The Mask of Fu Manchu

1932
G
1h 9m

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Boris Karloff in The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932)

Englishmen race to find the tomb of Genghis Khan before the sinister Fu Manchu does.Englishmen race to find the tomb of Genghis Khan before the sinister Fu Manchu does.Englishmen race to find the tomb of Genghis Khan before the sinister Fu Manchu does.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.2/10

3.9K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 nomination total

Photos105

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Top cast23

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Boris Karloff

Dr. Fu Manchu

Lewis Stone

Nayland Smith

Karen Morley

Sheila Barton

Charles Starrett

Terrence Granville

Myrna Loy

Fah Lo See

Jean Hersholt

Von Berg

Lawrence Grant

Sir Lionel Barton

David Torrence

McLeod

Everett Brown

Slave
(uncredited)

Steve Clemente

Knife Thrower
(uncredited)

Willie Fung

Ship's Steward
(uncredited)

Ferdinand Gottschalk

British Museum Official
(uncredited)

Allen Jung

Coolie
(uncredited)

Tetsu Komai

Swordsman
(uncredited)

James B. Leong

Guest
(uncredited)

Oswald Marshall

Undetermined Role
(uncredited)

Chris-Pin Martin

Potentate
(uncredited)

Lal Chand Mehra

Indian Prince
(uncredited)

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Boris Karloff actually wore a Chinese woman's wedding dress as costume.

Goofs
Fu tortures Barton to obtain the whereabouts of Genghis Khan's mask and scimitar. Later on Fu is shown to have a serum that brainwashes people, so the torture of Barton was needless.

Quotes
Fu Manchu: [Pointing to blonde female captive] Would you have maidens like this for your wives?
Horde of Asians: Yeah!
[Roars in approval, some waving swords]
Fu Manchu: Then conquer and breed! Kill the white man and take his women!

Alternate versions
In the 1970's, "Mask of Fu Manchu" was cut slightly (by about 2 minutes), removing references deemed particularly offensive to the Asian-American community (including several racial remarks and an extended version of the famous whipping scene). It is actually this cut version which MGM/UA released in the early 1990's on videotape, although the deleted segments were restored for the print of "Mask of Fu Manchu" used for the later laserdisc release "MGM Horror Classics," and the more recent DVD release.

Connections
Edited into Mondo Lugosi - A Vampire's Scrapbook (1987)

User reviews100

Review

Featured review

7/10

Fun if flawed

The Mask of Fu Manchu is not perfect. The dialogue does feel corny to me, Karen Morley overacts dreadfully that it was difficult to take her hysteria seriously and Lewis Stone makes a piece of wood more animated. However, the black and white cinematography does show crispness and atmosphere and the sets and costumes are beautiful. The score is haunting and while occasionally silly the story is fun and never felt dull. The tortures were both scary and amusing, and I got some entertainment from the scene with the crocodiles. While Charles Starrett is not the most convincing of actors he does make up for it by his sexiness. The two best performances come from Myrna Loy and especially Boris Karloff. Loy is lustful and incredibly magnetic, while Karloff seems to be having the time of his life.

All in all, The Mask of Fu Manchu is a flawed film but it is a decent and fun one. 7/10 Bethany Cox