I Watch Films: The Face of Fu Manchu

I’m the guy who wrote a 31 part chapter-by-chapter review of a Fu Manchu novel, so this is very much my jam. So what do I think of 1965’s The Face of Fu Manchu?

Well for the start of a Fu Manchu series it starts in a bold way, by having Nayland Smith witness the execution of Dr Fu Manchu. He then returns to London where he investigates some strange occurrences, most notably the disappearance of a biochemist, Professor Muller.

As might be expected Muller was working on extracting a secret compound from a Tibetan poppy. Fu Manchu uses it to devastate the (fictional) Essex village of Fleetwick and threaten London. In an interesting idea taken from The Insidious Fu Manchu, Nayland Smith realises that all his plans take place from bases on the Thames and tracks him down. They force him out of England, track him back to Tibet and blow him up, killing him for sure this time.

The series continues in The Brides of Fu Manchu.

Watch This: For a cool old-school (set somewhere in the past when it was made) adventure.
Don’t Watch This: Although it’s significantly less racist than the books, don’t look to it for a clever and nuanced fictionalisation of the relationship between Britain and China.