There is a definite anti-Asian sentiment in this sometimes unintentionally funny pre-code thriller that not only slams Chinese, but effeminate men as well. A slight attempt to give Warner Oland's character a justifiable motive (at least in his mind) for murder. He blames the Caucasian men who slaughtered his family during the Boxer Rebellion, and sets his American ward Jean Arthur up to destroy the families of his enemies. Of course, she has the gall to fall in love with one of them, a very young Neil Hamilton. Desperate causes require desperate measures, and Fu Manchu sets up a vile torture to keep Arthur in line.
Subtle at first, this turns out to be almost as offensive as the 1932 Boris Karloff cult classic. Oland would go on to play the heroic Charlie Chan in a series of B mysteries but here he is the epitome of pure evil. Melodrama!, he screeches in one particularly odd moment, just before sharing his evil goals with the doomed lovers. An effeminate butler adds on unfunny stereotypes as he claims he doesn't wear glasses because it would make him look effeminate, and later cries about not living to the next day to have marmalade one last time. Arthur, in one of her early talkies, comes off a far cry from her later skilled actress and is almost embarrassing to watch. Creaky to watch, offensive to listen to, and eye-rolling in every other element, yet such a curiosity of bad taste.
Subtle at first, this turns out to be almost as offensive as the 1932 Boris Karloff cult classic. Oland would go on to play the heroic Charlie Chan in a series of B mysteries but here he is the epitome of pure evil. Melodrama!, he screeches in one particularly odd moment, just before sharing his evil goals with the doomed lovers. An effeminate butler adds on unfunny stereotypes as he claims he doesn't wear glasses because it would make him look effeminate, and later cries about not living to the next day to have marmalade one last time. Arthur, in one of her early talkies, comes off a far cry from her later skilled actress and is almost embarrassing to watch. Creaky to watch, offensive to listen to, and eye-rolling in every other element, yet such a curiosity of bad taste.