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The Mr. Wong series borrows somewhat from the Torchy Blane series at Warner Bros., i.e. feisty female reporter annoying the police officer/boyfriend, but also key to solving the crime. A comment was made elsewhere about that character here having a "Lois Lane" moment. Torchy Blane was allegedly the inspiration for the Lois Lane character of Superman comics.

A humorous, but probably unintentional, mistake shows up early in the film when Boris Karloff's darkening makeup is forgotten on his neck, giving him a two-tone head.

Although one can disparage Karloff for these films, keep in mind that film actors then, as now, need and want work. There are plenty of other well-experienced actors appearing in the Mr. Wong films, whom you can see in better films at better studios in the 1930s, or even in later films.

Although Karloff was making "B" films at Monogram and Columbia around this time, at least he had an "up" blip in his career when he played a major role in "Arsenic and Old Lace" on Broadway from 1941 to 1944.

This film is no worse than the formulaic TV series we have now, both comedy and drama, TV now being today's equivalent of the "B" movies of yesterday.

Although not as legendary or eloquent as his contemporary British colleague Sherlock Holmes, Oriental detective Mr. Wong successfully solved quite a lot of difficult cases as well, with his splendid observation talents and marvelous deduction skills. "The Fatal Hour" is the fourth film in a series of six, all but one starring the unequaled master-actor Boris Karloff in the role James Lee Wong. Police Captain Bill Street always calls him upon for help whenever there's a complex murder case with connections to the oriental community of San Francisco. In "The Fatal Hour", Street's colleague and long time friend Dan O'Grady has been murdered during his investigation of an extended oriental jewelry smuggling network. The owner of the dubious Neptune bar near the harbor – where all the smuggling import and export takes place - is the obvious suspect, but there are a lot more people involved. This isn't a very sensational film in terms of violent bloodshed or wild car chases, but the plot is quite compelling and the dialogues are fluently written. There are a couple of ingenious red herrings and I liked the realistic aspect that Wong isn't a superhero who prevents further murders from happening and thus has to face several more dead bodies during his investigation. Even though pretty much performing on automatic pilot, Karloff is terrific and he receives good feedback from the supportive cast. Particularly Marjorie Reynolds is likable as the obtrusive yet helpful gossip reporter Bobby Logan. Recommended in case you have 70 minutes to spare.

Neither of the six films in the Mr Wong series are great but they are entertaining enough. The Fatal Hour does drag a fair bit, the photography could have done with a little more finesse and while he is much better than he is in Mr Wong in Chinatown Grant Withers overacts, shouting his lines too much. I didn't find it a bad film at all and found it an improvement over Mr Wong in Chinatown. The sets and lighting are effective enough, the music is jaunty and eerie and the dialogue has good doses of humour and thoughtfulness. The story is not as predictable as it sounds, the murders are not particularly creative but the plotting is diverting, fills the short running time very well and the twists and red herrings add to the intrigue and fun(personally I didn't find it that convoluted) though would have been more effective with a brisker pace. The Fatal Hours also is one of the better acted films in the series. Boris Karloff regardless of reservations of authenticity is very magnetic and gives a dignified and thoughtful performance. Marjorie Reynolds is very sassy with the humour coming naturally to her, she and Withers do have some good chemistry. The supporting cast is one of the stronger and more consistent ones of the series, Robert Puglia is the standout as the film's most interesting character and Craig Reynolds also injects life and humour to things. In conclusion, not great but better than expected. 7/10 Bethany Cox

After a number of Mr. Wong detective movies, Boris Karloff's performance as a "Chinese copper" is a smooth transition in believing Karloff is Chinese. The battling twosome of Captain Street and Reporter Bobbie Logan returns as usual. Because of the number of mysteries solved by Mr. Wong, Street seeks out the detective in solving the murder of Street's friend and fellow cop, Dan O'Grady. A level head is needed in solving this mystery. Numerous clues appear and only Wong can see them. Of course, this will occur only if Wong can survive till the end of the movie. For once, the female reporter Logan saves the lives of both of the men. A good movie to watch if you like a mystery.

This was a pretty fun Mr. Wong detective story. It has a few comical moments in it and the story was good. Mr. Wong is after a smuggling ring & unmasks a murderer.

The Mr. Wong series is quite fun. If you like any of the Sherlock Holmes movies then it's possible you will like the Mr. Wong series starring Boris Karloff.

What is interesting in this particular film, it features a wireless remote controlled radio. This radio was reality - it was not made up for the film. There is an article about the radio on CNet called "Back to the future: 1939 wireless remote control!" The article's subtitle reads: "Philco's Mystery Control (1939) was a battery-operated radio transmitter, so it didn't have to be in the same room as the radio it was controlling." Also, you can read more about this cool invention on Philco's website. That is a neat trivia fact I just learned about today.

Yes this film is worth watching if you are a fan of detective stories or Boris Karloff.

6/10

An old, creaky Monogram mystery with Karloff as Mr. Wong, the celebrated Chinese detective. Grant Withers as policeman Street gets news his partner has been killed, and soon he and Wong begin to unravel the truth. Helping is spunky newswoman Marjorie Reynolds. This is not a great mystery by any means, but it is highly watchable as Karloff ably plays Wong - though not in a very Oriental fashion. Karloff of course is good and surprisingly so is the rest of the cast. Everyone seems adept at being mediocre, which for a film like this, directed by the very mediocre director William Nigh, works. The 68 minutes of running time just zip by and the ending, while very inventive and highly implausible, pays off as being clever.

This was a Wong routine murder mystery, none too well produced, which has as its principal saving grace the suave BORIS KARLOFF...as a master detective. Basically an ordinary story, its failure to impress is largely due to the elemental plot and the inconsistencies which figure. Karloff still made this a classic film series for viewers of many generations.

This is a surprisingly mediocre Mr. Wong film. It has two titles: MR. WONG AT HEADQUARTERS, and THE FATAL HOUR. Marjorie Reynolds reappears as the girl newspaper reporter who makes a cute nuisance of herself but ends up saving people from being killed. Grant Withers as the Detective Inspector continues to be highly annoying because of his shouting and bad acting, though in the early part of the film he does have some quiet moments because his best friend has been killed and he is upset. We do not see anything of Mr. Wong's house and butler in this film. Perhaps that is why one of the film's titles says he is 'at headquarters' (of the police). Had the house interior set been dismantled? Were they trying to save money? This film is a rather boring run of the mill murder mystery. The villains this time are engaged in smuggling priceless Ming Dynasty jade pieces to America from 'recently captured territories' (by the Japanese) in China. And they don't mind killing people along the way.

Karloff tops a first class cast supported by the beautiful Marg Reynolds, who was at the beginning of her climb up the ladder after years of bit parts. (She was the fem lead in the best of all Abbott and Costello films, Time of Their Lives (A must see)). Grant Withers as the top cop works with the oriental Karloff character to solve a couple of murders. Others who shine are Frank Puglia as a shifty crime boss and Lita Chavret as the second fem banana. Script by Scott Darling and George Waggner holds well. This is a typical 1940's classic that is fun to watch. Directed by the very professional William Nigh who has more than 100 notches on his directorial gun. Made by Monogram studio. This is one of 50 films in the Horror Movie DVD pack that's well worth investigating. This film is well worth the time.

1940's "The Fatal Hour" began shooting Nov. 28, 1939 for release in January (original title "Mr. Wong at Headquarters"), Boris Karloff's 4th Monogram entry as Oriental detective James Lee Wong, again teamed with Grant Withers as Capt. Bill Street and Marjorie Reynolds as reporter Bobbie Logan. As a whodunit it might very well be the best of the entire series, with its culprit guilty of four murders during the course of the film while using a remote controlled radio for an alibi, the brand new Philco Mystery Control. A somber note is struck at the beginning when Street learns of the murder of one of his colleagues, whom he has known since childhood, found dead in the bay while on smuggling detail at the waterfront. Wong's investigation involves a number of suspects: a shady jeweler (Hooper Atchley), his dense but innocent son (Craig Reynolds), the son's fiancee (Lita Chevret), and her association with a nightclub owner (Frank Puglia) directly involved with the smuggling ring. Even a radio actor (Jason Robards) isn't safe from danger, Karloff himself oddly more of a background figure in many scenes, essentially silent as Grant Withers does all the tiresome bullying (not once is Wong seen in his home). Once again, Bobbie Logan is capable of far more than her police captain boyfriend lets on, and even delivers the payoff for the climax by preventing two more killings. Richard Loo puts in another performance in aged makeup, Frank Puglia fresh from the set of "Charlie Chan in Panama," where he played an Egyptian building his own tomb! Karloff's final outing as the Asian sleuth is preceded by mad scientist roles in Universal's "Black Friday" and Columbia's "The Man with Nine Lives."

When a friend and fellow police officer is murdered, Captain Bill Street (Grant Withers) turns to Mr. Wong (Boris Karloff) for help. Wong's investigation leads him to uncover a smuggling ring. Because the story here is personal for his character, Grant Withers gets a chance to flex his acting muscles for the first time in the series. He wasn't nominated for an Academy Award, which surely must have been an oversight on the part of the Academy. Surely. But don't think the dramatic storyline means Street doesn't find time to yell at his girlfriend, Torchy Blane rip-off Bobbie Logan (pretty Marjorie Reynolds). Another watchable entry in the Mr. Wong series, which was never anything exceptional. Any movie with Boris Karloff is always worth watching once.

Sometimes I think that these kinds of movies were the bad television of their time. Granted, we have a major star, Boris Karloff, with that calculating voice of his, and a couple of other character actors. But the plot is convoluted and the acting pretty bad. There seem to be big gaps like changing the set in a junior high play. I don't know why the pacing bogs down so bad. Was it just to expensive to eliminate some of the film? I have made Karloff and Lugosi a bit of a project, and so I try to see even these marginal films. Karloff is the only saving grace here. The detective and the girl spend all this time in petty confrontations (she's obviously a thorn in his side), and the crimes are a little confusing not very creatively presented. Not really worth the hour or so I spent on it.

In the fourth installment of Boris Karloff's Detective Mr. Wong series, Jason Robards SR., is one of the victims in The Fatal Hour (1940). I'm glad to see, that filmmakers started using more music in their soundtracks, as the 1940s dawned. The moments of silence in earlier talkies is tough for some viewers in the 21st century, especially when you can hear the camera cranking sounds in the background, which was a big problem for productions back then. The introduction of longer soundtracks helped cover-up those flaws in the audio and gave the film more polish. In The Fatal Hour (1940), the first wireless remote control radio is being sold at a store and it becomes part of the main thread to this mystery. This revelation will remind viewers where we were technologically in 1940. The size of the remote control box used in the film is comparable to the size of a 4-slice toaster today.

Karloff, Grant Withers as Captain Street and Marjorie Reynolds as Bobbie Logan, the newspaper reporter, work well with each other. They are coming into their own in this fourth film. There are some sloppy moments in The Fatal Hour (1940), like weird edits and acting miscues. The film returns to mostly interior settings and got away from the more creative set-pieces seen in the last film, Mr. Wong in Chinatown (1939). Monogram Pictures must have started pulling- back the budgets on these films again and sent this story back into the confines of interior sets, that cheapened the believability factor of the film. The Fatal Hour (1940), is basically an assembly line production, common for Monogram Pictures, that ends abruptly. Budget cuts are never good for a film production, especially a production, that's trying to become a franchise.

PMTM Grade: 6.3 (D+) = 6 IMDB.

Before Charlie Chan switched from Fox to low-budget Monogram Studios, Monogram created its own Chan knockoff in the form of the Mr. Wong movies. Like the Chan films, the lead character is some white guy in cheesy makeup--in this case, Boris Karloff. Unlike the Chan movies, Wong speaks without any particularly noticeable accent and he works without the assistance of his kids or Birmingham Brown. Instead, while not exactly his sidekick, the same nosy female reporter follows him and the police inspector during all the Wong films. Unfortunately, while the two series were awfully similar, the Chan series just seemed a lot more fun. A sense of whimsy was definitely missing from this film. Now as for the plot, it isn't bad at all but it also isn't enough to lift this from the category of a "time passer" and I can certainly see why Monogram soon dropped the Wong series in favor of their own line of Chan films. An interesting but ultimately ordinary film from start to finish. I wish I could say more about the film, but even after just watching it, nothing whatsoever stands out in my mind--and that says a lot about the film.

When Captain Street's best friend Dan O'Grady is murdered, Street enlists the help of Chinese detective James Lee Wong (Boris Karloff). Wong uncovers a smuggling ring on the waterfront of San Francisco and unmasks the killer, though not until several more murders occur.

This film was including in a horror box set, and the Internet Movie Database considers it to be in the genre of horror, but I will tell you right now: there is no horror in this. None. It is a straight detective story. Yes, Boris Karloff is in it, but that does not make it horror.

I was confused by the casting of Karloff as the Chinese Mr. Wong. He plays Wong in six films, but as far as I can tell Karloff is not Chinese and does not look or sound even vaguely Chinese. So why would they not cast someone else or change the nationality of Karloff's character? I really enjoyed Marjorie Reynolds as the pushy reporter, who was possibly Grant Withers' girlfriend (it is never made clear). She seems to show up at all the critical moments, adding a humorous element to the otherwise straight film. The other great character is Frank Puglia as "Hardway", the career criminal who hangs out around the police station. He was the most interesting character, providing a great red herring (actually this film is full of red herrings).

If you like mysteries and old films, this is one you will want to give a fair chance to. If old movies bore you, never mind... you will fall asleep. But I liked it.

The Fatal Hour finds the Chinese scholarly detective James Lee Wong as played by Boris Karloff helping the police the murder of a colleague of Captain Grant Withers. In all the Wong mysteries Withers has absolutely no shame in requesting and getting help from his Oriental colleague.

Before the 68 minute running time of The Fatal Hour is over we've got three more murders and being this is a Monogram Studios Production the number of folks who could be the culprits falls drastically low. And Marjorie Reynolds is still forever trying to use boyfriend Withers to obtain yet another Lois Lane type scoop for her newspaper.

The deceased cop was on the smuggling task force of the San Francisco PD and Wong's investigation takes him to a respected jewelry store in the Bay City as well as the waterfront. By the time the film ends it can only be one of three suspects and I think you'll have figured it out before it's over.

It's a Monogram Picture so take it for what it is worth.

The Fatal Hour (1940)

** (out of 4)

Captain Street (Grant Withers) gets word that his best friend's body has been pulled from a river. Soon Mr. Wong (Boris Karloff) offers to help with the case and the two uncover a smuggling ring that the friend was trying to bust.

The fourth film in Monogram's Mr. Wong series is a bit different than the previous three but it never rises above its "B" movie production. What makes this fourth film so different is the fact that it's Captain Street and his girlfriend/reporter who gets the spotlight while Wong is basically made to be a supporting character.

I actually thought this aspect of the film made it worth a bit better than the previous film, MR. WONG IN CHINATOWN. I actually thought Withers was quite good in the lead and his character was written well enough to where you could be entertained by him and I also thought Marjorie Reynolds was good as the girlfriend. Some of their back-and-forth fighting got a bit old but I thought both actors were good. Karloff was also good in his role but once again he made no attempt to even appear Asian.

The biggest problem with this film is that the story itself just isn't all that interesting. It's decent enough for a "B" movie but it's just not good enough to where you could build any real interest in it. There's certainly no tension and the mystery aspect just isn't as strong as it needed to be to make the film more successful.

This was not a bad movie, nor was it particularly good. Boris Karloff plays the Chinese detective Wong in his own voice and with very few mannerisms that would indicate that he was anything other than a Brit. The acting is surprisingly good, considering the production value.

I was not only able to guess who done it, early on; but, I was also able to guess, unerringly, who was gonna have it done to him/her. And, I am NOT GOOD AT GUESSING. In the movie, The Secret Window, I had guessed that the ex-wife was doing it all.

If it is late at night and you want a movie to bring you back to those thrilling days of yesteryear, this one is okay; however, if you want good Karloff, try The Black Cat...

Let me start by saying that I love these good ol' mystery flicks from the 40's. They're usually nice a short, filled with decent acting and predictable plot lines. While this did only run a mere 68 minutes, and the actors were as good as usual, I must say I was rather surprised at the outcome. Great twist in what I had pegged as a predictable film. The characters were all great, though I can't quite buy Karloff as a Chinaman. Grant Withers was great as the typical hard-boiled cop, though I must say this particular cop was more flustered than most, providing some fun comic relief. The trademark female reporter was pretty good here as well, played by the beautiful Marjorie Reynolds. If you're a fan of this kind of movie, I highly recommend it. Better than most!

8/10

When Detective Dan Grady is found murdered in San Francisco Bay his friend Captain Bill Street is in charge of the investigation. Early evidence suggests that Grady was investigating the smuggling of precious Chinese Jade. Due to the Chinese connection Street calls Detective Wong to assist in his investigations. Reporter Roberta 'Bobbie' Logan also assists although Street wishes she wouldn't. Early clues lead to the 'Neptune Club' and its shady owner and a Jewellery Store that may be involved in selling the jade. As the investigation continues more murders take place; the problem is the main suspects have cast iron alibis for the time of one of the murders.

This might not be a classic film but it is still entertaining with a good central mystery and it isn't obvious who did it prior to the final reveal. The characters are fun if a bit over the top... this is particularly true of Street who rarely stops shouting at whoever he is talking to. It must be said that in this day and age the idea of having a white actor play a Chinese character would not be acceptable but here it didn't really bother me; partly because of the film's age but mostly because if it weren't for his name and the fact that he is described as 'The Chinese Copper' I wouldn't have realised Wong was meant to be Chinese! Still Karloff was interesting in the role. Much of the film's fun is provided by Marjorie Reynolds's portrayal of Bobbie Logan, particularly in the scenes between her and Grant Withers's Captain Street. Overall I thought this was a fun little B movie.

Not only is THE FATAL HOUR a clumsy and mediocre film from the low-budget Monogram studio but it seems much longer than it is despite a brief running time. It's a strictly by-the-numbers sort of thing with very little actually happening until halfway through the story. Boris Karloff dons oriental make-up as the "Chinese copper" aiding Grant Withers and Marjorie Reynolds in solving the case of a murdered policeman on the San Francisco waterfront.

With its drab sets and lack of any close-ups during long scenes, the story isn't interesting enough to hold the attention span of anyone but those determined to sit through this potboiler.

Craig Reynolds, as a chief suspect, is the only player to inject any over-the-top histrionics to his role. All the others play their parts in an almost indifferent manner with the exception of Marjorie Reynolds as the newspaper lady with a perky sense of humor.

Summing up: Hardly worth a peek--and certainly one of Karloff's dullest roles.