Mr. Wong in Chinatown

1939
Approved
1h 11m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

A pretty Chinese woman, seeking help from San Francisco detective James Lee Wong, is killed by a poisoned dart in his front hall, having time only to scrawl "Captain J" on a sheet of paper. ... Read allA pretty Chinese woman, seeking help from San Francisco detective James Lee Wong, is killed by a poisoned dart in his front hall, having time only to scrawl "Captain J" on a sheet of paper. She proves to be Princess Lin Hwa.A pretty Chinese woman, seeking help from San Francisco detective James Lee Wong, is killed by a poisoned dart in his front hall, having time only to scrawl "Captain J" on a sheet of paper. She proves to be Princess Lin Hwa.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.8/10

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 nomination total

Photos30

+ 24

Top cast20

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Boris Karloff

James Lee Wong

Marjorie Reynolds

Bobbie Logan

Grant Withers

Inspector Bill Street

Huntley Gordon

Mr. Davidson

George Lynn

Captain Guy Jackson
(as Peter George Lynn)

William Royle

Captain Jaime

James Flavin

Sergeant Jerry

Lotus Long

Princess Lin Hwa

Lee Tong Foo

Willie

Bessie Loo

Lilly May

Richard Loo

Tong Chief

Ernie Stanton

Burton

I. Stanford Jolley

Palisser Hotel Clerk
(uncredited)

Jack Kennedy

Sgt. Brady
(uncredited)

Donald Kerr

Taxi Driver
(uncredited)

Wilbur Mack

The Coroner
(uncredited)

Moy Ming

Aged Tong Member
(uncredited)

Bruce Mitchell

Police Officer at Explosion
(uncredited)

Director
- William Nigh
Writers
- Scott Darling
- Hugh Wiley
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The third of the 5-film series, and the first to feature Marjorie Reynolds as Captain Street's reporter girlfriend. Later remade as a Charlie Chan feature, The Chinese Ring (1947).

Goofs
When Mr. Wong removes the dart from the neck of Princess Lin Hwa, it can be seen that there is a residue that covers approximately 1/3 of the tip of the dart. In the next scene, upon examining the same dart under a magnifying glass, no trace of the residue is seen.

Quotes
Lilly May: I know nothing!
Inspector Bill Street: Nobody knows anything around here!

Connections
Edited into Who Dunit Theater: Mr. Wong in Chinatown (2015)

User reviews25

Featured review

5/10

Murder On Arrival

Poor Lotus Long the oriental actress who got murdered in two Mr. Wong vehicles. In Mr. Wong In Chinatown she no longer arrives at Boris Karloff's home when she's killed with a poison dart fired through the window of his study.

Probably because the victim was Chinese, Mr. Wong would have gotten involved in any case, but won't these movie villains ever learn? Doing it that way was an open invitation.

Lotus lives long enough to leave a written cryptic clue and Karloff and police captain Grant Withers go chasing leads. The victim was a Chinese princess in town allegedly to buy airplanes for her country during war time. The clue itself by the way turns out to be a bit of a red herring.

Mr. Wong In Chinatown marks the first appearance of Marjorie Reynolds in this series as Withers's pesky reporter girl friend. Reynolds is in the snoop and scoop Lois Lane school of journalism. She actually does prove useful, more at times than Myrna Loy was to William Powell.

But this is Monogram, not MGM so the production values are really on the cheap here. Still for that studio this isn't a bad film.