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Mr. Wong in Chinatown

  • 1939
  • Approved
  • 1h 11m
IMDb RATING
5.8/10
1.1K
YOUR RATING
Mr. Wong in Chinatown (1939)
AdventureCrimeDramaMysteryThriller

A pretty Chinese woman, seeking help from San Francisco detective James Lee Wong, is killed by a poisoned dart in his front hall, having time only to scrawl "Captain J" on a sheet of paper. ... Read allA pretty Chinese woman, seeking help from San Francisco detective James Lee Wong, is killed by a poisoned dart in his front hall, having time only to scrawl "Captain J" on a sheet of paper. She proves to be Princess Lin Hwa.A pretty Chinese woman, seeking help from San Francisco detective James Lee Wong, is killed by a poisoned dart in his front hall, having time only to scrawl "Captain J" on a sheet of paper. She proves to be Princess Lin Hwa.

  • Director
    • William Nigh
  • Writers
    • Scott Darling
    • Hugh Wiley
  • Stars
    • Boris Karloff
    • Marjorie Reynolds
    • Grant Withers
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    5.8/10
    1.1K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • William Nigh
    • Writers
      • Scott Darling
      • Hugh Wiley
    • Stars
      • Boris Karloff
      • Marjorie Reynolds
      • Grant Withers
    • 26User reviews
    • 17Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 nomination total

    Photos30

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    Top Cast20

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    Boris Karloff
    Boris Karloff
    • James Lee Wong
    Marjorie Reynolds
    Marjorie Reynolds
    • Bobbie Logan
    Grant Withers
    Grant Withers
    • Inspector Bill Street
    Huntley Gordon
    Huntley Gordon
    • Mr. Davidson
    George Lynn
    George Lynn
    • Captain Guy Jackson
    • (as Peter George Lynn)
    William Royle
    William Royle
    • Captain Jaime
    James Flavin
    James Flavin
    • Sergeant Jerry
    Lotus Long
    Lotus Long
    • Princess Lin Hwa
    Lee Tong Foo
    Lee Tong Foo
    • Willie
    Bessie Loo
    • Lilly May
    Richard Loo
    Richard Loo
    • Tong Chief
    Ernie Stanton
    • Burton
    I. Stanford Jolley
    I. Stanford Jolley
    • Palisser Hotel Clerk
    • (uncredited)
    Jack Kennedy
    • Sgt. Brady
    • (uncredited)
    Donald Kerr
    • Taxi Driver
    • (uncredited)
    Wilbur Mack
    Wilbur Mack
    • The Coroner
    • (uncredited)
    Moy Ming
    Moy Ming
    • Aged Tong Member
    • (uncredited)
    Bruce Mitchell
    • Police Officer at Explosion
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • William Nigh
    • Writers
      • Scott Darling
      • Hugh Wiley
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews26

    5.81K
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    Featured reviews

    5jferguson3-1

    Too Much Street Fighting

    As a fan of 1930s-1940s movies with an "Oriental" protagonist, I have collected all of the Charlie Chan, Mr. Moto, and Mr. Wong movies. However, this movie would have been much better had the all-too-frequent, painfully annoying, and downright noisy cat-fights between Captain Bill Street and Reporter Bobbie Logan ended up on the editor's cutting-room floor.

    Another problem with this film is that Mr. Wong plays a much too passive role. All he seems to do is follow the lead of either the Captain or the Reporter. Bottom line: one quickly begins to wonder why Mr. Wong is in this movie, because he doesn't seem to be necessary to the plot.
    6CinemaSerf

    Mr. Wong in Chinatown

    When the Princess "Lin Hwa" (Lotus Long) is killed by a poisoned dart in the home of our eponymous San Francisco detective (Boris Karloff) she leaves him one, singly enigmatic, clue which he must utilise to thwart a gang involved with the Japanese occupation of China. Local plod "Capt. Street" (Grant Withers) bucks the trend of many similar style adventure films, and demonstrates some competence as the pair soon discover the foggy docks of their city harbour much more than just ships. There is never any doubt who will come a cropper in the end, but William Nigh gets a lot from his star, a limited script and an even more limited budget and presents us with a basic, but acceptable murder mystery with shades of political intrigue.
    5bkoganbing

    Murder On Arrival

    Poor Lotus Long the oriental actress who got murdered in two Mr. Wong vehicles. In Mr. Wong In Chinatown she no longer arrives at Boris Karloff's home when she's killed with a poison dart fired through the window of his study.

    Probably because the victim was Chinese, Mr. Wong would have gotten involved in any case, but won't these movie villains ever learn? Doing it that way was an open invitation.

    Lotus lives long enough to leave a written cryptic clue and Karloff and police captain Grant Withers go chasing leads. The victim was a Chinese princess in town allegedly to buy airplanes for her country during war time. The clue itself by the way turns out to be a bit of a red herring.

    Mr. Wong In Chinatown marks the first appearance of Marjorie Reynolds in this series as Withers's pesky reporter girl friend. Reynolds is in the snoop and scoop Lois Lane school of journalism. She actually does prove useful, more at times than Myrna Loy was to William Powell.

    But this is Monogram, not MGM so the production values are really on the cheap here. Still for that studio this isn't a bad film.
    5utgard14

    Slow going but watchable

    A Chinese princess coming to Mr. Wong for help is killed in his home by a poisoned dart. This movie introduces a clichéd nosy reporter character, Bobbie Logan, played by the beautiful Marjorie Reynolds. She would appear in the rest of the Wong films. I take it as a sign they knew the Wong series wasn't working quite right and felt it needed some more side characters. Perhaps they just wanted to rip off Torchy Blane. Who knows? Grant Withers returns as Captain Street. He doesn't bark as much as he usually does, except when Bobbie's around. She's his girlfriend and he wants her to stay out of trouble. Another Torchy Blane similarity. Curiously, 1939 was also the year Torchy Blane in Chinatown was released. This is a watchable movie, as all the Wongs are, but nothing special.
    7PCC0921

    Chinatown 1939

    James Lee Wong (Boris Karloff), the great Chinese detective, returns for another mystery in San Francisco. This time, his case is in Chinatown. Wong is asked, once again, to protect another person (this time a beautiful, Chinese Princess, named Lin Hwa, who is portrayed by Lotus Long, who was actually in the last Mr. Wong film, as a different character). As usual, before Wong can even meet with her in his own house, she is killed. The murderer's method of killing is with poison blow darts. Wong's buddy at the San Francisco Police Dept., Inspector Street (Grant Withers), is back too. In the first two films, Withers was referred to as, Police Captain Sam Street, but that has morphed into Captain Bill Street, for this film. There also is a strong female character, with Bobbie Logan (Marjorie Reynolds), the local news reporter, who gives Street all kinds of headaches. Reynolds was the best character in the film. Mr. Wong eventually enlists the aid, from the leaders of Chinatown, which sets up Mr. Wong in Chinatown (1939).

    As you know, Boris Karloff was a British actor, who was made universally famous doing classic horror films. He made the Frankenstein monster and the Mummy household names. He was, somewhat, following in the footsteps of Lon Chaney SR., who was part of the first generation of classic movie monster actors before Karloff. Plus, the original Chaney was famously known as "The Man of a Thousand Faces". Chaney also played Asian characters, a few times, in a couple of films. It was normal practice during the golden-age of film, for actors to play different ethnic characters. For both Lon Chaney and Karloff, that is what acting was, which was being someone completely different than you. They were only judged on their acting ability. Karloff ended-up being a legend, so pretending to be an Asian man, was handled as well as, any of his other great characters. Another interesting thing I noticed, was this time, Wong barely wears his glasses in this film. My guess is, producers might have felt, that moviegoing audiences, not totally familiar with the characters, were getting Mr. Wong confused with Peter Lorre's Mr. Moto series over at Fox Film Productions. To add to the confusion, the Charlie Chan movies were popular too, so you can understand the need for clarification. Asian detectives, solving crimes, was very popular during those early decades of cinema.

    Mr. Wong in Chinatown (1939), compared to the last two films, is less on detail and more on action. This film is slightly thin on the plot, but stronger on the action. Some audience participants might like the detailed stuff and less flash, while I enjoyed the balance of the two, with the extra energy. The production values do look like they've gone up a little bit. The producers must have been feeling good about the popularity of the character and added some extra cash for this film. They even blow up a car in this one. There even was some fisticuffs too. There are more outdoor scenes, multiple set-pieces and better filming locations. In the first two films, the stories stayed mostly inside a house or at Street's office. We even take a trip down to the San Francisco boat docks and shipyard, albeit, in part, shot on a soundstage. The filmmakers definitely tried to turn up the action and energy, for this third installment. Mr. Wong in Chinatown (1939), is no better or worse than the first two Mr. Wong films.

    PMTM Grade: 6.9 (C) = 7 IMDB.

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    Related interests

    Still frame
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    Crime
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    Drama
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    Mystery
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    Thriller

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The third of the 5-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
      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.
    • Quotes

      Lilly May: I know nothing!

      Inspector Bill Street: Nobody knows anything around here!

    • Connections
      Edited into Who Dunit Theater: Mr. Wong in Chinatown (2015)

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • August 1, 1939 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Brod smrti
    • Production company
      • Monogram Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 11m(71 min)
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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