Mr. Wong, Detective

Throughout the 1930s, Fox Studios made a ton of very successful Charlie Chan films. It isn't surprising that this led to knock-off characters like Mr. Moto (also from Fox) and Mr. Wong (from poverty row giant, Monogram Studios). Frankly, while the Moto and Wong films are pleasant enough B-movies, they are too similar to the Chan films but lack their charm and wit. In the case of Wong and Chan the similarity was even greater as both were of Chinese descent, traveled the world and were "do-gooders" who often helped the helpless when conventional police work failed.

In the early 1940s after Monogram completed six not particularly distinguished films AND Fox decided to discontinue the Chan series, an opportunity arose for Monogram to bring Sidney Toler to the studio and make their own Chan films. As a result, Wong was expendable and since four years had passed since the last film in this series, the studio heads decided they wanted no more Wongs. Besides, if they had Chan AND Wong, the resulting films would be like having two Wongs--and that's just not right.

MR. WONG, DETECTIVE is the first Wong film and there's nothing particularly wong, I mean WRONG about the film. It was entertaining and had a nice mystery. However, it's also an awful lot like several other Monogram films--and is most like their next Wong film, THE MYSTERY OF MR. WONG. It's also a lot like the Chan films, MURDER OVER NEW YORK, THE JADE MASK and DOCKS OF NEW ORLEANS. In other words, many plot elements were repeated and after a while the films started to be indistinguishable from each other--something that was NOT a problem with the Fox films.

Overall, it's worth seeing and is possibly the best film of the series--though this isn't saying a lot.

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.

Having been a fan of Charlie Chan I was not familiar with Mr Wong but to my surprise the story itself was worthy of a Charlie Chan. Over look Boris Karloff as an oriental will allow you to enjoy this film. Film opens fast with a frighten man seeking help from Mr Wong. His murder is a mind bender in the tradition of Chan films as no one can figure out how a man in a locked room is killed with the police right outside of the door. Many suspects and more of the mysterious murders makes this a film "most enjoyable" for the "detective" in each of us.

Considering its age (almost 65 years old), this movie has held up reasonably well. Granted, it is a bit slow and dull (it runs only 69 minutes but it feels MUCH longer), and Boris Karloff is not convincing, of course, as an Oriental. However, he does capture the Oriental philosophy of his character, and the plotting itself (particularly the killing method) is ingenious, worthy of a fine crime novel. (**1/2)

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.