The Mask of Fu Manchu Movie Review

The original, and many feel the best Fu Manchu movie. The evil Dr. Fu (played here by Boris Karloff) and his equally evil daughter (Myrna Loy) set out to capture the scimitar and golden mask of Genghis Khan. With them (and the help of a somewhat more up-to-date death ray) they will be able to destroy the white race and rule the world. Although Scotland Yard detective Nayland Smith tries his best to stop them, the pair get the treasures and several prisoners in their evil clutches. Tortures follow. Can Fu be stopped before he carries out his evil plans? Can the world be made safe for the white race? Even though its portrayal of Asians seems offensive today, this is still an exciting, creepy movie with killer performances by Karloff and Loy. Like the ‘60s Fu movies, which starred Christopher Lee, this film was based on the series of novels by Sax Rohmer.

1932 72m/B Boris Karloff, Lewis Stone, Karen Morley, Charles Starrett, Myrna Loy, Jean Hersholt, Lawrence Grant, David Torrence; D: Charles Brabin, Charles Vidor; W: Irene Kuhn, Edgar Allen Woolf; C: Gaetano Antonio “Tony” Gaudio. VHS MGM