La morte invisibile

With one more picture to go on his Warners contract (the result "British Intelligence"), and seemingly no end in sight for Hollywood's infamous, self imposed horror ban, Boris Karloff was quick to sign on the dotted line with Poverty Row studio Monogram to begin a six picture stint as an Oriental crime solver in 1938's "Mr. Wong, Detective," which began Aug. 24 for October release, mere weeks after completing the Warners drama "Devil's Island." The actor was well known for portraying ethnic villains during the silent days, first attempting a Chinese character in 1932's "The Miracle Man," then starring as Wu Yen Fang in Warners' 1937 "West of Shanghai," so in the wake of Warner Oland's Charlie Chan and Peter Lorre's Mr. Moto, becoming the third Asian sleuth of the decade held much appeal for him, a heroic character under heavy makeup and hairpiece but no accent. By sheer coincidence, he was already a veteran of not one but two previous Chan titles, his talkie debut in 1929's "Behind That Curtain," in which his role as a Sudanese servant was actually larger than Chan himself (E. L. Park reduced to a cameo in his only screen appearance), and 1936's far better known "Charlie Chan at the Opera," which advertised 'Warner Oland vs. Boris Karloff' despite the stars sharing only a single scene together. The character was created by Hugh Wiley as a more genteel and well spoken response to Earl Derr Biggers' creation, his respectful manner, love of tea, and (unlike the pidgin English adopted for "West of Shanghai") eloquent speech revealing an Oxford education, all make him perfectly suited for the British actor. San Francisco provides the setting for the series, Wong initially retained by chemical manufacturer Simon Dayton (John Hamilton), who fears for his life after several mysterious 'accidents,' including the deliberate impersonation of his chauffeur in a failed kidnapping attempt. Wong shows up for his 10AM appointment at Dayton's office only to discover him already dead, shortly after being threatened by Carl Roemer (John St. Polis) for stealing the latter's formula for poison gas, along with both partners, Christian Wilk (Hooper Atchley) and Theodore Meisle (William Gould). Tiny pieces of broken glass put the bloodhound on the scent, revealing that odorless, colorless poison gas was released from inside the sphere when its brittle shell shattered from high pitched sound, such as the screech of a parrot. Suspects Wilk and Meisle, equal partners to inherit Dayton's shares, soon suffer the same fate, even when Wong is present in the next room while Wilk perishes behind the door of his locked study. Not to be overlooked are a trio of foreign spies seeking to stop the shipment of chemical weapons overseas to hurt their respective countries, it was they who sought to kidnap Dayton without success. Grant Withers sports the first name Sam in these first two entries, girlfriend Myra (Maxine Jennings) conveniently working as Dayton's secretary, never seen again in the series (Lee Tong Foo as Wong's manservant would return on three occasions). The identity of the culprit isn't half so puzzling as to how it's carried off, good enough for Monogram to warrant a remake 10 years later for Roland Winters' second Charlie Chan vehicle, "Docks of New Orleans," more threadbare yet still diverting. The second Wong entry would only begin after Karloff's triumphant return to horror in Universal's "Son of Frankenstein."

Mr. Wong, Detective (1938)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A business man fears for his life so he pays a visit to Detective Wong (Boris Karloff). The next day the man is dead and a suspect is arrested but Wong isn't so sure they've got the right guy. Soon other murders are committed and it's up to Wong and Captain Street (Grant Withers) to try and solve them.

With the likes of Fu Manchu and Charlie Chan being so popular, Monogram decided to get in on the Asian characters and they ended up doing six Mr. Wong pictures, five with actor Boris Karloff. None of the films were all that great but there's no question that this first one was the best of the lot.

This one here benefits from a somewhat better than normal screenplay that offers up an interesting murder scheme and for the most part I thought it played out quite well and the ending was fun and believable. It also doesn't hurt that Karloff himself was so good in the role of Wong.

Yes, we can argue about a white actor playing an Asian character but this is how it was done back in the day, for better or worse. I thought Karloff was really good at playing the low-key and rather laid back character and even though he doesn't talk or move quickly, he's still very much entertaining. I also thought Withers was fun in the role of the typical Detective in these type of movies. You know, the tough guy whose toughness never gets anything done.

THe film certainly shows it's "B" quality production but there's no doubt that it's a mildly entertaining film.

In the great tradition of Chinese detectives as Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto, Boris Karloff's Mr. Wong was a solid addition to that venerable kind of films. Is really difficult to think in Karloff as a Chinese person, but the British actor delivers a solid performance, if you can dig his weird accent. The plot is simple, the strange murders are against logic, but Mr. Wong's patience and intelligence can solve the mystery. The other actors are far below Karloff, but the overall fell of the movie is candid and likable. Another completely different Mr. Wong was played before by Bela Lugosi, a villain, but this detective deserves your interest if you are a fan of the genre.

Although most of the production is pretty plain, the basic mystery story in "Mr. Wong, Detective" is rather interesting, and Boris Karloff's good performance as the detective also makes it worth seeing. Karloff brought a human touch to every role that he played, and even though this is an atypical part for him, he is a believable Mr. Wong. Most of the other characters are somewhat nondescript, except for Grant Withers's abrasive police officer, and aside from Karloff the cast is nothing special, but the story itself is enough to hold your interest.

In the story, the detective must patiently solve a mystery from the slightest of clues. Some of the developments strain credibility, but if you can accept the premise, it's an interesting idea and it makes decent use of the details. There are several places where it could have been written better or edited more effectively, but the pacing is pretty good, and as it proceeds, it often gives you what you need to know in order to try to anticipate what happens next.

The climactic sequence is one of the better ones that you'll see in this kind of B-movie. The production values are lower than a Karloff feature deserves, but with a solid story and Karloff in the lead, it's definitely worth seeing.

Mr. Wong comes to the aid of a man who says his life is in danger. He was right, as he dies the morning Mr. Wong was to visit him. Boris Karloff makes his first appearance as the Collier's Magazine Oriental detective(in the same vein of Charlie Chan or Mr. Moto). Karloff is quite good in the role, and brings to it a good deal of class. Unfortunately, the rest of the cast does not play on his level, but everyone is adequate. Grant Withers as a hard-headed policeman easily gives the worst performance. The mystery in the film is(at least for me) somewhat easy to figure out, but the fun comes from Karloff's performance as the cunning Chinaman. Oriental prejudices abound, but this was the 30's. All in all, I found the film to be quite entertaining, although not on the same level of a good Chan or Moto film.