ASIAN CRIMINAL MASTERMINDS HANDY REFERENCE GUIDE I added this page at the last minute to the 2015 Pocket Pal after I noticed how much cross-pollination there was between some of these serials. Of course the prototype for all the characters was Fu Manchu and all of these guys rode on his coattails but the way they propagated was interesting. One of the first clones seems to have been Mr. Wu Chung Foo from a feature film knockoff. His name was adapted for the main villain of THE NEW EXPLOITS OF ELAINE, Wu Fang, of whom hardly any photos exist. Wu Fang was highly influential, however, and the serial-prototype for Asian villains to follow. Warner Oland entered the picture with his first Asian villain characterization, Baron Huroki, a spy sent by Japan apparently to try and take over America singlehandedly, in PATRIA. He appears sometimes in a Kimono and sometimes in a business suit. The Wu Fang character and Oland then merged in the version of Wu Fang depicted in THE LIGHTNING RAIDER, who was basically Oland in the original Wu Fangs costume. A takeoff of this character was Wang Foo in THE TRAIL OF THE OCTOPUS, whose name simply switched vowels and consonants in first and last names. At this point the influence of The Master from THE MYSTERIES OF MYRA is felt as Wang Foo has gained his hypnotic powers. Wang Foo then begat Quang Goo, villain of THE HAWKS TRAIL. Shortly afterward another variation appeared with yet another rhyming name, Nang Fu in THE HOPE DIAMOND MYSTERY, who has seemingly absorbed the Masters hypnotic powers also. Fu Manchu himself actually didnt enter the serial picture at all until the British serial THE MYSTERY OF DR. FU MANCHU was made in 1923. Warner Oland starred as a Fu Manchu who looked a lot like Wang Fu from THE LIGHTNING RAIDER in a couple of features, THE MASK OF FU MANCHU featuring Boris Karloff was released by MGM in 1934 and a new Wu Fang appeared in the pulps in 1935 but fewer serials featuring Asian criminal masterminds then were made for a while until the World War II years which brought back Fu Manchu himself in DRUMS OF FU MANCHU. Then other usually Japanese wartime-stereotype villains started showing up, such as Sakima in THE MASKED MARVEL, played by Johnnie Arthur, Nino Pipitone as Haruchi in G-MEN VS. THE BLACK DRAGON, and Dr. Daka, head scenery-chewer in BATMAN. These guys were really descendants of Baron Huroki, who was years before his time.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 01:13:25 +0000
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