Face of Fu Manchu

[palitoy]

I've never been big into Fu Manchu movies but when TCM played three of them last week, I DVR'd the lot. I figured Hammer plus Christopher Lee = Time Well Spent.

My first reaction (other than Lee is unconvincing as Chinese but the way he towers over the cast is menacing) was the way the story unfolded. You're not spoonfed the story, you're just along for the ride. The film doesn't explain Manchu, it just unfolds. I don't know if that's because the character was universally recognized but it was so refreshing.

I can't imagine a modern film series starting with zero backstory and letting the audience discover like this.

[Earth 2 Chris]

I thought about DVRing those, but TCM is lighting up so many Lee movies I haven't seen (many with Peter Cushing) that I had to bypass them. I would still like to see them somehow.

Chris

[palitoy]

I thought about DVRing those, but TCM is lighting up so many Lee movies I haven't seen (many with Peter Cushing) that I had to bypass them. I would still like to see them somehow.

Chris

I found myself doing a wholesale clearance on the DVR this week. I found an unwatched Hammer Mummy movie from 2014!

[PNGwynne]

The first few are a guilty pleasure for me. I think Lee actually is better in the later ones, he modifies his diction a bit so it's not just Dracula in mandarin garb. I quite like Douglas Wilmer as Smith and Crawford is a solid, serviceable Petrie. The Franco ones are terrible, I just pretend it's a trilogy. I need these on DVD!

I will say that Joseph Wiseman is a more effective Eurasian Dr. No than Lee is as a Chinese, IMO. I agree with you about the pacing and Fu here is quite callous.

[Earth 2 Chris]

I found myself doing a wholesale clearance on the DVR this week. I found an unwatched Hammer Mummy movie from 2014!

I've done that. I found Hammer's The Gorgon buried under a pile of the kids shows on the DVR several years ago. It's a great feeling!

I've been cleaning mine out too, trying to make room for all of these great old horror flicks on TCM!

Chris