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The Fatal Hour More at IMDbPro »
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| Index | 22 reviews in total |
15 out of 17 people found the following review useful:
Class cast, class script and fun to watch, 14 June 2005
Author:
we2 from United States
Karloff tops a first class cast supported by the beautiful Marg Reynolds, who was at the beginning of her climb up the ladder after years of bit parts. (She was the fem lead in the best of all Abbott and Costello films, Time of Their Lives (A must see)). Grant Withers as the top cop works with the oriental Karloff character to solve a couple of murders. Others who shine are Frank Puglia as a shifty crime boss and Lita Chavret as the second fem banana. Script by Scott Darling and George Waggner holds well. This is a typical 1940's classic that is fun to watch. Directed by the very professional William Nigh who has more than 100 notches on his directorial gun. Made by Monogram studio. This is one of 50 films in the Horror Movie DVD pack that's well worth investigating. This film is well worth the time.
11 out of 14 people found the following review useful:
Mr. Wong is always right!, 13 April 2006
Author:
Coventry from the Draconian Swamp of Unholy Souls
Although not as legendary or eloquent as his contemporary British colleague Sherlock Holmes, Oriental detective Mr. Wong successfully solved quite a lot of difficult cases as well, with his splendid observation talents and marvelous deduction skills. "The Fatal Hour" is the fourth film in a series of six, all but one starring the unequaled master-actor Boris Karloff in the role James Lee Wong. Police Captain Bill Street always calls him upon for help whenever there's a complex murder case with connections to the oriental community of San Francisco. In "The Fatal Hour", Street's colleague and long time friend Dan O'Grady has been murdered during his investigation of an extended oriental jewelry smuggling network. The owner of the dubious Neptune bar near the harbor – where all the smuggling import and export takes place - is the obvious suspect, but there are a lot more people involved. This isn't a very sensational film in terms of violent bloodshed or wild car chases, but the plot is quite compelling and the dialogues are fluently written. There are a couple of ingenious red herrings and I liked the realistic aspect that Wong isn't a superhero who prevents further murders from happening and thus has to face several more dead bodies during his investigation. Even though pretty much performing on automatic pilot, Karloff is terrific and he receives good feedback from the supportive cast. Particularly Marjorie Reynolds is likable as the obtrusive yet helpful gossip reporter Bobby Logan. Recommended in case you have 70 minutes to spare.
6 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
"Things happen to people who know too much.", 3 July 2005
Author:
classicsoncall from United States
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
A trio of familiar faces reunites in this engaging Mr. Wong mystery -
Boris Karloff as the Chinese Detective, Grant Withers as San Francisco
Police Captain Bill Street (though he was "Sam" Street in the first two
Wong films), and Marjorie Reynolds as feisty Herald newspaper reporter
Bobbie Logan. Street "unofficially" seeks Wong's help in solving the
murder of friend and fellow detective Dan Grady, who was working on a
smuggling detail - "Smuggling and San Francisco mean the Orient".
Besides Grady, the bodies pile up rather quickly in this whodunit; by
the time the film is over there are a total of four corpses. The action
moves back and forth between Frank Belden Sr.'s jewelry shop, the
Neptune Club owned by a shady "Hardway" Harry Lockett (Frank Puglia),
and the apartment of Belden's financier John Forbes (Charles
Trowbridge). Thrown in for good measure are Belden's son Frank Jr.
(Craig Reynolds), who has a thing for mysterious vamp Tanya Serova
(Lita Chevret). Except for the young Frank Belden, who's acting is a
bit forced and over the top, the rest of the cast are all mixed up in
the smuggling scheme that Wong rather handily solves by piecing
together details involving radio control technology and a rigged
telephone call.
As we've seen before, Captain Street comes across as a brash blow-hard,
but he gets his comeuppance rather nicely at the hands of reporter
Logan at the end of the film. With both Wong and Street at the mercy of
Forbes' gun, Bobbie uses an ashtray to fake her own weapon and trick
the villain into submission, after which Mr. Wong dials up the Herald
with the news - "Oh yes, this is a scoop."
5 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Not as predictable as it may seem..., 23 March 2006
Author:
Vampenguin from Canada
Let me start by saying that I love these good ol' mystery flicks from
the 40's. They're usually nice a short, filled with decent acting and
predictable plot lines. While this did only run a mere 68 minutes, and
the actors were as good as usual, I must say I was rather surprised at
the outcome. Great twist in what I had pegged as a predictable film.
The characters were all great, though I can't quite buy Karloff as a
Chinaman. Grant Withers was great as the typical hard-boiled cop,
though I must say this particular cop was more flustered than most,
providing some fun comic relief. The trademark female reporter was
pretty good here as well, played by the beautiful Marjorie Reynolds. If
you're a fan of this kind of movie, I highly recommend it. Better than
most!
8/10
3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Formulaic Fun, 6 April 2010
Author:
timothymcclenaghan from United States
The Mr. Wong series borrows somewhat from the Torchy Blane series at
Warner Bros., i.e. feisty female reporter annoying the police
officer/boyfriend, but also key to solving the crime. A comment was
made elsewhere about that character here having a "Lois Lane" moment.
Torchy Blane was allegedly the inspiration for the Lois Lane character
of Superman comics.
A humorous, but probably unintentional, mistake shows up early in the
film when Boris Karloff's darkening makeup is forgotten on his neck,
giving him a two-tone head.
Although one can disparage Karloff for these films, keep in mind that
film actors then, as now, need and want work. There are plenty of other
well-experienced actors appearing in the Mr. Wong films, whom you can
see in better films at better studios in the 1930s, or even in later
films.
Although Karloff was making "B" films at Monogram and Columbia around
this time, at least he had an "up" blip in his career when he played a
major role in "Arsenic and Old Lace" on Broadway from 1941 to 1944.
This film is no worse than the formulaic TV series we have now, both
comedy and drama, TV now being today's equivalent of the "B" movies of
yesterday.
5 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Standard Wong Mystery, 9 April 2003
Author:
jcholguin (jcholguin@lycos.com) from los angeles
After a number of Mr. Wong detective movies, Boris Karloff's performance as a "Chinese copper" is a smooth transition in believing Karloff is Chinese. The battling twosome of Captain Street and Reporter Bobbie Logan returns as usual. Because of the number of mysteries solved by Mr. Wong, Street seeks out the detective in solving the murder of Street's friend and fellow cop, Dan O'Grady. A level head is needed in solving this mystery. Numerous clues appear and only Wong can see them. Of course, this will occur only if Wong can survive till the end of the movie. For once, the female reporter Logan saves the lives of both of the men. A good movie to watch if you like a mystery.
2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Routine Monogram murder-mystery., 17 February 2008
Author:
capkronos (capkronos00@hotmail.com) from Ohio, USA
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
What will you find in and around an oceanside watering hole called The
Neptune Club? A little jewel smuggling, a little multiple murder and a
whole lot of red herrings. San Francisco policeman Bill Street (Grant
Withers) teams up with Chinese super sleuth James Lee Wong (Boris
Karloff) to get to the bottom of things. This involves weeding through
an almost never-ending parade of suspects to find out which one is
going around murdering those who threaten to expose a back room crime
operation. And there may, or may not, be more to it than meets the eye.
And you may, or may not, even be interested in even viewing this creaky
old chestnut. The first ten/fifteen minutes don't exactly do an
adequate job of reeling the viewer in, but the film does pick up speed
and becomes more interesting (and entertaining) after awhile.
Though listed as a horror-mystery, this is more of a mystery with a
slightly higher body count than usual, a few shadowy horror movie-like
touches (particularly a hand brandishing a pistol emerging from a dark
corner of the bar) and, of course, the presence of horror legend
Karloff. It's entirely set bound; I don't recall a single scene taking
place outdoors, though there is frequent mention of a harbor, shipping
docks and a secret passageway we never get to see. It's also incredibly
talky, with very little on-screen action. There's no style, no visual
flourishes and the camera-work itself is strictly of the
point-and-shoot variety. However, the dialogue isn't too bad and
neither are the characters. The film also has a sense of humor; namely
Marjorie Reynolds as a plucky reporter who annoys the heck out of the
fuzz by showing up at every crime scene unannounced but still manages
to uncover many of the important clues.
Withers' aggressive, reactionary, often-screaming policeman is almost
perfectly balanced out by Karloff's smooth, observant and very patient
oriental detective. The supporting cast is mostly decent; particularly
Frank Puglia as the shady owner of the Neptune Club. Still, I wouldn't
go out of my way to see this unless you're a Karloff completist or
enjoy creaky lightweight rainy day murder mysteries. There are worse
ways to pass an hour or your time. This was either the fourth or fifth
entry in the Wong series; Karloff played the same character in MR.
WONG, DETECTIVE (1938), MR. WONG IN CHINATOWN (1939), THE MYSTERIOUS
MR. WONG (1939) and DOOMED TO DIE (1940).
5 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
KARLOFF SOLVES THE MYSTERY!, 9 December 2002
Author:
whpratt1 from United States
This was a Wong routine murder mystery, none too well produced, which has as its principal saving grace the suave BORIS KARLOFF...as a master detective. Basically an ordinary story, its failure to impress is largely due to the elemental plot and the inconsistencies which figure. Karloff still made this a classic film series for viewers of many generations.
2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
A Cop Killing Brings In Mr. Wong, 30 October 2008
Author:
bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York
The Fatal Hour finds the Chinese scholarly detective James Lee Wong as
played by Boris Karloff helping the police the murder of a colleague of
Captain Grant Withers. In all the Wong mysteries Withers has absolutely
no shame in requesting and getting help from his Oriental colleague.
Before the 68 minute running time of The Fatal Hour is over we've got
three more murders and being this is a Monogram Studios Production the
number of folks who could be the culprits falls drastically low. And
Marjorie Reynolds is still forever trying to use boyfriend Withers to
obtain yet another Lois Lane type scoop for her newspaper.
The deceased cop was on the smuggling task force of the San Francisco
PD and Wong's investigation takes him to a respected jewelry store in
the Bay City as well as the waterfront. By the time the film ends it
can only be one of three suspects and I think you'll have figured it
out before it's over.
It's a Monogram Picture so take it for what it is worth.
2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Mr. Wong and the Case of the Dead Policeman, 13 September 2005
Author:
BaronBl00d (baronbl00d@aol.com) from NC
An old, creaky Monogram mystery with Karloff as Mr. Wong, the celebrated Chinese detective. Grant Withers as policeman Street gets news his partner has been killed, and soon he and Wong begin to unravel the truth. Helping is spunky newswoman Marjorie Reynolds. This is not a great mystery by any means, but it is highly watchable as Karloff ably plays Wong - though not in a very Oriental fashion. Karloff of course is good and surprisingly so is the rest of the cast. Everyone seems adept at being mediocre, which for a film like this, directed by the very mediocre director William Nigh, works. The 68 minutes of running time just zip by and the ending, while very inventive and highly implausible, pays off as being clever.
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