The MR WONG series was not the first time that Boris Karloff had played an Asian character but it was the last. In 1932 he was the evil Fu Manchu for MGM and just before the WONG movies, he was a Chinese warlord in WEST OF SHANGHAI (1937) for Warner Brothers. He played detective James Lee Wong in 5 movies for Poverty Row studio Monogram Pictures between 1938 and 1940. When he began the series, horror movies were out at Universal and after completing his contract there with a non-horror film (NIGHT KEY), Karloff was looking for other opportunities and so he signed with Warners to make 4 films when the Monogram offer came along.The same year he started his WONG contract, a re-release of FRANKENSTEIN and DRACULA played to turn away crowds and just like that horror was back in again.
Karloff, always the workaholic, agreed to play the Frankenstein monster one last time for Universal (SON OF FRANKENSTEIN) in addition to his Monogram and Warner Brothers commitments. He also signed with Columbia Pictures to make a series of “mad scientist” films which started in 1939 with THE MAN THEY COULD NOT HANG. But back to the WONG movies. After the initial offering, MR WONG, DETECTIVE, was completed, work began on THE MYSTERY OF MR WONG. The remaining three. MR WONG IN CHINATOWN, THE FATAL HOUR, and DOOMED TO DIE, were made in between his other commitments. Karloff’s part in the series concluded there but there was one more MR WONG film, PHANTOM OF CHINATOWN with Keye Luke which is not in this set.
The success of Warner Oland’s long running CHARLIE CHAN series and Peter Lorre’s MR MOTO movies which had just started was the impetus for the MR WONG films. Karloff was chosen for his name value but it was a project that he actually wanted to do. His portrayal of an Asian character wasn’t as far-fetched as it might seem. Karloff came from Indian ancestry on his mother’s side and without make-up looked more Indian than English. To portray Wong, Boris simply wore a wig of straight black hair, had relatively modest eye make-up, and wore large round glasses. He spoke deliberately and intelligently and did not try to affect an “Oriental” accent. In fact all the other Chinese characters (who were actually played by Chinese actors) were treated with restraint and dignity.
DETECTIVE gets the series off to a great start as it has an intriguing mystery for Wong to solve. Grant Withers is a headstrong Captain Street, Wong’s ally with the police, while Marjorie Reynolds is the plucky reporter heroine who is such a trope of 1930s mysteries. The supporting cast is uniformly fine with John St Polis a standout as a beleaguered suspect. MYSTERY, like most second efforts, isn’t as good but is still engaging. CHINATOWN has Wong on the trail of a smuggling ring after a Chinese princess is murdered. The last two, FATAL and DOOMED (shown here as THE MYSTERY OF WENTWORTH CASTLE, its British title) have their moments but show that the series was running out of steam. BK is as impeccable as ever and remains the reason these movies are still watched today.
I have nothing but praise for whoever restored these movies and for Kino Lorber who released them. They look almost as good as when they were first shown and prove that Monogram, a middle tier Poverty Row studio, was quite capable of putting out a quality product. The sets are well dressed with interesting items, the fashionable costumes are above average, and the cinematography is well defined without being obtrusive. In fact once you’ve seen these, you’ll want to watch them again. Some reviewers have complained that it doesn’t include PHANTOM OF CHINATOWN but I caught that one on YouTube and it, sadly, is not very good. My only complaint is with Tom Weaver”s commentary. His annoying use of inappropriate sound bites is a real irritant. Still WONG is a must have for Karloff fans.
The Capsule Critic 