The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu

Yes this movie is very dated. I've been watching movies for over 65 years, even at 10 years old I was watching the, then, oldies on television. I've experienced the full gamut of movie styles, production techniques, acting dynamics and technology, so I can happily and easily get into a movie from this era. Yes, its very melodramatic, over acted, a bit stilted like a stage play, but the story is intriguing, the acting works for the era, the sets are good, and the movie has a dynamic that works. I understand that not everyone can enjoy these golden oldies for what were, only seeing them through the eyes of the 22nd century. If you can, this is actually quite a classic and very absorbing. I liked it.

Restored Version Available? Or better yet a colorized version? The original book is free on Gutenburg. The film that is shown now is practically unwatchable but the story and the actors are engaging in the film and would make it worthwhile watching in an HD or colorized version. Oland, Hamilton, and Arthur were all engaged in the silent film era and this is their plunge into the talkies. So you have skilled actors with a good story, but the display is wanting. This is the first Fu Manchu film of the talkies era and it was good. However 83 years later the film itself is in tatters. Message me if you have a lead on an A+ quality version of the film and I (and many others) will snap it up quickly.

Film buffs might want to check out what Warner Oland was doing before his Charlie Chan days, and what Jean Arthur was doing before her Frank Capra days, but others might want to steer clear of "The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu": it's stilted, static, uninvolving and overlong. Fu Manchu's deadliest power appears to be his ability to bore his captives to death; he never stops talking and talking and talking and talking. *1/2 out of 4.

THE STORY & GENRE -- Brief and slight hypnotic powers is about all the genre which can be mustered in this basic crime story. ASHSFF calls it "Tangential." Rowland V. Lee directs, Warner Oland stars.

THE VERDICT -- As I said, the real problem here is the acting, which drags the entirety down to mediocre. And believe me, I was looking forward to seeing Oland do Fu. There is no "racism", only characterization. If you want to get political about it, China is not a friend of the world or human rights, and Fu Manchu is a personification of that fear and reality.

FREE ONLINE -- Yes. Google also "The Red Dragon" 1929.

...and you'll feel like watching this film was time well spent. Perhaps it was the job Warner Oland did here as Fu Manchu that got him the role of Charlie Chan over at Fox, because he is sensational in the part. He transitions from humanitarian to a one-man killing machine on a quest for vengeance against those he holds responsible for the death of his wife and only child. Their deaths occur in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion when a troop of soldiers fire on Fu Manchu's house. The Europeans are after the boxers, and Fu Manchu's family is just collateral damage to them. At the time of the rebellion, Fu Manchu has a young two year old European female ward (Jean Arthur). He uses the power of hypnotism he holds over her to get her to help in his dirty work without her ever remembering anything that happened.

Twenty years later Fu Manchu has killed off all those he finds responsible except one man and his offspring, and this leads him to England. A detective from Scotland Yard figures out what is going on, and the surviving family members including Fu's ward are holed up in an old dark house trying to get the Chinese mastermind to show himself. The complicating factor is that one of Fu Manchu's targets (Neil Hamilton) and Fu Manchu's ward (Jean Arthur) have fallen in love.

This film is pretty static, but then it is one of the first talking films and the placement of the microphone and camera demanded this. Oland and Hamilton are great in their roles, and everybody else is OK except Jean Arthur. She is really playing this one over the top, like she thinks she is still in a silent picture and expecting the villain to tie her to a railroad track at any instance. She doesn't give a glimpse of the great performances that are to come.

Watch this one for Warner Oland, for the atmosphere, and for the general touch of class you find in all of the early Paramount talkies.