From Peril to Pity: The Transformations of Mr. Wu

Abstract

Mr Wu Li Chang is little known today, but between 1913 and 1930, he was as familiar to Anglo-American audiences as the now notorious Fu Manchu. Starting life as a highly successful West End play, Mr. Wu was novelised by Louise Jordan Miln in 1918, then made into a film twice. The first version was made by the British company Stoll Picture Productions in 1919 featuring Matheson Lang from the original play as Mr Wu and the second by MGM in 1927 with Lon Chaney in the starring role. This paper explores the various transformations that Mr. Wu has undergone and argues that what began as re-articulation of the ‘Yellow Peril’ discourse turns into a more sympathetic and sentimental rendering of the dangerous Oriental. This softening facilitates cross- cultural understanding but also neuters the threat of the Other at a moment when tumultuous events in China were a reminder of her dangerous volatility.