Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

gridoon2018 This second entry in the "Mr. Wong" series has a classic mystery setup: a game of charades at a party turns deadly when a gun supposedly loaded with blanks actually kills someone. Or is that really what happens? Luckily (or unluckily, for the murderer), the eminent detective Mr. Wong is among the guests, and is more than willing to help the police solve the murder. The sinister suspects, red herrings and other traditions of the genre are all present and accounted for, and while the direction may not be fanciful, it is efficient. Boris Karloff is very good as the calm, polite, observant, analytical Mr. Wong, helping you ignore the "wrong ethnicity" barrier. What is harder to ignore is that, in order to get to its admittedly unpredictable resolution, the script withholds vital information about the motive of the murderer; we never suspect him/her because we are given absolutely no reason to! Even with that reservation, I think most mystery buffs will find enough to enjoy in this film. **1/2 out of 4.

BaronBl00d Enjoyable if less that competent mystery with Boris Karloff once again playing Hugh Wiley's Oriental detective Mr. Wong of San Francisco. Karloff breathes most of the life this film has which tells of a wealthy man and his less than devoted wife and his burgeoning collection of rare and valuable Oriental artifacts - most recently the rarest gem of all, the Eye of the Moon. A dinner party is thrown with Wong and another famous criminologist in attendance. Prior to party games, Mr. Wong is shown the rare gem and a letter he has written with the name of who he suspects of a possible future crime - his murder. The games begin and the wealthy man is shot and Mr. Wong, Mr. Janney(the other criminologist), and the policeman Street(played by Grant Withers)begin to sift through the evidence and see who is the killer(naturally the letter was taken by someone so the movie could go on). While it is true that some of the clues in finding the killer are NOT presented to us, I had no problem at all figuring out who the killer was. Just listen to the conversation between Mr. Wong and the victim carefully and it will resonate loud and clear for you. That being said, I did enjoy this film as the mystery is paced well, there are plenty of red herrings that MIGHT have shaken my preconceived notions, the acting is uniformly pretty good all around, and production values are high for a Monogram Studio release.

tedg What's interesting about 30's mysteries is their variety. The business in partnership with viewers were working out the few modes that would survive. Today we are stuck with only a few of the possibilities; everything else feels wrong because of the expectations we bring to them.Its not important that this detective is yet another well known white actor in Chinese makeup. What's important is how complex is the mystery, how much we learn as viewers before the detective does (nothing), and how the solution is unrolled at the end.The notable thing here is how complex the plot is. It is every bit as complex as the Perry Mason things that would come only a little later. But it is ever so much more difficult for us because they've experimented with hiding critical details. If you watch this with modern sensibilities, you'll be baffled.The setup is a great one, folded of course: the murder happens during a game of charades where the actors are acting out a mystery, and the audience is guessing but has no clue.Sweet, that. But otherwise, watch this only if you are a student.Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

wdbasinger Although this is a typical "B" movie from the 1930s, it is way above the average suspense flick from that period. It has a lot of interesting elements such as the presence of a valuable gem sapphire called "The Daughter of the Moon", a gunshot out of nowhere, a creepy old house, and a gathering of sinister characters in which all would have motives to commit murder.Karloff may seem superficially miscast seeming to look just passably Chinese with the makeup used, but one must consider the premise that Mr. Wong is supposed to be raised in England and educated at Heidelberg, Germany and Oxford, England which would account for his heavy British accent.The film continues at a fine pace throughout the film with the various characters functioning as red herrings (love triangles, attempts to reclaim the gem, another murder, an attempt on Mr. Wong's life) until the true murderer is revealed at the end of the film (which I won't reveal here).Worthy to be mentioned along with the best of the "Charlie Chan" and "Mr. Wong" series from the same period.10/10.Dan Basinger