But now ... shushhhhhh ...

Cinegong. Lights are dimming, the crowd quietens down, expectantly. Let’s open the curtains for The Face of Fu Manchu. The world falls silent. Just at the very start the evildoer is executed “in the name of Imperial China” – even before we get a glimpse of the title sequence.  He was tried and condemned “of crimes almost without number”. It lighningstrikes. Thunder roars. Drums scrape. In a stoic way the delinquent lays down his head on the chopping block. The massive sword of justice whooshes down. Game over.

But as the title of the film is not The Face of The Late Fu Manchu we all know: This horrible Chinaman will return. Definitely. An indestructible doctor, indeed! No small wonder this film had four sequels! Now, all five motion pictures are published in a DVD box by KINOWELT HOME ENTERTAINMENT. Each of the discs contains both the international and the German version of the movie. It also comes with the trailers of all five films as bonus features – in English and German (with only one exception).

When in London the chauffeur of a biochemist is strangled with a red Tibetan prayer scarf, Nayland Smith of Scottland Yard is convinced at once: Fu Manchu lives. And he is up to no good. Together with his foily sidekick Dr. Petrie, presented here as a pathologist, Smith hunts his opponent with perseverance and persistance. But  the nasty one has many narrow escapes and leaves him permanently perplexed.

Fu the foe is after a powerfully potent poison. This toxin, extracted from the seed of the Black Hill Poppy means Universal Death. It is capable of coagulating human protein within seconds. That is why Fu Manchu is kidnapping Professor Merten complete with his daughter Maria. He shall and will brew the contact toxin. (Initially, the Professor is named Muller in the English version).

In fact, Fu Man Chu depopulates the small town of Fleetwick, killing thousands. He threatens to do the same to London if his orders are not followed immediately: “Anyone who disobeys will perish” (The German dub finds him more destinctly: “Und schon bald wird mir die ganze Welt gehorchen.”  – "It will not last for long and the whole World will obey me” – Oh, these Germans!) Dr Petrie is all psychologist, when he asks "But why? Is he crazy?"

Sounds creepy, but it's a big jamboree, actually. The Face Of Fu Manchu is pulp fiction made effectively into a film. It’s take out, blow out, wipe out. One punches, one stumbles, one chases.

The movie, produced in impressive-broad Techniscope, presents an entertaining picture of the roaring twenties. Not a picture of the historic 1920s, indeed, but one that was painted in all those trashy books and Saturday-afternoon serials.

Experienced director Don Sharp is a master in using available resources, giving the film the look of a much higher budget.

The sets – detailed and varied: The study of Nayland Smith is filled with finds from his travels in the Far East. The laboratories bubble and billow, swirl and steam. The gloomy vault where Dr. Fu resides conveys the feeling of the film crew having raided the interiors of the local Chinese restaurant, and reassembled it for this set. The props aren't genuine? So What! It's the appeal that counts.

The lighting is ominous and much is in shadows and twilight, partially seen and obscure. Generally, the film’s most sparkling moments are when things are simply reduced.

When a disloyal renegade is put into Fu Manchu’s Chamber of Torture, hermetically sealed, where she is drowned in the rising water of the River Thames one only sees her panic – there's not a sound. Here the viewer, through experiencing his own helplessness at witnessing this death, comprehends fully the exceptional cruelty of Fu Manchu. Even actress Karin Dor (the Professor's lovely daughter) watches the scene mesmerized  –  then begins to yell hysterically and in that very moment squawking away the sombre atmosphere.