King of Chinatown (1939)

Violene and death stalk the Chinese of a big American city, but one man, Dr. Chang Ling, and his daughter, Dr. Mary Ling, defy the racketeers who are responsible, and, against terrific odds, bring peace to their oppressed neighbors.

Director:

Nick Grinde

Writers:

Herbert J. Biberman (story), Lillie Hayward (screenplay),

Stars:

Anna May Wong, Akim Tamiroff, J. Carrol Naish

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anna May Wong	...	Dr. Mary Ling
Akim Tamiroff	...	Frank Baturin
J. Carrol Naish	...	Professor
Sidney Toler	...	Dr. Chang Ling
Philip Ahn	...	Robert 'Bob' Li
Anthony Quinn	...	Mike Gordon
Bernadene Hayes	...	Dolly Warren
Roscoe Karns	...	'Rip' Harrigan
Ray Mayer	...	'Potatoes', Chauffeur
Richard Denning	...	Protective Association Henchman
Archie Twitchell	...	Hospital Interne
Eddie Marr	...	Henchman Bert
George Anderson	...	Detective
Charles B. Wood	...	Henchman Red
George Magrill	...	Second Gangster

Storyline

Violence and death stalk the Chinese faction of a large American city, but one man, Dr. Chang Ling, and his daughter, Dr. Mary Ling, defy the racketeers who are responsible and, against terrific odds, bring peace to their oppressed neighbors. Gangland overlord Frank Baturin is shot and only the intervention and operation by Mary Ling saves his life. She performs the operation because it is her duty as a doctor, but she also thinks Baturin was shot by her father following a quarrel with Baturin. The racketeer then sets out for vengeance against the man who had actually tried to kill him in order to take over the Chinatown rackets.

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Plot Keywords:

racketeer | chinese | operation | death | chinatown | 

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Sport

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 March 1939 (USA)

Also Known As:

O Rei do Bairro Chinês

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

57 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

User Reviews

compact, interesting and progressive Anna May Wong vehicle

This is another of Paramount's Anna May Wong vehicles of B length with much of the same cast we see in her other efforts of that time. It will be of definite interest to her fans. On this occasion, the portrayal of a professional Chinese-American woman of principle and good heart is well handled. In fact, some recent films could play close attention to some of the details here in that regard and learn from them.

Chinese culture and most other issues are also handled in a progressive fashion and not overdone. The cast and the director knows their craft and delivers. All that is satisfying given this is a 30s B movie without the time or resources to develop a lot of deep characters and sub-plots.