The Mysterious Dr Fu Manchu **** (1929, Warner Oland, Jean Arthur, Neil Hamilton, O P Heggie, William Austin) – Classic Movie Review 5,820

Warner Oland stars in the enjoyable 1929 chiller film The Mysterious Dr Fu Manchu as Sax Rohmer’s evil Chinese criminal mastermind Dr Fu Manchu, who sets out to avenge the death of his wife and child by murdering British soldiers.

‘DANGER – MYSTERY THRILLS You’ll never forget.’

Warner Oland stars in Paramount Pictures’ 1929 chiller film The Mysterious Dr Fu Manchu as Sax Rohmer’s evil Chinese criminal mastermind Dr Fu Manchu, who sets out to avenge the death of his wife and child during the Boxer Rebellion in early 20th century China by murdering British soldiers.

While chasing Boxer rebels, a British regiment fires on Fu Manchu’s home, killing his family. When young white girl Lia Eltham (Jean Arthur), who has been left in Fu Manchu’s care, grows up, he uses her for revenge to kill all descendants of those who killed his family.

The Swedish-born star Warner Oland is not obvious casting as Dr Fu Manchu but he is good value and believable in the oriental title role, while Rowland V Lee’s enthusiastic, pacy direction emphasises the wildness of the plot and the wackiness of Florence Ryerson and Lloyd Corrigan’s screenplay. Expect a fine array of Fu Manchu’s skilful use of poison, blow darts, and hypnosis.

It is very creaky but still really enjoyable, with an impressive production – though of course just don’t expect too much from the very early film-making styles enforced by the technical problems inherent in talkies in 1929. Some of it plays like an impressively staged silent movie, with intertitles, while other parts are talky, cramped set-bound scenes. All in all, it is pretty darned nimble considering it is around 100 years old.

Oland’s Fu Manchu has also got it in for Dr Jack Petrie (Neil Hamilton) and Police Inspector Nayland Smith (O P Heggie), who are opposing him. Nayland Smith has less to do in this film than in the book, and Dr Petrie’s role in greater as the main opponent.

Neil Hamilton and O P Heggie, along with Jean Arthur and William Austin (as Sylvester Wadsworth) too, all return in the sequel, The Return of Dr Fu Manchu, in 1930. That is followed by the third film in the trilogy, the 1931 Daughter of the Dragon. Then MGM picked up the rights for the 1932 The Mask of Fu Manchu, a one-off film with Boris Karloff.

Also in the cast are Claude King, Charles A Stevenson, Noble Johnson, Charles Giblyn, Charles Stevens, Tully Marshall, Evelyn Selbie, Lawford Davidson, Chappell Dossett, Donald McKenzie and Laska Winters.

Loosely based on Sax Rohmer’s 1913 novel The Mystery of Dr Fu-Manchu, it is the first Fu Manchu talking picture.

The sound version exists happily but the silent version also released in the US in this time of transition to sound is lost.

It set Warner Oland off on a career of playing Asian types throughout the 1930s, especially Charlie Chan.

The cast are Warner Oland as Dr Fu Manchu, Neil Hamilton as Dr Jack Petrie, Jean Arthur as Lia Eltham, O P Heggie as Inspector Nayland Smith, William Austin as Sylvester Wadsworth, Claude King as Sir John Petrie, Charles A Stevenson as General Petrie, Evelyn Selbie as Fai Lu, Noble Johnson as Li Po, Laska Winter as Fu Mela Wong Chung as Chinese Official, Lawford Davidson as Clarkson, Chappell Dossett as Reverend Mr. Eltham, Charles Giblyn as Weymouth, Donald MacKenzie as Trent, Tully Marshall as Chinese Ambassador, Evelyn Mills as Little Girl, William J O’Brien as Servant, Charles Stevens as Singh and University of Southern California (USC) Trojan Marching Band as Marching Band.

The Mysterious Dr Fu Manchu is directed by Rowland V Lee, runs 82 minutes, is made and released by Paramount Pictures, is written by Lloyd Corrigan, Florence Ryerson, George Marion Jr (uncredited) and Joseph L Mankiewicz (uncredited), based on The Mystery of Dr Fu Manchu by Sax Rohmer, is shot in black and white by Harry Fischbeck, is produced by Rowland V Lee, and is scored by Oscar Potoker.

Release date August 10, 1929.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5,820

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