This film is part of Free

The Man with the Limp

When evil Dr Fu-Manchu is thought dead, his murderous secret Si-Fan society continues its awful work, using the dreaded Flower of Silence!

Action and Adventure 1923 33 mins Silent

Overview

This action-packed episode features one of the Devil Doctor's most enjoyably silly schemes to do away with his nemesis Nayland Smith. When Smith goes missing, it's up to Dr Petrie to continue the hunt for the Si-Fan, Fu-Manchu's secret society. On the trail of a mysterious man with a limp, Petrie disguises himself as a rough bargee to investigate a smoky riverside drinking den, the Joy-Shop Club.

Behold the dreaded flower of silence – a poisoned flower fastened to a bedroom light fitting, lowered down from the ceiling on a length of electrical cable by a dacoit, on to the sleeping hero. Absurdly over-complicated machinations of this kind made Fu-Manchu a prime target for mickey-taking, as was still being demonstrated decades later in Peter Sellers' Goonish comedy spoof The Fiendish Plot of Fu-Manchu (1980).