tlkiefner Fourth in the series of 6 films about "the Chinese Copper" James Lee Wong, the Monogram answer to Charlie Chan is featured in this 67 minute film which also includes the somewhat regular cast of Marjorie Reynolds (3) and Grant Withers (6). The story centers around the death of his long time friend on the police force Dan Grady (never saw him) who was fished out of the water with lead shoes and two bullets in the back of his neck. A perfect story about revenge where the police force sends out every available man to catch the killer. Nope. Captain Street (Withers) is going to handle this alone with "Bobbi" Logan (Reynolds) and the "Chinese Copper" Wong. Wong upon seeing the jade in Grady's desk drawer, immediately seeks the assistance of the Chinese jeweler (Richard Loo) in San Francisco's Chinatown. His advice was "A wise man could become more wise by visiting Belden's a jewelry store. It appears a dead end but leads to the clue of the smuggling ring. The Neptune Club run by Cookie (Stanford Jolley uncredited) and owned by Harry "Hardway" Lockett (Frank Puglia) are behind the smuggling and two more deaths occur, Tanya Serova (Lita Chevret), girlfriend of Belden Jr. and Hardway, and Frank Belden Sr.(Hooper Atchley. Both knew too much.John T. Forbes (Charles Towbridge) , lawyer for the creditors not to his surprise finds that $50 jade is actually $3000 pieces and when he finds that Belden Sr. is ready to confess he is murdered. Tanya is murdered because Forbes, who is in love with her, is thrown aside for Belden Jr. and he murders her. Another murder, Griswold (Jason Robards) a radio programmer, and a remote control radio all play part in the plot.Scott Darling, a prolific writer of nearly 200 screenplays, along with adaption by George Waggner best known for his directing of "The Wolfman" (1941) offered a clever story with enough twists and turns to make it interesting. William Nigh, who did over 120 films, directed an adequate job with no frills, exactly what Monogram wanted, quick, on time and on budget. The theme, written by Edward Kay nicely depicts the character Wong as a slow prodding but always moving forward character. The music is spotted rather sparsely something that Monogram does but this film is better than others in the series.As long as one keeps in mind that this is a 'B' picture and was designed to fill an hour of time, the function of Monogram. It provided second billing to the 'A' feature and did a nice job.The good news is that this film is in public domain which means you can watch it for free. I t is 1 hour and seven minutes so make sure you are getting the full version as there are some that are only one hour. If you wish an entire 6 DVD set it be purchased for a very reasonable price, under $20.00 from Oldies.com http://www.oldies.com/product-view/9571D.html. It is also available used on the net. The Roan Group seems to have the best quality.

Scarecrow-88 Assigned to a smuggling detail, a cop is found in the bay of San Francisco, bullets in him, ankles bound with rope. San Francisco Police Captain Bill Street was close to Dan so in his melancholy he's bound and determined to find the person (or persons) responsible. Oriental investigator, Mr. Wong (Boris Karloff, in Oriental make-up, speaking with a smooth British voice, reprising the role for the fourth time for Monogram Pictures), also friendly with the murder victim, offers his services to Bill. In seaman's clothes, Wong realizes that Dan was under cover at the Waterfront—perhaps this will uncover who might want to silence the undercover cop before he spilled the beans on a secret smuggling operation maybe taking place there.A Chinese jade stone, a Club Neptune, a jewelry store, a forbidden marriage, a radio program, a remote control radio, a trick to fool a switchboard operator and more murders to those who "knew too much" and were threatening to squeal, all add up to a fun little Monogram mystery, helped considerably by Karloff's star power.The cast includes Marjorie Reynolds in the familiar role of spunky, nosy newsreporter, Roberta Logan (looking for the "big scoop" for the afternoon addition of the Herald, annoying Grant Withers' cantankerous Captain Street who wishes she would butt out of police business), Charles Trowbridge as the refined jewelry store "receiver", John T. Forbes (who might know more than he is willing to reveal), Frank Puglia as the crooked owner of Club Neptune, Harry "Hardway" Lockett (behind the smuggling from the Waterfront into his place), Craig Reynolds in the "wrong man" role, Frank Belden Jr ( interrogated harshly by Street because he was in the apartment around the time his fiancé, Tanya Serova (Lita Chevret), was found murdered as she was a part of Harry Lockett's smuggling operation), and Hooper Atchley as Frank Belden Sr, the second murder victim (who, against his better judgment, in order to save his jewelry business from failure, went in cahoots with Lockett, dead set against his son marrying Tanya who he considered no good). Jason Robards Sr. has a very small role as a radio actor who becomes another victim (actually murdered in the police station; the killer is bold!) because he might can report evidence against the time of murder. I actually kind of enjoy these Mr. Wong films I have watched, a series which allowed Karloff a chance to play against type as a heroic sleuth instead of a "boogeyman".

wes-connors "In his latest case, Mr. Wong is investigating the murder of a police office (sic) at the request of his friend Captain Street. The murder investigation leads Mr. Wong to a smuggling ring operating on the San Francisco waterfront. After three additional murders take place, Mr. Wong is able to track down the killer and expose the smugglers," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.This episode's most interesting plot development is Mr. Wong (Boris Karloff)'s discovery of the killer's use of a "remote control" radio device. The plot isn't very interesting, but the relatively large "remote control" is; perhaps it was developed for movie plots only, however. Capt. Street (Grant Withers) shouts his lines excessively, which gets other actors involved. Blonde reporter Marjorie Reynolds adds her feminine charms. Still, the Monogram series is lifeless and obnoxious.** The Fatal Hour (1940) William Nigh ~ Boris Karloff, Marjorie Reynolds, Grant Withers

MartinHafer Before Charlie Chan switched from Fox to low-budget Monogram Studios, Monogram created its own Chan knockoff in the form of the Mr. Wong movies. Like the Chan films, the lead character is some white guy in cheesy makeup--in this case, Boris Karloff. Unlike the Chan movies, Wong speaks without any particularly noticeable accent and he works without the assistance of his kids or Birmingham Brown. Instead, while not exactly his sidekick, the same nosy female reporter follows him and the police inspector during all the Wong films. Unfortunately, while the two series were awfully similar, the Chan series just seemed a lot more fun. A sense of whimsy was definitely missing from this film. Now as for the plot, it isn't bad at all but it also isn't enough to lift this from the category of a "time passer" and I can certainly see why Monogram soon dropped the Wong series in favor of their own line of Chan films. An interesting but ultimately ordinary film from start to finish. I wish I could say more about the film, but even after just watching it, nothing whatsoever stands out in my mind--and that says a lot about the film.