The Fatal Hour

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.

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.

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.

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

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