The Mystery of Mr. Wong (1939)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

William Nigh

Writers:

Hugh Wiley (books)
Scott Darling (original screenplay)

Release Date:

8 March 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery

Tagline:

Mote tingling mystery thrills from the new Chinese detective sensation! (original poster)

Plot:

Detective tries to solve the murder of antiques collector who was in possession of a famous jewel known as "The Eye of the Moon."

Plot Keywords:

China | Mr Wong | Gem | Game | Sapphire

Cast

Boris Karloff	...	James Lee Wong
Grant Withers	...	Police Captain Sam Street
Dorothy Tree	...	Valerie Edwards
Craig Reynolds	...	Peter Harrison
Ivan Lebedeff	...	Michael Strogonoff
Holmes Herbert	...	Prof. Ed Janney
Morgan Wallace	...	Brandon Edwards
Lotus Long	...	Drina, the Maid
Chester Gan	...	Sing, the Butler
Hooper Atchley	...	Carslake
Bruce Wong	...	Asian Man
Jack Kennedy	...	Policeman
Joe Devlin	...	George, the Detective
Lee Tung Foo	...	Willie (as Lee Tong Foo)
Wilbur Mack	...	Ballistics Expert
Dick Morehead
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
I. Stanford Jolley	...	Charades Player (uncredited)

Directed by
William Nigh

Writing credits
Hugh Wiley		(books)
Scott Darling		(original screenplay)

Produced by
Scott R. Dunlap	....	executive producer
William T. Lackey	....	producer (as William Lackey)

Original Music by
Edward J. Kay		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Harry Neumann

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

Art Direction by
E.R. Hickson		(uncredited)

Production Management
Charles J. Bigelow	....	production manager (as Chas. J. Bigelow)

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

Sound Department
Karl Zint	....	sound recording engineer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Louis Brown	....	wardrobe

Music Department
Edward J. Kay	....	musical director (as Edward Kay)
Edward J. Kay	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Other crew
E.R. Hickson	....	technical manager

Production Companies

• Monogram Pictures

Distributors

• Monogram Pictures (1939) (USA) (theatrical)
• Associated British Film Distributors (ABFD) (1939) (UK) (theatrical)
• VCI Home Video (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (VHS)
• Hollywood's Best (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Hollywood's Best (2005) (USA) (VHS)
• Critics' Choice Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Liberty Home Video (2005) (USA) (VHS)
• Passport Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media) (non-theatrical)

Other Companies

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

Runtime:

68 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

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

Company:

Monogram Pictures

Quotes:

[first lines]
Sing, the Butler: Good morning, sir.
Brandon Edwards: Morning.
[the butler begins to take his coat]
Brandon Edwards: Never mind! The mistress up yet?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Mammoth (2006) (TV)

I'm Going to Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter

Enjoyable if less that competent mystery with Boris Karloff once again playing Hugh Wiley's Oriental detective Mr. Wong of San Francisco. Karloff breathes most of the life this film has which tells of a wealthy man and his less than devoted wife and his burgeoning collection of rare and valuable Oriental artifacts - most recently the rarest gem of all, the Eye of the Moon. A dinner party is thrown with Wong and another famous criminologist in attendance. Prior to party games, Mr. Wong is shown the rare gem and a letter he has written with the name of who he suspects of a possible future crime - his murder. The games begin and the wealthy man is shot and Mr. Wong, Mr. Janney(the other criminologist), and the policeman Street(played by Grant Withers)begin to sift through the evidence and see who is the killer(naturally the letter was taken by someone so the movie could go on). While it is true that some of the clues in finding the killer are NOT presented to us, I had no problem at all figuring out who the killer was. Just listen to the conversation between Mr. Wong and the victim carefully and it will resonate loud and clear for you. That being said, I did enjoy this film as the mystery is paced well, there are plenty of red herrings that MIGHT have shaken my preconceived notions, the acting is uniformly pretty good all around, and production values are high for a Monogram Studio release.