THE MYSTERIOUS DR. FU MANCHU (1929). Sepiatone.

THE MYSTERIOUS DR. FU MANCHU is a 1929 American pre-Code drama film directed by Rowland V. Lee and starring Warner Oland as Dr. Fu Manchu. It was the first Fu Manchu film of the talkie era. Since this was during the transition period to sound, a silent version was also released in the United States, although only the sound version exists today. The film's copyright was renewed.

PLOT:
A young white girl, Lia Eltham, is left in Fu Manchu's care. A British regiment, chasing Boxer rebels, fires on Fu Manchu's home, killing his wife and child. When Lia Eltham grows up, he uses her as an instrument for revenge, killing all descendants of those who killed his family. Opposing Fu Manchu are Police Inspector Nayland Smith and Dr. Jack Petrie.

CAST:
Warner Oland as Dr. Fu Manchu
Neil Hamilton as Dr. Jack Petrie
Jean Arthur as Lia Eltham
O. P. Heggie as Inspector Nayland Smith
William Austin as Sylvester Wadsworth
Claude King as Sir John Petrie
Charles A. Stevenson as General Petrie
Evelyn Selbie as Fai Lu
Noble Johnson as Li Po
Laska Winter as Fu Mela
Wong Chung as Chinese Official (uncredited)
Lawford Davidson as Clarkson (uncredited)
Chappell Dossett as Reverend Mr. Eltham (uncredited)
Charles Giblyn as Weymouth (uncredited)
Donald MacKenzie as Trent (uncredited)
Tully Marshall as Chinese Ambassador (uncredited)
Evelyn Mills as Little Girl (uncredited)
William J. O'Brien as Servant (uncredited)
Charles Stevens as Singh (uncredited)
USC Trojan Marching Band as Marching Band (uncredited)
PRODUCTION:
The film was very loosely based on the 1913 novel The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer. The lead character of the novel, Sir Nayland Smith, is played down in this film, and the secondary hero, Dr. Petrie, becomes the main character. Warner Oland, an actor of Swedish descent, was so believable in the role of Fu Manchu that he embarked on a career of playing Asian types throughout the 1930s, portraying the famous Asian detective Charlie Chan, until his death in 1938.