Mr. Wong, Detective (1938)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

William Nigh

Writers:

Houston Branch (screenplay)
Hugh Wiley (characters)

Release Date:

5 October 1938 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama | Mystery

Tagline:

HIS HOBBY IS MURDER! Mr. Wong's main interest is solving murders - and he's an expert at it! Watch Collier's Magazine's famous Chinese sleuth trick a triple-killer into giving himself away...for the mystery thrill of you life! (original poster)

Plot:

When a chemical manufacturer is killed after asking detective James Wong to help him, Wong investigates this and two subsequent murders...

Plot Keywords:

Spy | Chemical | Poison Gas | International Spy | Detective

Cast

Boris Karloff	...	Mr. James Lee Wong
Grant Withers	...	Captain Sam Street
Maxine Jennings	...	Myra Ross, Dayton's Secretary
Evelyn Brent	...	Olga Petroff / Countess Dubois / Sophie Dome
George Lloyd	...	Detective Lt. Devlin
Lucien Prival	...	Anton Mohl, aka Baron Von Krantz
John St. Polis	...	Carl Roemer, Poison Gas Inventor
William Gould	...	Theodore Meisel, Dayton's Partner
Hooper Atchley	...	Christian Wilk, Dayton's Partner
John Hamilton	...	Simon Dayton, President Dayton Chemical Co.
Wilbur Mack	...	Russell, Dayton's Office Manager
Lee Tung Foo	...	Tchin, Wong's Servant (as Lee Tong Foo)
Lynton Brent	...	Detective Tommy
Grace Wood	...	Mrs. Carl Roemer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Frank Bruno	...	Lescardi, Mohl's Henchman (uncredited)
Ed Cassidy	...	Ambulance Doctor (uncredited)
Wheaton Chambers	...	Chemistry Lab Director (uncredited)
Clancy Cooper	...	Warehouse Man (uncredited)
Lester Dorr	...	Coroner (uncredited)
Herbert Evans	...	Mr. Wilk's Butler (uncredited)
Dick Reinhart	...	Dock Worker (uncredited)

Directed by
William Nigh

Writing credits
Houston Branch		(screenplay)
Hugh Wiley		(characters)

Produced by
William T. Lackey	....	associate producer (as William Lackey)

Original Music by
Edward J. Kay		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Harry Neumann		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Russell F. Schoengarth		(as Russell Schoengarth)

Makeup Department
Gordon Bau	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Charles J. Bigelow	....	production manager (as C.J. Bigelow)
Scott R. Dunlap	....	executive in charge of production

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
W.B. Eason	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Karl Zint	....	sound recording engineer

Music Department
Abe Meyer	....	musical director (uncredited)

Other crew
E.R. Hickson	....	technical director

Production Companies

• Monogram Pictures

Distributors

• Monogram Pictures (1938) (USA) (theatrical)
• Associated British Film Distributors (ABFD) (1938) (UK) (theatrical)
• Excellent Film Exchange (1938) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Motion Pictures for Television (MPTV) (1953) (USA) (TV) (16 mm television prints)
• Roan Group, The (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Marengo Films (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• SlingShot Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• K-tel Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Gotham Distribution (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (VHS)
• Reel Media International (2005) (worldwide) (TV)
• Critics' Choice Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Liberty Home Video (2005) (USA) (VHS)
• Network Enterprises (2005) (USA) (VHS)
• Passport Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media) (non-theatrical)
• Roan Group, The (2007) (USA) (VHS)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (2007) (USA) (VHS)
• Unknown Video (2007) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Screen Time Images  audio restoration
• Screen Time Images  film restoration

Runtime:

69 min | USA:70 min (copyright length)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #4690)

Company:

Monogram Pictures

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Mr. Wong's servant waits on him on what we are told is his day off.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Anton Mohl, aka Baron Von Krantz: You're going to get killed doing that, one of these days, Lescardi!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Mammoth (2006) (TV)

Plain-Looking But Interesting Mystery Feature With a Good Performance From Karloff

Although most of the production is pretty plain, the basic mystery story in "Mr. Wong, Detective" is rather interesting, and Boris Karloff's good performance as the detective also makes it worth seeing. Karloff brought a human touch to every role that he played, and even though this is an atypical part for him, he is a believable Mr. Wong. Most of the other characters are somewhat nondescript, except for Grant Withers's abrasive police officer, and aside from Karloff the cast is nothing special, but the story itself is enough to hold your interest.

In the story, the detective must patiently solve a mystery from the slightest of clues. Some of the developments strain credibility, but if you can accept the premise, it's an interesting idea and it makes decent use of the details. There are several places where it could have been written better or edited more effectively, but the pacing is pretty good, and as it proceeds, it often gives you what you need to know in order to try to anticipate what happens next.

The climactic sequence is one of the better ones that you'll see in this kind of B-movie. The production values are lower than a Karloff feature deserves, but with a solid story and Karloff in the lead, it's definitely worth seeing.