Parody Because audiences had seen these classic Westerns, they had expectations for any new Westerns, and when these expectations were inverted, the audience laughed. Perhaps the earliest parody film was the 1922 "Mud and Sand", a Stan Laurel film that made fun of Rudolph Valentino's film "Blood and Sand". Laurel specialized in parodies in the mid-1920s, writing and acting in a number of them. Some were send-ups of popular films, such as "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"—parodied in the comic "Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pryde" (1926). Others were spoofs of Broadway plays, such as "No, No, Nanette" (1925), parodied as "Yes,
The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu is a 1980 comedy film, primarily notable as the final film of Peter Sellers, David Tomlinson and John Le Mesurier. Pre-production began with Richard Quine as director. By the time the film entered production, Piers Haggard had replaced him. Peter Sellers handled the re-shoots himself. Based on characters created by Sax Rohmer, the film stars Sellers in the dual role of Fu Manchu, a stereotypical Chinese evil genius, and English country gentleman detective Nayland Smith. Released only two weeks after Sellers's death, the film was a