Plot
The beheading of Dr. Fu Manchu is witnessed in China by his nemesis, Nayland Smith. Back in London, however, it is increasingly apparent to Smith—now assistant commissioner in Scotland Yard— that the international criminal mastermind is still operating. Smith determines that a hypnotized actor took Dr. Fu Manchu's place. The villain kidnaps the esteemed Professor Muller, whose research holds the key to realizing an ancient Tibetan legend. A deadly poison created from the seeds of a rare Tibetan flower—the Blackhill poppy—is supposed to carry the secret of eternal life. A pint of this poison is powerful enough to kill every person and animal in London.
Nayland Smith correctly deduces that Professor Muller received his supply of Blackhill poppy seeds from illegal drug trade. When Fu Manchu cut off the drug trade, the poppy seeds could only be acquired from Hanuman, a warehouse owner who is secretly in cahoots with Fu Manchu.
Nayland Smith meets Hanuman in his warehouse to question him on the whereabouts of Professor Muller. Hanuman pulls a gun on Smith, who is able to knock him out and flee.
Smith deliberately ignores to Hanuman's secretary, whom he recognizes as Lin Tang, Fu Manchu's daughter and partner-in-crime. Lin Tang recognized Nayland Smith and told Hanuman to kill him.
Hanuman and Lin Tang go to a secret base under the River Thames. There, Lin Tang informs her father that his nemesis is interfering with their plans. Meanwhile, Professor Muller has refused to divulge how to extract the poisonous essence from the seeds. Fu Manchu has his henchmen kidnap the professor's daughter, Maria. After watching the execution-by-drowning of one of Fu Manchu's female servants, Professor Muller reveals that the Grand Lama gave key documents to Professor Gaskel during the Younghusband expedition and are currently locked in a vault in a guarded room of the Museum of Oriental Studies.
Disguised, Lin Tang infiltrates the museum and plants a listening device. Their henchmen enter through the sewers and are killed by Nayland Smith and his allies, who discover that Gaskel has emptied the vault. Lin Tan hears all. She and her father escape.
They emerge in Gaskel's study.. Fu Manchu hypnotizes Professor Gaskel. In Fu Manchu's underground lair, Professor Gaskel and Professor Muller translate the Younghusband papers on stabilising the poisonous essence at room temperature.
Fu Manchu learns that the Essex village of Fleetwick is under freezing temperatures: The seeds' poisonous properties will persist if used there. A radio broadcast to the entire country announces his return, and demands obedience. He kills everyone in Fleetwick, including the soldiers Nayland Smith sent there to protect it, by spraying the poison from a plane onto 3000 people.
Professor Gaskel, his usefulness now over, been hypnotized into committing suicide.
Nayland Smith and his associates determine the location of Fu Manchu's hideout. They plan to flood it by breaking in through the hidden entrance in Hanuman's warehouse. They confront Fu Manchu and his minions, and a brawl ensues. After the lights go out, Fu Manchu and his followers escape to a Tibetan monastery with Professor Muller while the River Thames hideout is flooded. Nayland Smith and his team escape the underground hideout via an exit that leads to a graveyard.
Nayland Smith and company go to Tibet and find Fu Manchu at a Tibetan monastery receiving Blackhill poppy seeds from the Grand Lama. Professor Muller informs them that Fu Manchu already has all the knowledge and poppy seeds he needs to bring the world to its knees. Nayland Smith reassures Professor Muller by revealing that he has a detonator hidden underneath the poppy seeds in one of Fu Manchu's boxes. Nayland Smith, Professor Muller, and their allies leave the monastery. A frustrated Fu Manchu ponders why Nayland Smith did not take the poppy seeds with him. A few seconds later, Smith's detonator goes off and the monastery grounds burst into an enormous ball of flame.
Nayland Smith is riding horseback with his allies and sees the explosion from afar. The film ends with a medium closeup of Fu Manchu fading in over the explosion, and his voice saying, "The world shall hear from me again... the world shall hear from me again".
Production
Producer Harry Alan Towers said he decided that "the time was ripe for Fu Manchu. It has all the ingredients of Sherlock Holmes plus a touch of the Kaiser's Yellow Peril. I bet more people have heard of Fu Manchu than Mao Tse-Tung. And anyway these days you couldn't have a better nationality for a villain." [1] He said his intention from the beginning was to make "four of (sic) five of these" [1] but denied the films were made to cash in on the James Bond craze:
No relationship. Action, adventure, open-air, escapism – yes – but nothing to do with Bond-ism – Fu Manchu's atmosphere is a kind of timeless Never Never land. Bond is gimmicky and with-it. [5]
Towers decided to make it a period film (it is set in 1912) because it "adds to the plausibility". [1] The film was shot on location in the Republic of Ireland, with Towers commenting:
It's a good country for location work; the British quota helps; on costs, there is not much difference between making a film here and in Britain – both sets of unions see to that. Ardmore? It seems to be doing alright with the present film – and Ireland will always be attractive as long as filmmakers and their artists are seeking refuge from super tax. [5]
The prison sequences were shot at Kilmainham Gaol. [6] Director Don Sharp said Harry Alan Towers had to pay off members of the IRA so they could film there. [7] Many of the other scenes were set at Kenure House in Rush, Dublin [8]
Don Sharp said he was recommended as director by the film's completion guarantor. Harry Alan Tower's previous films had been going over budget and schedule, and he had to use a new director; Sharp's name was put forward and the film began an association between Sharp and Tower. [7]
Sharp said "you never know what his [Fu Manchu's] motives are. I mean, he may want to rule the world, blow it up, corner the gold or seduce all the women. The script doesn't say. So we just keep everything moving fast so the audience doesn't have time to think 'but that's impossible' until they get outside." [1]
"There's not much sex in the books," said Towers, "but we've remedied that. We've got damsels in distress, a woman kidnapped, slave girls whipped. It's very kinky." [1]
Release
In order to promote the film in the U.S., "Fu Manchu for Mayor" posters were done up and distributed in New York City during the mayoral election. [10]
The New York Times did not like the film, saying:
The Face of Fu Manchu, back again after all these years, is about as frightening as Whistler's Mother. If this slow, plodding, simple-minded little color melodrama were not so excruciating, it might have been acceptable farce. Christopher Lee, as the old evil one, complete with waxy mustache, looks and sounds like an overgrown Etonite. Fu Manchu, fooey. [11]
Nonetheless, the film was successful enough to result in four sequels. "The first one should have been the last one", Lee wrote in 1983, "because it was the only really good one." [12]
