Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

HeadlinesExotic Boring

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

mark.waltz The problem with many of these B murder mysteries isn't the premise, but is the fact that the audience really doesn't get a chance to pick up on clues that the particular detective get to decipher through their own convoluted knowledge of what the victim did, who their enemies are and what everybody's hobbies or habits were. Having viewed the Mr. Wong films several times each (and put Betty much hated them), I had to determine on my own the reasons for that, why even the lowest budget "Charlie Chan" seemed better to me, and why other mysteries got me involved while these left me cold. The scripts often seemed overstuffed with detail, and how much can you take in while looking around a set, watch each character and try to read between the lines of everything that everybody says. As the first entry in the series, this has to grab you immediately to keep you coming back for the follow-ups, and realizing on my own what the issue was opened my eyes to looking at them in a different way.This has to do with the murder of a chemical manufacturer, followed by several other victims, and the involvement of the first victim's friend, private detective Mr. Wong (Boris Karloff) in solving all the crimes with the help of police detective Grant Withers. Of course, all screen private detectives are smarter than screen police detectives, presumably able to see into the souls and minds of the victims and suspects. Karloff finds clues in the strangest of things, asks if certain elements of nature were present, and can wiggle out of every blockade or get answers out it suspects who don't want to give answers. There are nefarious characters you know are red herrings and seemingly innocent ones who could be the obvious killer. This gets aggravating with constant talk and little action, and of course trying to out guess Karloff is pointless. So it is just best to put your mind to rest and avoid the inevitable disappointment of failing to figure it out. After all, Mr. Wong is never wrong.

Michael_Elliott Mr. Wong, Detective (1938) ** 1/2 (out of 4)A business man fears for his life so he pays a visit to Detective Wong (Boris Karloff). The next day the man is dead and a suspect is arrested but Wong isn't so sure they've got the right guy. Soon other murders are committed and it's up to Wong and Captain Street (Grant Withers) to try and solve them.With the likes of Fu Manchu and Charlie Chan being so popular, Monogram decided to get in on the Asian characters and they ended up doing six Mr. Wong pictures, five with actor Boris Karloff. None of the films were all that great but there's no question that this first one was the best of the lot.This one here benefits from a somewhat better than normal screenplay that offers up an interesting murder scheme and for the most part I thought it played out quite well and the ending was fun and believable. It also doesn't hurt that Karloff himself was so good in the role of Wong.Yes, we can argue about a white actor playing an Asian character but this is how it was done back in the day, for better or worse. I thought Karloff was really good at playing the low-key and rather laid back character and even though he doesn't talk or move quickly, he's still very much entertaining. I also thought Withers was fun in the role of the typical Detective in these type of movies. You know, the tough guy whose toughness never gets anything done.THe film certainly shows it's "B" quality production but there's no doubt that it's a mildly entertaining film.

Michael O'Keefe In the acclaimed footsteps of Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto, Hugh Wiley has created Mr. James Lee Wong, a Chinese-born San Francisco sleuth. Simon Dayton(John Hamilton), President of the Dayton Chemical Company is in fear of his life. Even his two partners are urging him to sign papers giving them his share of the company upon his death. Mr. Dayton has made an appointment for Mr. Wong(Boris Karloff) to come to his office; but when Wong arrives, Mr. Dayton has mysteriously been murdered. Wong will now contend with foreign agents that are after a formula for a deadly poison gas being produced by Dayton's company. Suspects are cunning, but not so allusive. This 70 minute low budget mystery seems to have a less than original story line. Other players: Grant Williams, Maxine Jennings, William Gould, George Lloyd and Evelyn Brent.

JoeKarlosi This was the first of a modest series of Monogram films to star horror heavyweight Boris Karloff as an Asian sleuth, most likely to try and capitalize off the highly successful Charlie Chan saga from Fox. As a Karloff fan myself, he was my sole reason to take the plunge with this series and this film is pretty much an average affair. The British Boris doesn't seem authentic at playing a Chinese detective, and I had a difficult time buying into him as such with his blackened, slicked-back hair-comb. The plot itself is intriguing enough, with Mr. Wong trying to find out how a poison gas is killing people, and who's the mastermind behind it. I've read that MR. WONG, DETECTIVE is the "best" of this bunch, which leaves me concerned as to what may lie ahead. ** out of ****