Directed by:
William NighScreenplay:
Frances MarionCinematography:
John ArnoldCast:
Lon Chaney, Louise Dresser, Renée Adorée, Holmes Herbert, Ralph Forbes, Gertrude Olmstead, Claude King, Anna May Wong, Toshia MoriPlots(1)
Previously filmed in England in 1919, the barnstorming Harry Maurice Vernon-Harold Owen play Mr.Wu re-emerged as a Lon Chaney Sr. vehicle in 1927. Chaney essays a dual role, as the titular Wu and Wu's honorable grandfather. After a lengthy prologue, it is established that Wu is a powerful, ruthless Chinese aristocrat who will stop at nothing to defend his daughter Nang Ping's (Renee Adoree) honor. When Nang Ping is seduced and abandoned by wealthy Briton Basil Gregory (Ralph Forbes), Wu begins plotting a horrible revenge, beginning with the killing of his own daughter (who goes to her fate with stoic resignation). He then captures Gregory's mother (Louise Dresser) and sister (Gertrude Olmstead), then forces Basil to watch as he prepares to subject the two women to unspeakable tortures. Wu is ultimately killed by Basil's mother, bringing this bizarre exercise in chinoiserie to a grim conclusion. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Lon Chaney
USA
Best movies:
He Who Gets Slapped (1924)
West of Zanzibar (1928)
The Monster (1925)
Louise Dresser
USA
Best movies:
The Scarlet Empress (1934)
The Eagle (1925)
Mr. Wu (1927)
Renée Adorée
France
Best movies:
The Big Parade (1925)
The Show (1927)
Mr. Wu (1927)
Holmes Herbert
UK
Best movies:
The Invisible Man (1933)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
Captain Blood (1935)
Ralph Forbes
UK
Best movies:
If I Were King (1938)
Stage Door (1937)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)
Gertrude Olmstead
USA
Best movies:
The Monster (1925)
Mr. Wu (1927)
Claude King
UK
Best movies:
The Last of the Mohicans (1936)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
If I Were King (1938)
Anna May Wong
USA
Best movies:
The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
Outside the Law (1920)
Piccadilly (1929)
Toshia Mori
Japan
Best movies:
Mr. Wu (1927)
Tiger Shark (1932)
The Painted Veil (1934)