This film is part of Free
The West Case
Plotting world domination, Devil Doctor Fu-Manchu steals plans for a new aero-torpedo in this earliest surviving thrill-a-minute serial instalment.
Overview
A fiendishly complicated scheme involving dancing girls, hashish, a fishing line, and a trained marmoset results in mysterious master criminal Fu-Manchu snatching the plans for the West Aero-Torpedo. Stern Denis Nayland Smith and staunch Dr Petrie battle to get them back in this earliest surviving instalment of the thrill-a-minute serial The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu.
The first part of this lavishly-budgeted 15-part Stoll serial is lost in the mists of time, so we join the action with the second thrilling instalment. The drama is based closely on an incident in the first of Sax Rohmer’s bestselling Fu-Manchu novels, The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu (1913), but the hiding place of the stolen plans – bafflingly overlooked by Nayland Smith in his search – was the invention of the filmmakers.
Related
Stranger on the Shore: Dark Satanic Malls Stranger on the Shore: Dark Satanic Malls
Short documentary 2016 13 mins Location: Grays
The first in a cycle of films exploring Britain's coastal edgelands, this film looks specifically at the dockside desolation of the Thames Estuary in Essex, crossroads of global trade.
Ramsgate to Richmond Ramsgate to Richmond
Amateur film 1967 12 mins Silent Location: Ramsgate
Join the jolly crew aboard this cabin cruiser as it journeys from Ramsgate to Richmond in John Clague's fascinating maritime epic
Waverley at Whitstable Waverley at Whitstable
Amateur film 1982 21 mins Location: Whitstable
Come along for a unique journey on the Waverley - the last sea going paddle steamer in the world - and London is our destination
SS Oriana SS Oriana
Amateur film 1967 2 mins Silent Location: Tilbury
Join the greeting party on Tilbury dock to wave home relatives disembarking from a trans-Atlantic cruise
The Essex Coast The Essex Coast
Travelogue 1977 19 mins Location: Tilbury
Tilbury to Fingringhoe, Leigh-on-Sea, to Burnham-on-Crouch.
The Stefan Batory The Stefan Batory
Amateur film 1970 1 mins Silent Location: Tilbury
Wonderful, evocative scenes at Tilbury dock as family members wave goodbye to relatives aboard an ocean liner.
Paul Thomas Anderson and Leonardo DiCaprio in Conversation Paul Thomas Anderson and Leonardo DiCaprio in Conversation
Inside Film 2025 50 mins
Paul Thomas Anderson & Leonardo DiCaprio
Laura Mulvey in Conversation Laura Mulvey in Conversation
Inside Film 2025 76 mins
Laura Mulvey in conversation, following her BFI Fellowship Award.
George Clooney in Conversation George Clooney in Conversation
Inside Film 2025 74 mins
George Clooney visited BFI Southbank to look back on his life and career.
Chloé Zhao Screen Talk | BFI London Film Festival 2025 Chloé Zhao Screen Talk | BFI London Film Festival 2025
Inside Film 2025 65 mins
The Oscar®- winning director of Nomadland discusses her unique approach to filmmaking and the inspiration behind the adaptation of Hamnet.
Edgar Wright on The Running Man Edgar Wright on The Running Man
Inside Film 2025 28 mins
The director talks to Mark Kermode about putting Stephen King's dystopian life-or-death gameshow thriller through its paces.
Richard Linklater Screen Talk | BFI London Film Festival 2025 Richard Linklater Screen Talk | BFI London Film Festival 2025
Inside Film 2025 69 mins
Richard Linklater discusses his remarkable and wide-ranging body of work, including Blue Moon and Nouvelle Vague.