Mr. Wong, Detective (1938)
This movie is the first in a series (affiliate link) of six films from Monogram Pictures released between 1938 and 1940. The series was a “B” formula film offering. 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 to 1939. Monogram adapted the character for film. William Nigh directed the first five, while Phil Karlson directed the final film.
Still from Mr. Wong in Chinatown (1939)
Despite the fact that Monogram made the series, the first film, Mr. Wong Detective (1938) was pretty well done. Most “B” films were made for less than $20.000 and took less than two week to make. A lot of the films were very poor. Monogram also kept the production costs low by shooting the same basic films with different characters. The Docks of New York (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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