''The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu'' is a 1930 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

film directed by Rowland V. Lee. It is the second of three films starring

Warner Oland Warner Oland (born Johan Verner Ölund; October 3, 1879 – August 6, 1938) was a Swedish-American actor. His career included time on Broadway and numerous film appearances. He is most remembered for playing several Chinese and Chinese-American ...

as the fiendish

Fu Manchu Dr. Fu Manchu () is a supervillain who was introduced in a series of novels by the English author Sax Rohmer beginning shortly before World War I and continuing for another forty years. The character featured in cinema, television, radio, com ...

, who returns from apparent death in the previous film, '' The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu'' (1929), to seek revenge on those he holds responsible for the death of his wife and child.

Cast

* O. P. Heggie as Inspector Nayland Smith *

Jean Arthur Jean Arthur (born Gladys Georgianna Greene; October 17, 1900 – June 19, 1991) was an American Broadway and film actress whose career began in silent films in the early 1920s and lasted until the early 1950s. Arthur had feature roles in three F ...

as Lia Eltham * Neil Hamilton as Dr. Jack Petrie * Evelyn Hall as Lady Agatha Bartley * William Austin as Sylvester Wadsworth * Margaret Fealy as Lady Helen Bartley * Shayle Gardner as Detective Harding *

Evelyn Selbie Evelyn Selbie (July 6, 1871 – December 7, 1950) was an American stage actress and performer in both silent and sound films. Biography Born in Louisville, Kentucky, as a young woman Selbie was a sidesaddle rider. She had a career which last ...

as Fai Lu *

Olaf Hytten Olaf Hytten (3 March 1888 – 11 March 1955) was a Scottish actor. He appeared in more than 280 films between 1921 and 1955. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and died in Los Angeles, California from a heart attack, while sitting in his car ...

as Deacon at Wedding (uncredited)

Production

Writing

It was loosely adapted from the 1916 novel of the same name by

Sax Rohmer Arthur Henry "Sarsfield" Ward (15 February 1883 – 1 June 1959), better known as Sax Rohmer, was an English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu."Rohmer, Sax" by Jack Adrian in Da ...

Critical reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' critic wrote, "melodramatic as the film is, it is not quite as exciting as its predecessor, '' The Mysterious Dr. Fu'', in which Warner Oland did better work. O.P. Heggie as the inspector, Neil Hamilton as Petrie and Jean Arthur in the rôle of Lia are acceptable".Film review
nytimes.com; accessed August 7, 2015.

References

External links

* * * 1930 films 1930 crime films 1930 mystery films American black-and-white films American mystery films Films based on British novels Films directed by Rowland V. Lee American detective films Paramount Pictures films American crime films Films with screenplays by Florence Ryerson Fu Manchu films 1930s American films {{mystery-film-stub