Daughter of the Dragon

A pretty dull revenge story, dressed up a little in Oriental(-ish) flavor. Wong makes a decent femme fatale who has to maneuver through a pretty boring love triangle. The first hour of setup is incredibly wooden; the final chase and climax is fair enough but nothing memorable. I liked Wong in Shanghai Express; if this were my introduction to her, I doubt I'd have been as captivated.

The last movie of the Warner Oland "Dr. Fu Manchu" trilogy, but Oland is only in it a short while to die before he pass on the leadership to his daughter Anna May Wong. So a Fu Manchu story with a feminine touch. There is not much Anna May can do with a script like this, but she has her moments when she finally turns evil with a real strong look in her eyes even if she's in a love triangle with Sessue Hayakawa & Bramwell Fletcher. A typical *B' movie at the time and no real depth.

Poor Anna May Wong. "For honorable father, must get honorable revenge." No wonder she started working in Europe instead

The pulpy kind of action you might hope to find in a Fu Manchu adaptation is pretty much absent for most of the film. There are some secret rooms, potential torture & an impressive-looking fall of a roof at the end, but it's alot of Will She/Won't She romance to get there. While it's also surprising to see a purely heroic Asian actor in 1931 & the almost interracial kiss is also briefly compelling, it's not good pulp. Oland's also miscast, not just bc he's white, but b/c he's chubby and short.