Mr. Wong, Detective

Rating:
Summary: Boris Karloff's first case as detective James Lee Wong
Review: Having been the guest star in "Charlie Chan at the Opera," Boris Karloff takes his own turn at being a brilliant Chinese detective in "Mr. Wong, Detective." When a chemical manufacturer (John Hamilton) receives anonymous death threats after his company begins making poision gas, he seeks the help of James Lee Wong. Of course, the next day the man is killed by his own gas, quickly followed by two of his business partners. Soon Mr. Wong and Police Captain Street (Grant Withers) are on the trail of a group of foreign spies who want to steal the formula for the poison gas. An okay mystery of this type, although I thought they came up with a rather ingenious way of delivering the poison gas. This 1938 film was directed by William Nigh and is based on the stories of Hugh Wiley, and gave Karloff something to do besides monster movies. Ironically, while the Mr. Wong films were made to capitalize on the success of Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto, "Mr. Wong, Detective" was remade in 1948 as a Charlie Chan film, "Docks of New Orleans."

Rating:
Summary: Boris Karloff's first case as detective James Lee Wong
Review: Having been the guest star in "Charlie Chan at the Opera," Boris Karloff takes his own turn at being a brilliant Chinese detective in "Mr. Wong, Detective." When a chemical manufacturer (John Hamilton) receives anonymous death threats after his company begins making poision gas, he seeks the help of James Lee Wong. Of course, the next day the man is killed by his own gas, quickly followed by two of his business partners. Soon Mr. Wong and Police Captain Street (Grant Withers) are on the trail of a group of foreign spies who want to steal the formula for the poison gas. An okay mystery of this type, although I thought they came up with a rather ingenious way of delivering the poison gas. This 1938 film was directed by William Nigh and is based on the stories of Hugh Wiley, and gave Karloff something to do besides monster movies. Ironically, while the Mr. Wong films were made to capitalize on the success of Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto, "Mr. Wong, Detective" was remade in 1948 as a Charlie Chan film, "Docks of New Orleans."

Rating:
Summary: Boris Karloff's first case as detective James Lee Wong
Review: Having been the guest star in "Charlie Chan at the Opera," Boris Karloff takes his own turn at being a brilliant Chinese detective in "Mr. Wong, Detective." When a chemical manufacturer (John Hamilton) receives anonymous death threats after his company begins making poision gas, he seeks the help of James Lee Wong. Of course, the next day the man is killed by his own gas, quickly followed by two of his business partners. Soon Mr. Wong and Police Captain Street (Grant Withers) are on the trail of a group of foreign spies who want to steal the formula for the poison gas. An okay mystery of this type, although I thought they came up with a rather ingenious way of delivering the poison gas. This 1938 film was directed by William Nigh and is based on the stories of Hugh Wiley, and gave Karloff something to do besides monster movies. Ironically, while the Mr. Wong films were made to capitalize on the success of Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto, "Mr. Wong, Detective" was remade in 1948 as a Charlie Chan film, "Docks of New Orleans."

Rating:
Summary: A Fairly Good Detective Film
Review: In MR. WONG, DETECTIVE James Lee Wong is hired by the owner of a chemical manufacturing firm who is accused of stealing a secret formula. The owner and two of his associates are promptly murdered leaving Mr. Wong with three homicides to solve.

William Nigh is the director of this movie which is the first of six entries in the series. Boris Karloff has the starring role of Mr. Wong. The rather small supporting cast includes Grant Withers, Maxine Jennings, Evelyn Brent, Frank Bruno, Lucien Prival and Lee Tong Foo.

Rating:
Summary: Introducing Detective James Lee Wong (Boris Karloff)
Review: Not to be out detected by Charlie Chan or Mr. Moto, the Oxford-educated oriental sleuth Mr. James Lee Wong (Boris Karloff) has his own series of movies. This is the first and considered the best.

A businessman suspects that he is about to be murdered. He enlists the help of James Lee Wong "detective". Naturally this is a 10 O'clock appointment for the next day. You guessed it; it was the "Wong" move, as he was too late.

You will be familiar with all the elements of this mystery. However these elements were very well put together in this film. Yep, everyone is acting very suspicious, and as usual, it is the last person you would suspect.

Looks like a choice of price versus quality. This copy is not been restored. There other versions that have been restored. However, you get ten minutes into the film and get so intrigued in the mystery that you forget all about quality.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Mr. Wong
Review: This is a terrific DVD for the atmosphere, the clever Mr. Wong and the great transfer. This is a B picture, to be sure, shot on a budget, but its great fun as Mr. Wong solves his case. The transfer is very good considering there is no restoration. The sound is very good as well. I love this series and Boris is the man to play the character. This is probably the best of the Mr. Wong series with Boris.

Rating:
Summary: I enjoyed this
Review: This Mr Wong film really drew me in. I found it most entertaining. Mr Wong is something of an obscure movie detective, but it's great that he is once again available to entertain viewers. All six Mr Wong movies are now on DVD!

Rating:
Summary: A Fine Underrated Mystery
Review: When a shipping magnate is found murdered in a locked room, the famous Chinese detective James Lee Wong goes to work find the killer and the seemingly impossible method of murder. Monogram Studios was obviously capitolizing on the success of 20th Century Fox's Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto films when they decided to make this film, but had the good sense to hire Boris Karloff, who brought his usual polish and charm to the role of Mr. Wong. Monogram, one the so-called "poverty row" studios, thought enough of Karloff (and the film) to give him a strong supporting cast and an intriguing mystery story to work with. The result is no classic, but still a very entertaining film that proved Karloff was much more than just a "boogeyman."By the way, the plot was good enough that, several years later, Monogram reused it for one of THEIR Charlie Chan films!

Rating:
Summary: The Best Mr. Wong
Review: When Monogram recruited Boris Karloff for its "Mr. Wong" series in 1938, the studio apparently believed that the horror icon's presence would be strong enough to carry its low-budget product. They were sadly mistaken and the series folded in 1940 after six films, with Karloff appearing in only five of them. (Interestingly, Keye Luke played a younger version of the Chinese detective in the final installment.) Time has not been kind to the "Mr. Wong" series. These mysteries are deadly dull and have virtually nothing to offer except the sincerity of Karloff's performances. On the plus side, these are the best prints you are likely to find. Still, Karloff's association with Monogram was less distinguished than Bela Lugosi's run during the early 1940s. Even Bela's "Mysterious Mr. Wong" (no relation) is more entertaining than the dreary exploits of James Lee Wong.

Rating:
Summary: a true treasure for Mr Wong fans
Review: You wont find a more complete set of DVDs if you are a fan of Mr Wong. All six Wong films are here: Mr Wong Detective, Mystery of Mr Wong, Mr Wong In Chinatown, The Fatal Hour, Doomed To Die, and Phantom of Chinatown. Phantom of Chinatown is one of the most interesting in the series and stars Keye Luke as an earlier and younger Mr Wong. These movies have captivated me since I was just a wee lad and I was thrilled to discover this DVD set. It is the most complete one available and a true must for Mr Wong fans.