Fu Finishes For Paramount

Daughter Of The Dragon (1931) Boasts a Once-In-Lifetime Ensemble

Lamented over disappearance of the Paramount Fu Manchu films nearly thirteen years ago. None surfaced to my notice until TCM lately ran Daughter Of The Dragon, final of the trilogy and released in 1931. Author rights (Sax Rohmer) have kept Fu on ice, though others with the character stayed on view (MGM's with Karloff, several w/ Christopher Lee). Rohmer must have had a stricter contract with Paramount. Daughter Of The Dragon slipped its leash and got on television because packagers didn't realize this also was a Fu Manchu story, and I guess no one since the late 50's cared enough to fix the error. This gets complicated and there's surely more to the mess than what I've cited. Point is we can see Daughter Of The Dragon again, the show elusive in syndication and 16mm prints nowhere found. One of latter was used for the transfer Universal licensed to TCM. Is this really the best they can do? Probably so at U's level of caring. Daughter Of The Dragon has a sock-full of exotics. Anna May Wong is the titular lead, Oland back as Fu but dispensed with in a first third after a death scene that takes up much of that. Sessue Hayakawa of silent stardom has his first talking role here (other than a 1929 Vitaphone short --- does that exist?). It's said he made millions per year at a peak, which was late teens-early 20's (millions --- really?).

The Wong-Oland-Hayakawa triad would confer interest even on footage of them standing still, so what matter if Daughter Of The Dragon plays in half-speed accord with most of 1931 Paramount? Good as the Classic Era was for assembling mighty casts, we have to acknowledge waste and trifling these were put to where volume was paramount at say, Paramount, leader among bulk makers, as sadly noted by staff producer David Selznick before he gave up and quit the shop. You can't altogether condemn studio perception of Daughter Of The Dragon as silliness and pulp, but imagine how a Rouben Mamoulian could have thickened into high art, Dragon a dry run at his Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Instead there is Lloyd Corrigan as director, evidence of outcome suggesting he got the script on Sunday with instruction to begin on Monday. That's an exaggeration I'm sure, but not by so much. Daughter Of The Dragonthen, is lost opportunity, but much is here to like, including brisk pace for a second half, Oland to enliven a first, and Wong-Hayakawa to enrich the whole. It is a rarity and curiosity we are fortunate to have back.