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."
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."