Phantom of Chinatown (1940)

Detective James Lee Wong is on the scene as archaeologist Dr. John Benton, recently returned from an expedition in China where a valuable ancient scroll was recovered, is murdered while giving a lecture on the expedition.

Director:

Phil Rosen

Writers:

George Waggner (screenplay), Ralph Gilbert Bettison (original story),

Stars:

Keye Luke, Grant Withers, Lotus Long

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Keye Luke	...	James Lee 'Jimmy' Wong
Grant Withers	...	Capt. Street
Lotus Long	...	Win Len
Charles Miller	...	Dr. John Benton / Cyrus Benton in Newspaper (as Charles Miller)
Huntley Gordon	...	Dr. Norman Wilkes
Virginia Carpenter	...	Louise Benton
John Dilson	...	Charlie Frasier (as John H. Dilson)
Paul McVey	...	Detective Grady
John Holland	...	Mason
Richard Terry	...	Toreno (as Dick Terry)
Robert Kellard	...	Tommy Dean
Willy Castello	...	Jonas (as William Castello)
Lee Tung Foo	...	Foo

Storyline

In the middle of a pictorial lecture on his recent expedition to the Mongolian Desert, Dr. John Benton the famous explorer, drinks from the water bottle on his lecture table, collapses and dies. His last words "Eternal Fire" are the only clue Chinese detective Jimmy Wong and Captain Street of the police department have to work on. Win Lee, Benton's secretary, reveals the doctor's dying words refer to a scroll which tells the location of rich oil deposits. Wong and Street then begin the search for the killer among Benton's associates.

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Plot Keywords:

expedition | lecture | detective | scroll | desert | 

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Taglines:

A thousand suspects... 20 fingerprints... a Chinese temple... Mr. Wong solves a murder!

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 November 1940 (USA)

Also Known As:

Het spook van Chinatown

Company Credits

Production Co:

Monogram Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

62 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The last of the six-film series, and the only one not to star Boris Karloff, replaced by Keye Luke. Monogram owed the distributors one more Wong feature, and had completed Karloff's six-picture contract with the horror film The Ape.

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Quotes

James Lee Wong: Greetings. Only the eyebrows of youth would have the temerity to call the beard of age at such an hour.

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Connections

Follows Mr. Wong in Chinatown (1939)

User Reviews

Luke vs. Karloff

Not a major film, but interesting for it's unique elements. Boris Karloff made some "Wong" films and was criticised for not affecting a Chinese accent. But here we have a real Chinese actor playing the Chinese detective role and he didn't go for the Chinese accent either. Neither does the Chinese leading lady. Maybe that's why they didn't make another "Wong" with this cast; audiences probably didn't want to be challenged by the notion of foreigners who could speak English as well as anyone else.

the George Washington bit was a surprise. I had to rewind just to see if I had actually heard what I thought I heard.