The plot follows two American financiers (Ricardo Cortez and Douglas Wood) who travel to China to foreclose on another American's oilfield (he also happens to live and work with Cortez's wife). But when they arrive, they discover the area overrun with bandits and are themselves taken hostage in a local mission by Gen. Fang and his brutal gang. Fang, however, is a man of high principles, and while keeping the Americans captive, he takes a great interest in resolving a romantic triangle that has developed.
Despite the unusual setting, the character of Gen. Fang was in many ways a typical one for Karloff; he had already played an Oriental villain in The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932) but this time, his character was more enigmatic. On the surface he appeared ruthless and cruel, but underneath, he was good-natured and noble. And on top of this compelling portrayal, Karloff found much subtle humor in the role, often underplaying - even deadpanning - to wonderful effect. At one point, for example, he tells Gordon Oliver, "I'm sorry, my friend. In one hour you die. But I not let you die alone. I come watch." Fang often refers to himself in the third person and reveals an enormous ego, but Karloff found a way to make it almost an endearing trait.
Physically, Karloff is at first glance unrecognizable in his Oriental makeup. The actor later remembered that the makeup for Fang was harder to apply than it was for Frankenstein's monster - though it was more comfortable.
Director John Farrow, husband of actress Maureen O'Sullivan and father of Mia Farrow, directed Karloff again the following year in The Invisible Menace (1938), and went on to direct such classic film noirs as The Big Clock (1948), Where Danger Lives (1950), and His Kind of Woman (1951).
Producer: Bryan Foy, Hal B. Wallis, Jack L. Warner
Director: John Farrow
Screenplay: Porter Emerson Browne (play), Crane Wilbur
Cinematography: L. William O'Connell
Film Editing: Frank DeWar
Art Direction: Max Parker
Music: Heinz Roemheld
Cast: Boris Karloff (General Wu Yen Fang), Beverly Roberts (Jane Creed), Ricardo Cortez (Gordon Creed), Gordon Oliver (Jim Hallet), Sheila Bromley (Lola Galt), Vladimir Sokoloff (General Chow Fu-Shan).
BW-65m.
by Jeremy Arnold
