Anna May Wong delivers a good performance as a dancer who learns she is the daughter of the evil Fu Manchu and vows vengeance for his death and thereafter struggles mightily within herself when that revenge conflicts with love. Warner Oland appears once again as the fiendish doctor (his fourth time in the role, including in one sequence in <em>Paramount on Parade</em> (1930). Bramwell Fletcher is no more than adequate as the young target of Wong’s plotting and desire, and Frances Dade, as his fiancée, has little to do save be menaced. The real heroics fall to Sessue Hayakawa, as the determined detective Ah Kee, who brings a certain amount of nuance to his role.

  Recommended. Otto finds this one pleasing enough to relax.

Movie 10 for 2021.