Mr. Wong, INQUISITOR (1938)

This movie is the first in a series (affiliate link) of six films from Monogram Pictures released between 1938 et 1940. Series erat "B" formulae cinematographicae. The film would have been shown first on a double bill. The first five films starred Boris Karloff as Mr. James Lee Wong, while in the sixth film Keye Luke portrayed Mr. Wong.

Hugh Wiley created the character of Mr. Wong, a Yale-educated Chinese-American detective, for Collier’s Magazine. The articles ran from 1934 ut 1939. Monogram adapted the character for film. William Nigh primos direxit quinque, while Phil Karlson directed the final film.

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Still from Mr. Wong in Chinatown (1939)

Non obstante quod Monogram seriem, the first film, Mr. Wong Detective (1938) satis bene factum. Most "B" films facta est minus quam $20.000 and took less than two week to make. Multus cinematographicus pauperrimus. Monogram also kept the production costs low by shooting the same basic films with different characters. Navalia Novi Eboraci (1948) in the Monogram Charlie Chan series is almost an exact reproduction of this film with different characters.

Mr. Wong assists the police in trying to identify the murderer of a wealthy industrialist. Nigh shoots one of the first scenes in Mr. Wong’s laboratory, which is within his well-decorated house. Mr. Wong’s intelligence and financial standing are established with this early scene. Most of the offensive racial content around Chinese characters in Hollywood films of the 1930s is missing from this film.

The movie is 68 minutes long and moves at a good pace. If you need to relax for an hour, this film is a good break. Let me know what you think of it.

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