When this film was made in 1929, Sax Rohmer
had only written three of his Fu Manchu books and those nearly fifteen years
previously. But there had been a number of silent short films in a serial
starring Agar Lyons made in 1923. So, Fu Manchu was still on the minds of
America when Paramount decided to make three of them beginning with this
one.
The Boxer Rebellion is where this film begins. The Boxers or "The Society
of Harmonious Fists" are on the verge of victory by overrunning all of the
foreign compounds and massacring all the white devils. One British commander
sees the end coming and so hands over his small daughter to his good friend
Dr. Fu Manchu. Fu tells his wife that there is nothing to worry about because
even the coolies know that he is dedicating his life to helping mankind.
And follows this up by saying "The white men are kind and generous". That
sentiment quickly changes when his home is bombed by the British and his
wife and son are killed. He swears vengeance against all the officers who
did this to the third generation and promises that this girl will be the
means of it. So really not a bad guy. And his ambitions are fairly limited
- no taking over the world sort of thing - just old-fashioned revenge.
Jump ahead ten years later and Fu Manchu is diabolically planning to have
his daughter meet the grandson of the final family from the Boxer Rebellion
responsible for the death of his family. The others have been taken care
of. This is the Petrie family - the grandfather was in Peking, his son and
his grandson. Just as Fu is about to carry out the retribution to the grandfather,
the door opens and Nayland Smith - Fu Manchu's nemesis enters. Fu Manchu
and his minions are hiding in Limehouse in a house with a labyrinth of rooms
and trap doors and Smith and the young Petrie go after him. The poor girl
is a puppet in this game under the hypnotic influence of her guardian. Petrie
was of course to become the right-hand man of Nayland Smith in all future
endeavors.
This video I watched is so murky you can barely make out faces and another
version is clearer but badly blue tinted. I have been informed that this
and the next film are being readied for Blue-Ray which is good news. This
being 1929 just as Talkies were being introduced the sound isn't great and
it is fairly stage bound as are Fu Manchu's ambitions. Though the scene of
the fighting in the Boxer Rebellion wasn't bad. The film has three actors
who would go on to fame though you could never tell from this film. Fu Manchu
is played by Swedish actor Warner Oland who would of course play another
Chinese man - a very different one, that of Charlie Chan. The young Petrie
is Neil Hamilton who was a leading man for a time but soon fell into character
roles - but one being Commissioner Gordon in Batman and finally Fu Manchu's
daughter who is truly dreadful in this, overacting like a high school play,
is none other than the great Jean Arthur. Arthur had been in a number of
silents - mainly B Westerns and her career was floundering - she was
not transitioning to sound very well and she was thinking of getting out
after this film. She did in fact leave Hollywood at one point, then came
back and was in a bunch of films no one remembers until a guy called Capra
saw the magic, worked with her and made her a star with that cracky quavering
voice in 1936 in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town. She also appears in the next Dr.
Fu Manchu film.
