MGM does pre-Code horror on a grand scale with The Mask of Fu Manchu.
The Production: 3.5/5
Impressed by the huge grosses of Universal’s 1931 Dracula and Frankenstein, MGM bosses decided with their resources they could churn out better and even more profitable horror films than any other Hollywood studio. Thus, among their 1932 output were Tod Browning’s Freaks and Charles Brabin’s The Mask of Fu Manchu. Oriental fiend Fu Manchu had already been presented in both silent and early sound films (the latter had starred Warner Oland before he assumed the mantle of Charlie Chan), but MGM brought in horror star Boris Karloff to assume the role and cranked out one of the most manically entertaining camp horror shows ever to be mounted. Seen today without the intrusions of the censors or the PC police, The Mask of Fu Manchu has the expected MGM gloss and spectacle, some of their top talent, and enough disturbing moments to please almost anyone looking for a thrill or two.
Sadistic and xenophobic Chinese warrior Dr. Fu Manchu (Boris Karloff) is determined to obtain the mask and simitar of legendary Mongolian war lord Genghis Khan knowing they could provide him power to invade the rest of the world for all its spoils. But only archeologist Sir Lionel Barton (Lawrence Grant) and his daughter Sheila (Karen Morley) know exactly where Khan’s tomb is located. Once the artefacts are obtained, they’re hidden by Barton and Scotland Yard officer Nayland Smith (Lewis Stone). Fu has Barton kidnapped and tortures him to make him talk, but when his efforts are in vain, he must hatch a new plan by kidnapping Sheila’s fiancé Terry Granville (Charles Starrett) to use as bait to lure the rest of the white people he loathes into his clutches.
The screenplay by Irene Kuhn, Edgar Allan Woolf, and John Willard positively revels in its sadistic attitudes and fiendish torture devices, all of which get the lavish MGM treatment and are photographed in all their glory by future Oscar-winner Tony Gaudio. Much of the fun of a picture like this that pits East against West is seeing how ingenuity and split-second timing along with more than a bit of luck manage to thwart even the most carefully planned operations and expected outcomes. But director Charles Brabin (with a few days of filming by Charles Vidor) doesn’t shy away from the grisly and the gruesome including the torture of Sir Lionel in a bell tower, the whipping of a stripped down Terry Granville, an excruciating sequence where venom from snakes, tarantulas, and a Gila monster is extracted and injected into our stalwart hero Terry, and the climactic execution scenarios which are set up for Smith over a crocodile pit and Von Berg (Jean Hersholt) facing the temple of silver fingers. He also manages to cram skillfully into a brief 68-minute running time a great deal of action and character building.
Boris Karloff seems to be having the time of his life as the sneering, gleefully maniacal Dr. Fu Manchu. Though this very talky role revealed to audiences his pronounced lisp for the first time, he never lets it prevent him from joyously embracing his every curse of the white men he despises. Lewis Stone (though no man of action) gets with the program quickly once it’s clear that Fu is kidnapping his friends. Charles Starrett is a courageous young hero that this kind of pulp adventure needs playing subtly a zombified pawn after the injection but snapping back to normal due to the love of a good woman: Karen Morley playing perhaps a bit too nobly his love interest Sheila Barton. Yes, that’s Myrna Loy in one of her final Oriental vamp roles as Fu Manchu’s “ugly” (his words, not mine) daughter, luxuriating in the sadism and lustfully hoping to have a burly white man as her love trophy. Jean Hersholt and Lawrence Grant do what they can with underwritten roles as archeologists involved in the caper.
Video: 4.5/5
3D Rating: NA
The film’s 1.37:1 original aspect ratio is faithfully rendered in 1080p using the AVC codec. Though occasional long shots are a bit soft (likely part of the original photography and not a fault of the transfer), most of the image is sharp and clear with film grain present and consistently realized. Clarity is certainly vivid enough to notice Karloff’s stand-in during the first electric spark laboratory sequence as Fu tests the simitar brought to him. The grayscale is very good though blacks aren’t the deepest you’ll ever see. The movie has been divided into 21 chapters.
Audio: 5/5
The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 sound mix is very strong for audio elements less than a decade away from the century mark. Dialogue is always easy to understand, and the spare bits of music and the multiple sound effects have been mixed with great professionalism. There are no instances of hiss, crackle, pops, or flutter.
Special Features: 2/5
Audio Commentary: film historian Greg Mank does a first-rate job celebrating this marvelous MGM pre-Code horror classic. His scripted remarks are delivered with clarity and assurance, and when he ad-libs off script, it’s always concise and appropriate.
Animated Shorts (HD): both from 1932 and in black and white, Freddie the Freshman (6:54) and The Queen Was in the Parlor (6:46).
Overall: 3.5/5
MGM’s pre-Code horror classic The Mask of Fu Manchu is loads of fun with a juicy, sadistic role for Boris Karloff and some fine studio players doing their best in the spirit of this entertaining adventure film.
The Mask of Fu Manchu [Blu-ray]
$22.59 $22.21
Matt has been reviewing films and television professionally since 1974 and has been a member of Home Theater Forum’s reviewing staff since 2007, his reviews now numbering close to three thousand. During those years, he has also been a junior and senior high school English teacher earning numerous entries into Who’s Who Among America’s Educators and spent many years treading the community theater boards as an actor in everything from Agatha Christie mysteries to Stephen Sondheim musicals.
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