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Tales of Old Chinatown
Chinatown is as much an idea as a place. In the early 20th century British films imagined their own Chinatown, defined by mystery, fear and the exotic.
The most famous screen Chinatown is probably the Los Angeles setting of Roman Polanski's 1974 classic, but British filmmakers have long offered up their own Chinatown. This mythic place drew on early-20th Century moral panics, forged in 19th-century opium wars and the 1900 Boxer uprising. It had little connection to the real Chinese-British people who made their homes in London's East End, Birmingham, Liverpool or Aberdeen. This screen Chinatown was exoticised, romanticised and coloured by imagined associations with vice and intrigue. It took shape in Sax Rohmer's lurid tales of the fiendish Dr Fu-Manchu - incarnated in his own mid-1920s film serial, and in the near-identical character of Dr Sin Fang, played by the same white actor). Other films, like the sensationalist Cocaine (1922), situate Chinese characters in a shadowy world of vice and drugs. Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong was allowed more complex roles, even if her characters remained tragic outsiders, shut out of British society. In the end, these tales reveal less about Chinese people in Britain than about a largely uncomprehending British culture, transfixed by ideas of mystical oriental 'Otherness'. Even so, these little-known films add up to a fascinating record of a nation taking its first faltering steps towards multiculturalism.
The Woman from China The Woman from China
Crime 1931 76 mins Silent
A young woman is persuaded to help a Chinese businessman to kidnap a naval officer in this fun and outrageous British thriller.
Attack on a Mission Station Attack on a Mission Station
War 1900 1 mins Silent Location: Blackburn
Dramatised account of Chinese rebels' violent confrontation with Christian missionaries, made in the wake of the Boxer Rebellion.
Cosmopolitan London Cosmopolitan London
Interest film 1924 10 mins Location: Soho
An extraordinary tour of Soho's French cafés, Clerkenwell's Little Italy and the lesser-trodden streets of Limehouse in the 1920s.
A Bid for Fortune A Bid for Fortune
Drama 1917 84 mins Silent
Master criminal Dr Nikola seeks a Chinese curio that promises eternal life and world domination
Lieutenant Lilly and the Sploge of Opium Lieutenant Lilly and the Sploge of Opium
Comedy 1913 11 mins Silent Location: Walton-on-Thames
The intrepid Lt Lilly is called upon to quell a Chinese Boxer rebellion in a spoof adventure serial.
Lieutenant Rose and the Chinese Pirates Lieutenant Rose and the Chinese Pirates
Drama 1910 12 mins Silent Location: Croydon
Lieutenant Rose is kidnapped by Chinese pirates in this action-packed early adventure series.
Attack on a China Mission - Bluejackets to the Rescue Attack on a China Mission - Bluejackets to the Rescue
War 1900 1 mins Silent Location: Brighton
Fictional treatment of a contemporary atrocity story from the 1900 Boxer rebellion in China.
Beheading a Chinese Boxer Beheading a Chinese Boxer
War 1900 1 mins Silent
A grisly early fictional reconstruction inspired by atrocity stories from China's Boxer Rebellion.
The Silent House The Silent House
Crime 1929 82 mins Silent
Spooky house thriller directed by Walter Forde, replete with secret panels and snake-filled rooms.
The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu
Dr Sin Fang: The Adventure of the Torture Cage Dr Sin Fang: The Adventure of the Torture Cage
Action and Adventure 1928 30 mins Silent Location: Limehouse
An evil criminal doctor entraps and tortures a greedy trader in this only surviving episode of silent adventure serial Dr Sin Fang.
The West Case The West Case
Crime 1923 28 mins Silent Location: Tilbury
Plotting world domination, Devil Doctor Fu-Manchu steals plans for a new aero-torpedo in this earliest surviving thrill-a-minute serial instalment.
The Clue of the Pigtail The Clue of the Pigtail
Crime 1923 12 mins Silent
Intrepid sleuths Nayland Smith and Dr Petrie investigate the baffling murder of a disguised detective. Could devilish Dr Fu-Manchu be responsible?
The Call of Siva The Call of Siva
Crime 1923 27 mins Silent
In the dastardly clutches of evil Dr Fu-Manchu, Nayland Smith and Petrie are threatened with pythons, spiders and the ghastly ‘wire jacket’ torture
The Miracle The Miracle
Action and Adventure 1923 34 mins Silent
Elusive evil genius Fu-Manchu holds sinister sway over the forces of life and death, thanks to a strange drug of his own devising
The Fungi Cellars The Fungi Cellars
Crime 1923 27 mins Silent
In one of his most fiendish schemes yet, the dastardly Dr Fu-Manchu entombs his pursuers in an underground chamber full of deadly giant mould spores
The Knocking on the Door The Knocking on the Door
Action and Adventure 1923 36 mins Silent
Evil Dr Fu-Manchu visits London's historic waxworks, while a country cottage is plagued by odd knocking, awful groans and fiendish laughter...
The Cry of the Nighthawk The Cry of the Nighthawk
Crime 1923 29 mins Silent
A deadly cat with poisoned claws, meant for super sleuth Nayland Smith, is hurled from a tree. Could that master of evil Dr Fu-Manchu be responsible?
The Fiery Hand The Fiery Hand
Crime 1923 36 mins Silent
Things go bump in the night in this eerie episode of the Fu-Manchu series: will intrepid sleuths Nayland Smith and Petrie make it out alive?
The Man with the Limp The Man with the Limp
Crime 1923 33 mins Silent
When evil Dr Fu-Manchu is thought dead, his murderous secret Si-Fan society continues its awful work, using the dreaded Flower of Silence!
The Queen of Hearts The Queen of Hearts
Crime 1923 32 mins Silent
Kidnapped and forced to perform a delicate operation on the Devil Doctor, sleuth Petrie’s ultimate fate is decided on the turn of a playing card...
The Silver Buddha The Silver Buddha
Crime 1923 26 mins Silent
Our hero Dr Petrie is caught by evil Fu-Manchu and imprisoned near the British Museum, where he risks a daring escape, high above the London streets
The Sacred Order The Sacred Order
Crime 1923 27 mins Silent
When sleuth Nayland Smith steals evil Dr Fu-Manchu's 'Sacred Order', the Devil Doctor himself faces death at the hands of the Si-Fan organisation.
The Shrine of Seven Lamps The Shrine of Seven Lamps
Crime 1923 24 mins Silent
In this thrilling final episode, evil Fu-Manchu's pet marmoset leads sleuth Petrie to a secret Si-Fan ceremony. Is the Devil Doctor's game now up?
The Golden Pomegranate The Golden Pomegranate
Crime 1924 35 mins Silent
Detective Nayland Smith takes hold of evil Fu-Manchu's coveted Tulum Nur Chest, only to discover it's been booby-trapped..