Warner Archive Blu-Ray
by Roy Frumkes
I’m not a Fu fanatic. It’s just coincidence that we’ve been deluged by FUs recently. And they were good FU’s, each in their own way.
Kino Lorber released a double bill of THE MYSTERIOUS DR. FU. MANCHU (1929) + THE RETURN OF DR. FU MANCHU (1930). FU in these two are essayed by Warner Oland (who was Swedish). They are likable Paramount relics from cinema’s early sound period, though not particularly pre-code-ish. Rowland V. Lee directed both (as well as, later on, Universal’s delicious SON OF FRANKENSTEIN).
Then MGM, the upper class, high society studio, churned out THE MASK OF FU MANCHU in ’32. MGM had a lighting approach you could spot a mile away. Shadows were synonymous with dust, and were not welcome. GRAND HOTEL. DINNER AT 8:00. Greta Garbo. DAVID COPPERFIELD. THE GOOD EARTH. MRS. MINIVER. Like that. There was the occasional horror flick (1932’s brilliant DR. JEKYLL AND MISTER HYDE oozes with pre-code decadence.)
Warner Archives’ THE MASK OF FU MANCHU hit the theaters in 1932 as an MGM production. It, too, is pre-code, but where JEKYLL/HYDE is a high-class production worthy of the studio that made it, MASK is exploitation all the way. Boris Karloff and Myrna Loy knew exactly what they were getting into, and have admitted that they played the screenplay for ‘camp’. It’s a little over an hour long, feels like less, and sports some MGM quality trappings. Noticeably, the ‘DR.’ has been eliminated from the MGM title. Perhaps the studio was concerned about the film being perceived as too urbane for their horror audience?
Myrna, who is a hoot as Fu’s daughter, went on to do the THIN MAN franchise, whereas Boris, who imbues his role and make-up with a kind of vile elegance, went on for decades to do pretty much the same kind of thing, trapped in a genre that treated him too well to abandon.
If you’re throwing a horror movie party, THE MASK OF FU MANCHU would be a great appetizer.
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