The greatest movie ever made..!

Purely Joyful Movie!

A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

The Mask of Fu Manchu had some pretty steep production problems, largely due to the script constantly being rewritten on set - Boris Karloff later recalled staying up all night to learn a huge speech he was expected to deliver the next day, and promptly being given a totally different one on arriving on set! The film does feel a bit rushed in places as a result; but what you'll remember is its extremely glossy look - it was made at M.G.M. after all, and Karloff's delightfully impish FU. In the pre-code production days of 1932 it's pretty clear that FU is bi-sexual, and his daughter, played by Myrna Loy, is a sadist. Karloff in a way is sort of doing a Vincent Price and having great fun camping it up.The plot concerns the uncovering of the tomb of Ghengis Khan, and Fu's desire to get his long-nailed hands on ol' Ghengis' mask and sword, so all of Asia will rise up behind him and wipe out the white race.The torture scenes are quite graphic for their time - indeed, I remember reading the production used a real severed hand supplied by a mortuary for a particular scene. There is also a kidnapping scene at the top of the movie which involves Dacoits dressed as Mummies - if this isn't an in-joke at the expense of the then in production The Mummy, also with Karloff of course, I'll eat my hat.All in all this is quite fun, not nearly as good as The Mummy or The Old Dark House, but it displays Boris' versatility to fine effect.

Those who are calling this film racist - remember that Boris Karloff played the brilliant Chinese detective Mr. Wong (who could give Sherlock Holmes a run for his money any day). Back during this time era, it was common for Caucasians to play Asian races. BUT stop to think about how they got the viewing audiences during that time era to (slowly) accept watching Asians on screen with Caucasians. Mr. Wong brought us the good and Fu Manchu the bad. There are many other films show us good and bad Caucasians during the same time era.During a time of mostly racist America, films like Fu Manchu and Mr. Wong did familiarize the 1930s American audiences with Asians on screen... yes it took awhile but a break-though was finally made and Asians soon had lead roles in American films. I love that the world is slowly coming together and that ALL races can share equal screen time in the modern cinema and stage today. Films like this are reflections of the past.Now that I have that out of the way I will say I find this an average film. It's mostly a crime adventure and does have quite a bit of sci-fi but only a few elements of horror. It's not a great film, but it's not awful either - just average.I have the fully restored movie on DVD - this is not the cut and sugar coated version that was around for a long time - this is the original film in it's entirety. Karloff's "Kill the white man" speech fully intact along with the once deleted scenes of Myrna Loy in joy over a torture whipping. It's all extremely tame and mild by today's standards.One final note: Frankenstein's Monster (played by Karloff) was chained an whipped by Fritz (played by Dwight Frye) and Fritz fully enjoyed it -- no one cared about that. A whipping on film is a whipping on film, torture is torture. It doesn't matter their race or who or what they are - those being treated cruelly are being treated cruelly.All races have good people, all races have bad people. Just enjoy the crazy sci-fi crime adventure and realize this is the past, not the present or future.7/10

This film's stagnant characterization was a huge obstacle to my enjoyment of the film Overt racism aside, its more subtle stereotyping through each actor's characterization added insult to injury; not only were the characters constant and static throughout the story, but their original personalities and behaviors were modeled off such clichéd tropes that I could not even have an initial appreciation for each character. For example, just as Fu Manchu is the epitome of evil as the archetypal "mad scientist" villain, the white men (especially Dr. Nayland Smith) are steadfastly "good" as brave, noble heroes. Further, Fu Manchu's daughter embodies the two typical stereotypes associated with Asian women: exotic temptress and submissive object. She is either ordered around by her father as his "ugly and insignificant daughter," or she is making moves toward a captive Terry in her bizarre, sadistic sexual manner. These racist ideas are imposed upon her, yet she herself is never given an identity or even referenced to as an individual. Rather, she always appears and acts in relation to the men of the film.Thus, in addition to the clear racist comments and portrayals of supporting characters , it's this stagnantly sexist and racist characterization that was most problematic for me in "The Mask of Fu Manchu." In stark contrast to the plot, which morphed into a variety of situations throughout the movie, the characters of this film, whether good or evil, Western or Eastern, were altogether uninspired and wearisome.

This movie depicts a nearly laugh-out-loud version of China, or the "Eastern" world. Throughout the film, the viewer is assaulted with depictions of the exotic, fantastic, mystical place that is outside of the Western world (specifically England). Many issues arise; the first, almost all of the main lead actors and actresses supposedly playing roles as Chinese characters are not even remotely Asian. Using white actors to portray characters that act as if they are Chinese is absurd and strange and adds an extreme level of inaccuracy and ingenuity in the film (despite, obviously, being a film depicting supernatural elements). Another issue that arises is the use of the "Chinese language." Throughout the film, the "Chinese" characters such as Dr. Fu and his daughter speak in a fake Chinese language that without a doubt is offensive to genuine dialects represented in the Chinese language. Using gibberish to portray a real language is disrespectful. A third issue that arises in the film is the role that black characters play. In one scene, Dr. Fu orders a black guard to hold out his arm to be bitten by a poisonous snake. Immediately after, the black guard dies. This scene clearly shows the expendable nature of the black body and was shocking and disturbing to watch.