The Mask Of Fu Manchu (1932)

Sir Denis Nayland Smith (Lewis Stone) of the British Secret
Service warns Egyptologist Sir Lionel Barton (Lawrence Grant)
that he must beat Fu Manchu in the race to find the tomb of
Genghis Khan. The power-mad Fu Manchu (Boris Karloff) intends to
use the sword and mask to proclaim himself the reincarnation of
the legendary conqueror and inflame the peoples of Asia and the
Middle East into a war to wipe out the "white race". Sir Lionel
is kidnapped soon afterward and taken to Fu Manchu. Fu Manchu
tries bribing his captive, even offering his own daughter, Fah Lo
See (Myrna Loy). When that fails, Barton suffers the "torture of
the bell" (lying underneath a gigantic, constantly ringing bell)
in an unsuccessful attempt to get him to reveal the location of
the tomb.


Barton's daughter Sheila (Karen Morley) insists on taking her
father's place on the expedition, as she knows where the tomb is.
She finds the tomb and its treasures with the help of her fiance
Terrence "Terry" Granville (Charles Starrett), Von Berg (Jean
Hersholt), and McLeod (David Torrence). Nayland Smith joins them
soon afterward.


McLeod is killed by one of Fu Manchu's men during a robbery
attempt, after McLeod kills one of Fu Manchu's men. When that
fails, an emissary offers to trade Barton for the priceless
artifacts. Despite Terry's misgivings, Sheila persuades him to
take the relics to Fu Manchu without Smith's knowledge. However,
when Fu Manchu tests the sword, he determines that it is a fake
(Nayland had switched them). Terry is whipped under the
supervision of Fah Lo See, who is attracted to him. Meanwhile, Fu
Manchu has Barton's corpse delivered to Sheila. When Nayland
tries to rescue Terry, he is taken captive as well.


Terry is injected with a serum that makes him temporarily
obedient to Fu Manchu and released. He tells Sheila and Von Berg
that Nayland Smith wants them to bring the sword and mask to him.
Sheila senses something is wrong, but Von Berg digs up the real
relics, and they follow Terry into a trap.


Captured by Fu Manchu, the party is sentenced to death or
enslavement, but not before Sheila manages to bring Terry back to
his senses. Sheila is to become a human sacrifice, Nayland Smith
is to be lowered into a crocodile pit, and Von Berg placed
between two sets of metal spikes inching toward each other. Terry
is prepared for another dose of the serum, which will make him a
permanent slave of the whims of Fu Manchu's daughter.


However, Nayland Smith manages to free himself, Terry, and Von
Berg. Using one of Fu Manchu's own weapons—a death ray that
shoots an electric current—the men incapacitate the arch-villain
as he raises the sword to execute Sheila.


When Fu Manchu drops the sword, Terry picks it up and hacks him
to death. While Terry frees Sheila and carries her away, Nayland
Smith and Von Berg incinerate Fu Manchu's followers using the
same weapon. Safely aboard a ship bound for England, Nayland
Smith tosses the sword over the side so that the world will be
safe from any future Fu Manchu.