Rent The Face of Fu Manchu (1965)
3.0 of 5 from 72 ratings
1h 32min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Grisly strangulations in London alert Nayland Smith (Nigel Green) of Scotland Yard to the possibility that fiendish Fu Manchu (Christopher Lee) may not after all be dead, even though Smith witnessed his execution. A killer spray made from Tibetan berries seems to be involved and clues keep leading back to the Thames.
- Actors:
- Christopher Lee, Nigel Green, Joachim Fuchsberger, Karin Dor, James Robertson Justice, Howard Marion-Crawford, Tsai Chin, Walter Rilla, Harry Brogan, Francesca Tu, Archie O'Sullivan, Edwin Richfield, Joe Lynch, Peter Mosbacher, Ric Young, Deborah DeLacey, Jim Norton, Jack O'Reilly, Peter Mayock, Aiden Grennell
- Directors:
- Don Sharp
- Producers:
- Harry Alan Towers
- Writers:
- Harry Alan Towers, Sax Rohmer
- Aka:
- The Mask of Fu Manchu
- Studio:
- Momentum Pictures
- Genres:
- Action & Adventure, Classics, Drama, Thrillers
- Collections:
- Action & Adventure, Cinema Paradiso's 2024 Centenary Club: Part 3, Films & TV by topic, Memory Lane: Films Set in 1920s, A Brief History of Film..., The Instant Expert's Guide, The Instant Expert's Guide to: Éric Rohmer, Top Film and TV Detectives: Guide to Screen Sleuth
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 02/11/2020
- Run Time:
- 96 minutes
- Languages:
- English LPCM Mono
- Subtitles:
- English Hard of Hearing
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 2.35:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- The Face of Fu Manchu audio commentary with Stephen Jones and Kim Newman
- The BEHP Interviews: archival audio recordings of directors Don Sharp and Jeremy Summers, and cinematographer Ernest Steward
- Location interview with Christopher Lee (1965)
- The Guardian Interview with Christopher Lee (1994): wide-ranging onstage interview with the legendary actor
- Introductions to film by BFI curator Vic Pratt
- In-depth discussions of the Fu Manchu novels and films by Christopher Frayling, Kim Newman, Jonathan Rigby, and Stephen Thrower
- Interviews with crew members Ray Andrew and Anthony Waye
- Archival Interview with Harry Alan Towers (2008)
- Two episodes from the silent, 1920s Stoll Pictures Dr. Fu-Manchu serials, with optional new scores by the band Peninsula
- The Ghost of Monk's Island (1966): Jeremy Summers' Children's Film Foundation mystery Alternative title sequences and feature presentation options
- Super 8 versions of 'The Face of Fu Manchu'
- Theatrical Trailer
- Image galleries: publicity and promotional I materials
- UK and World premiere on Blu-ray
More like The Face of Fu Manchu
Reviews (1) of The Face of Fu Manchu
Racist Peril. - The Face of Fu Manchu review by Steve
This is easily the best of producer Harry Alan Towers' '60s reboot of Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu series. Christopher Lee is a perfect fit as the imperious, degenerate supervillain, almost matched by Nigel Green in a rare starring role as the crime fighting Sinologist, Nayland Smith. Essentially, it's a Holmes-Moriarty story.
There are echos of the James Bond franchise too, though arguably as Dr. Fu Manchu turned to crime in 1911, the influence may be the other way. The evil Chinese terrorist intends to kill everyone on Earth with poisonous opium, for reasons which are never made clear. It's just a hook for some hokey dialogue and sadistic mayhem.
The face of Fu Manchu is actually immobile, given Lee's heavy yellowface makeup... There's a decent budget and some nice locations, with Dublin standing in for London. And China! The relentlessly overcast weather looms gloomily over the action. The period reconstruction is fair. This was a co-production so there's an odd supporting cast of German actors.
The narrative stirs up the usual formula of an exotic adventure driven by a cruel megalomaniac. Which is amusing, without being exciting. But Fu Manchu adds some cultural resonance. This sort of story was realised better in precode Hollywood. They did arcane melodrama better back then, and it's easier to buy into the foolishness.
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.