Early talkie bears no resemblance to the book on which it is supposedly based. Wong is lovely, rest of cast wooden in tale of Fu Manchu's daughter carrying out her father's vengeance. Early Hayakawa is interesting. Several scenes, especially last ten minutes, still pack a punch, such as Hayakawa's sacrificing himself to warn others. Oland, as Fu, shows opposite of later casting as Charlie Chan.

This film continues the saga of Fu Manchu, whose wife and son were killed by a member of the Petrie family. After killing two of the four males in the family, he was not seen or heard of for 20 years and presumed dead. He returns, kills Sir John Petrie, but is shot before he could kill the last one. Anna May Wong plays exotic dancer Ling Moy who finds out Fu Manchu is her father and vows to kill the last member of the Petrie family. The film goes from there, as you see whether the revenge will be carried out. This film is a bit campy and very dramatic but it boasts the talents of two major Asian actors in the early years of cinema. Sessue Hayakawa plays officer Ah Kee, and you may remember him for his Oscar winning work in "The Bridge On The River Kwai" decades later. He was a star before this film also. Anna May Wong was an accomplished actress and later stage performer in China and Europe, even though she was born in the United States. An uncommonly beautiful lady, every film I've seen her in is worth watching. So is this one, its a good drama. It is actually not 79 minutes, the version I watched is 69 minutes. Its a good afternoon film, moving along at a good pace. The cable television station TCM recently did a tribute to Asian actors and featured Mr. Hayakawa and Ms. Wong. If they decide to repeat any of their films, they are all good. You can enjoy this one also.

Thanks to her splendid work in Thief of Bagdad, Piccadilly and Chu Chin Chow, Anna May Wong has deservedly claimed a high status among noir fans. I therefore had high expectations for Daughter of the Dragon in which Miss Wong plays the main role opposite Sessue Hayakawa (in his sound feature debut). The third of Paramount's Fu Manchu series (the others: Mysterious Dr Fu Manchu, Return of Dr Fu Manchu),this one was directed by Lloyd ("Let's put the camera over here and bolt it to the floor!") Corrigan. Well, Mr Corrigan is mainly a writer (fourth-rate) and actor (there he's pretty nifty),so we don't expect much in this direction – and we don't get much either. Everyone acts as if they were doing a turn at the Podunk Amateur Drama Club, except for the winsome Wong, heroic Hayakawa and a pleasingly engaging Bramwell Fletcher. E. Alyn Warren's Chinese villain rates as by far the worst slice of ham in 1931 talkies, but Harold Minjir's tedious boob of a secretary (who suddenly redeems himself in the final reel) is not far behind. Fortunately, the movie was obviously produced on a fair-sized budget and is often far more pleasing to look at than to listen to.