loy acted in a picture based on one of author Sax Rohmer's "yellow peril" novel's, "The Mask of Fu Manchu". It's representative of the kinds of role's Loy was given before her ascendancy to superstardom. Her angelic, yet somewhat exotic looks often caused her to be cast in non-Caucasian part's. "Thirteen Women", also available through WAI, is another great example. Loy had been in the business almost a decade and had made around eighty movie's before the film that made her career. Her "Fu Manchu" co-star was someone who understood taking the long road. Despite having been in Hollywood for 15 year's, Boris Karloff had only just become the King of the Monster's the year before in "Frankenstein".
Sir Lionel Barton (Lawrence Grant) has been tasked with finding the tomb of Genghis Khan, on the edge of the Gobi Desert. The British Government must find it before the fiendish supervillain Dr. Fu Manchu (Karloff) does. They fear if he obtains Khan's mask and sword he will lead the East against the West. But, before Sir Lionel leaves the British Museum on his quest he is kidnapped by Fu Manchu's agent's who have been hiding in sarcophagi.
We are introduced to Fu Manchu in his stylish lair of supervillainy, working in his laboratory. His distorted reflection flank's him, showing the true face of his twisted soul. Sir Lionel refuses when he is tempted with money to divulge the tomb's location. He's then subjected to the "torture of the bell", where he is placed below a giant bell and made to endure it's ceaseless tolling. As we watch the torture continue, Fu Manchu is established as a truly merciless, evil character. Despite the makeup he wears, Karloff portrays Fu Manchu in a rather straightforward manner, not using the offensive, stereotypical dialect often employed by actor's in "yellow face".
"I ask you to receive a message from my ugly, insignificant daughter.", is how Fu Manchu introduces Fah So Lee (Myrna Loy) to an audience of his devotee's. It's a hoot seeing Nora Charles herself keep a straight face while delivering ominous dialogue of silly gravitas.
Sheila (Karen Morley), Sir Lionel's daughter, accompanies the British expedition to the tomb, where they find Khan's treasure. Fu Manchu's men stage a raid on the house where the Brit's are staying. This leads to some fairly violent pre-code moment's when one of the archaeologist's is stabbed in the back and shoots his attacker before dying. Later, Sir Lionel's severed hand falls out of a tree (yeah...you read that right) as a warning to the group.
Terrence (Charles Starrett), Sheila's beau, acquiesces to the threat and brings the sword to Fu Manchu's lair. In a fantastically staged and shot sequence an obvious Karloff stunt double conducts electricity into the weapon, reducing it to nothing. The 1930s must've been a great time to own an electrical equipment company in Hollywood. Why have movie laboratories stopped being made up of thing's which buzz and produce lightening? Modern realism is so aesthetically unpleasing. Throughout the picture, the evocative, shadowy cinematography of Tony Gaudio gets the most out of some really great set's. It may be the B-grade material of serial's, but it's given an A-list treatment here.
Enraged by what he believes to be an attempt to trick him with a fake sword, Fu Manchu orders Terry to be tortured. Fah So Lee sees to this in a moment of pre-code kink, having her servant's whip him over and over, while orgiastically yelling "Faster! Faster!". Loy's wardrobe throughout the film is ridiculously wonderful and exotic. She portrays the arch villainy of her character here with the same ease as the light hearted comedy for which she'd become known.
The violence continues to escalate when Sir Lionel's corpse is dumped at the house where the British team is staying. Nayland Smith (Lewis Stone) of the British Secret Service, the chief government agent there, goes to an opium den he believes to be connected with Fu Manchu to investigate. In a proto Indiana Jones moment, he fall's through a trap door into a snake filled subterranean lair and is captured by the fiendish Doctor.
The torture's of Terry persist when he is subjected to an injection of Fu Manchu's mind control formula in a completely mad scene of baroque pulp weirdness. Fu Manchu extracts the poison from a tarantula, then allows a snake to bite one of the black servant's who line the room, in order to take the venom from him. Fah So Lee observes the proceeding's, smoking her pipe, surrounded by her servant's; the camera holds her cruel beauty in close-up.
Using Terry as his instrument, Fu Manchu gains possession of the sword. Will he use his new power to conquer the world? Will Nayland Smith be able to extricate himself from the pit of crocodile's and stop him? Will Sheila be sacrificed? Will Terry become the love slave of Fah So Lee (as torture's go, that one ain't so bad)? It all comes to a head during a scene of wholesale slaughter by electrocution.
Fu Manchu is the personification of the Anglo fear of losing the seat of privilege and control in society. This paranoia reaches it's psychotic crescendo in a scene where Fu Manchu urges his follower's to, "Kill the white man and take his women." Indeed, the last scene in the film, showing a servile, homely Chinese man waiting on our heroes is a racist reaffirmation of the Caucasian status quo.
Outmoded, offensive racial views aside, "Mask of Fu Manchu" is still a hell of a good time. It's premise is antiquated and outdated, but the story is told in such a bold, unrestrained manner that it's tough to resist. Violence, drug den's, severed hand's, wanton sexuality- it's pre-code nature allows the film to indulge the most lurid and fun element's of pulp fiction. Karloff portrays Fu Manchu with his trademark gentlemanly malevolence. Four year's before Elsa Lanchester held the screen with him in "Bride of Frankenstein", Myrna Loy proved herself worthy of the task, matching Karloff with her elegant physical presence.
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