Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Cristi_Ciopron 'Mr. Wong in Chinatown' is quiet but lively. Good movie, dramatic, atmospheric, suspenseful, a genuine mystery chiller, with one scene set in Chinatown (so don't expect much about colorful exotic shocker; yet the Chinese princess had charm and appeal), and the rest in offices, houses, etc.; it's also a screwball. Karloff plays Wong as a good-natured gentleman, and he sometimes resembles a bit Irons, Wong puts few questions, and sometimes needs help (he's rescued by the girl in this movie); Wong meets some really tough businessmen, who do not hesitate before the strongest measures, and his visit to the Chinese oldsters is nice, but Wong's two pals, the policeman and the newspaper girl, provide good roles. The screwball is funny. Wong, charming, soft-spoken, mild, reasonably streetwise, would of made an actor's career, but Karloff did so many interesting performances, that this one got less love. I missed such an old mystery movie, and this one did charm me. In these old movies, they disposed easily of secondary characters (like Carradine in a Moto outing, and the dwarf here), not to mention bit players and lesser parts. These movies were like episodes of the serials they made once, but on a bigger budget perhaps.

utgard14 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.

Robert J. Maxwell I get these Oriental gentlemen -- Mr. Wong, Charlie Chan, Mr. Moto -- mixed up because they all look alike. This one has Boris Karloff as James Lee Wong investigating the murder of a Chinese princess fresh off the ship from Hangkow. She's the sister of an important warlord and had intended to buy airplanes so that he could defend his province and wage battle against "the other powers." This is 1939. The war had not yet started for the United States but there was a good deal of rivalry for Pacific territories and a lot of enmity based on "the other power's" invasion of first Manchuria and then China itself in the early 30s. But of course, before Pearl Harbor, no one could use words like "Japan", "Chiang Kai-Sheck", or the Wellesly-educated and charming "Madam Chiang Kai-Sheck." The resemblance between the fictional and real elements of the story may be coincidental, but I doubt it. The Japanese equivalent of Charlie Chan -- Mr. Moto -- made his last film appearance in 1939. The Green Hornet's faithful valet, Kato, lost his Japanese ancestry in the same year, becoming first a Korean, then a Filipino.That's a bit of arcana, I know, but there isn't really much to say about the film itself. Boris Karloff has both his eyelids and his hair pasted back. He doesn't try a Chinese accent, nor is he called on to speak any Chinese, thank the merciful heavens. He's a perfect gentleman throughout. And his fulgurating intuition allows him to solve mysteries with only the slightest of clues. Having overheard one of the characters order a nice headstone for a dog's grave, Wong is able to conclude that a dwarf is actually buried there "because one does not order an expensive headstone for a savage dog." This guy makes Columbo seem dim-witted.There's a relationship between a sassy blond reporter and the police detective who is always insulting her, sometimes pushing her around, shoving an apple into her mouth, telling her to "get lost." It's supposed to be funny.Yes, it's another blockbuster from MONOGRAM STUDIOS. That means "no extras," so the story has a handful of the same characters walking or driving from one location to another. Some of the interiors use the same sets with the furniture rearranged.It's the kind of B feature that you'll either find very entertaining or dull throughout. I don't think there's any third possibility.

whpratt1 Princess Lin Hwa(Lotus Long) visits Mr. Wong (Boris Karloff) at his residence for assistance, however, she is killed by a poisoned arrow. Mr. Wong, with Capt. Street (Grant Withers), seeks the murderer. They are helped by Bobby Logan (Marjorie Reynolds), a reporter and Street's girfriend. They arrive at the princess's apartment to investigate and look for clues, at the same time they find her maid has been murdered. The only witness to the murder is a mute dwarf (Angelo Rosita) who mysteriously disappears. Karloff held this picture together and has made this film a true Mr. Wong series classic for all Karloff fans. It is difficult to critize this film, it was made with a very low budget and was considered a "B" film in 1939, which was usually shown with another picture, news and a cartoon. Boris Karloff was between filming of horror movies and this Mr. Wong series gave him a small income.(not like the large salaries of movie stars today. However, Karloff is very calm and unmoved in this film and nothing seems to bother Mr. Wong at all!!