The Face of Fu Manchu (1965)

Director: Don Sharp
Starring: Christopher Lee, Nigel Green, Joachim Fuchsberger

Synopsis:
The criminal mastermind Fu Manchu is executed and his reign of terror is brought to an end, but as a new crime wave sweeps across Europe, Nayland Smith suspects his old nemesis is behind it all even though he witnessed the execution with his own eyes.

Impressions:
I'm up for just about any film starring Christopher Lee and the prospect of him in yellow face was no deterrent. (It wasn't that terribly egregious, I don't think, but your mileage may vary.) Naturally, being Christopher Lee, he does quite well in the role of Fu Manchu, but I was quite surprised at how well Nigel Green was able to stand toe to toe with him as Nayland Smith and Joachim Fuchsberger as Carl Jansen proved to be an unexpected action deuteragonist. I also want to give props to Tsai Chin as Fu Machu's daughter Lin Tang, who makes a fine Daddy's little villain. (Honestly, the twist could've been that she was carrying on her father's legacy and I would've liked that too.)

The story is a fairly standard villain kidnaps scientist to make superweapon story and the production values aren't terribly high. This feels a lot like a Hammer film, but it's not. (Though if you like Hammer films, this should be right up your alley.) It's not a great film by any stretch, but if you like the old pulp serials, this does a good job of carrying on that spirit. I'd say it's worth seeing.

Rating:
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