Mr. Wong in Chinatown (1939)

Director:

William Nigh

Writers:

Scott Darling (screenplay)
Hugh Wiley (characters: series in Collier's Magazine)

Release Date:

1 August 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery

Plot:

A pretty Chinese woman, seeking help from San Francisco detective James Lee Wong, is killed by a poisoned dart in his front hall...

Plot Keywords:

Dart | Princess | Mr Wong | Detective | Ship

Cast

Boris Karloff	...	Mr. James Lee Wong
Marjorie Reynolds	...	Roberta 'Bobbie' Logan
Grant Withers	...	Police Capt. Bill Street
Huntley Gordon	...	Mr. Davidson
George Lynn	...	Capt. Guy Jackson (as Peter George Lynn)
William Royle	...	Capt. Jaime
James Flavin	...	Police Sgt. Jerry
Lotus Long	...	Princess Lin Hwa
Lee Tung Foo	...	Willie (as Lee Tong Foo)
Bessie Loo	...	Lilly May
Richard Loo	...	Tong Chief
Ernie Stanton	...	Burton
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
I. Stanford Jolley	...	Palisser Hotel Clerk (uncredited)
Jack Kennedy	...	Sgt. Brady (uncredited)
Donald Kerr	...	Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Wilbur Mack	...	The Coroner (uncredited)
Moy Ming	...	Aged Tong Member (uncredited)
Bruce Mitchell	...	Police Officer at Explosion (uncredited)
Angelo Rossitto	...	Mute Dwarf (uncredited)
Guy Usher	...	Police Commissioner (uncredited)

Directed by
William Nigh

Writing credits
Scott Darling		(screenplay)
Hugh Wiley		(characters: series in Collier's Magazine)

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)

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

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 director

Production Companies

• Monogram Pictures

Distributors

• Monogram Pictures (1939) (USA) (theatrical)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Critics' Choice Video (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Liberty Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Passport Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Enterprises (200) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (VHS)
• Reel Media International (2005) (worldwide) (TV)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

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

Also Known As:

Runtime:

71 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #5515) | Sweden:15

Company:

Monogram Pictures

Trivia:

The third of the 6-film series, and the first to feature Marjorie Reynolds as Captain Street's reporter girlfriend. Later remade as a Charlie Chan feature, The Chinese Ring (1947).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Mr. Wong removes the dart from the neck of Princess Lin Hwa, it can be seen that there is a residue that covers approximately 1/3 of the tip of the dart. In the next scene, upon examining the same dart under a magnifying glass, no trace of the residue is seen.

Movie Connections:

Followed by Doomed to Die (1940)

A very low-energy B detective film

I've seen several Mr. Wong films and I can definitely understand why Monogram Studios decided to drop the series in favor of making Charlie Chan films. Unlike the Chan films, the Wong series is pretty dull--with unlikable or bland supporting characters and a very low energy level in the movies. It's like the characters are just walking through the lines and putting little into it--particularly Boris Karloff, who was capable of so much better work than this. His supporting characters don't help, as Grant Withers is a pretty dull police inspector and Marjorie Reynolds in her first of four appearances in the Wong series as the nosy reporter is a tad annoying.

The film begins with a Chinese princess coming to Wong's house. When his butler goes to get Wong, an unseen person kills the lady with a poisonous dart! It turns out that the princess was in America to buy planes for their war with the Japanese, though since the US was not yet at war with Japan, they were never mentioned by name. Why she was killed and unable to complete her mission is mildly interesting, but that's about all. My advice is try to see a different B-detective series, such as Sherlock Holmes, The Falcon or Charlie Chan--they are just a lot more interesting and fun to watch.