A 1927 smuggler rescues a bound beauty in a House of a Thousand Delights — nobody's who they seem.
This story of the British Silent Service operating on the coast of China finds Tom Fellows, captain of an opium-smuggling ship, going into a notorious Chinese joint called "The House of a Thousand Delights," where he finds a beautiful girl, Mary Blake, bound and captive. He starts a brawl, rescues Mary in the mêlée that follows, and then loses her when she flees to a hotel. He follows her and finds she is mixed up in some mysterious activity. However, he knows more about her than she does him (because he isn't what he is supposed to be - and she isn't, either), he stays close by, even to the point of using a machine-gun to dispel a mob at a Chinese temple.
Practical Effects
Genuine 1920s Shanghai street sets and temple brawls.
Acting
Jack Holt's smoldering smuggler with a secret conscience.
Director
George B. Seitz
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
George B. Seitz directed 100+ films including early Tarzan serials; this is peak yellow peril exploitation cinema before the Hays Code cracked down.
Jack Holt plays dual roles as smuggler Tom Fellows AND his undercover identity Colonel Wellsley — a casting choice that probably saved budget and blew minds in 1927.
US
