Boris Karloff--Detective

Boris Karloff as Mr. Wong.

Let me start by addressing the most uncomfortable aspect of the Mr. Wong movies produced by Monogram Pictures from 1938 to 1940. Mr. Wong, who is Chinese, is played by Boris Karloff, a British actor, in five of the six films. This was neither the first nor the last time that a non-Oriental actor starred as an Oriental detective. There are numerous other instances. Swedish actor Warner Oland made a fine Charlie Chan in the 1930s. Hungarian Peter Lorre starred as Japanese detective Mr. Moto in a film series for Twentieth Century-Fox. Decades later, Ross Martin (The Wild, Wild West) and even Peter Sellers also appeared as Charlie Chan.

Karloff as Fu Manchu.

To his credit, Karloff does not try to impersonate a person of Chinese descent. He speaks deliberately, but there is no trace of an accent. His hair is dyed black and slicked down. He sports a mustache (which changes shape slightly from film to film) and sometimes glasses. He looks a little Oriental—if one knows that was the intended effect. It’s a stark contrast to his appearance as the title villain of 1932’s The Mask of Fu Manchu.

Karloff made his first appearance as James Wong in Mr. Wong, Detective (1938). It’s an average “B” mystery in which the owners of a chemical company are murdered one by one. The prime suspect is a disgruntled inventor, who claims the company stole a valuable formula. However, as witnesses can testify, the inventor was somewhere else when each death occurred. The best part of the film is the ingenious way in which the murders are accomplished. All in all, it’s a decent introduction to Mr. Wong.

A death threat for the sapphire's new owner.

The first sequel, The Mystery of Mr. Wong (1939), is an upgrade. It’s an entertaining whodunit involving a stolen sapphire (the Eye of the Daughter of Moon—gotta love the name!) and another clever murder. This time, Wong is present when a homicide occurs in front of party guests, who are watching their hosts reenact a scene from a play. When a character is shot in the play—the person playing the character is really shot. The film features a brisk pace and veteran director Williams Nigh achieves some nice visual effects with framing and lighting.

Marjorie Reynolds.

Alas, the second Mr. Wong film is the series highlight. The third entry, Mr. Wong in Chinatown, is a lackluster, sluggish affair. Amazingly, the plot was recycled nine years later for the Charlie Chan film The Chinese Ring starring Roland Winters. In Mr. Wong in Chinatown, Marjorie Reynolds (Holiday Inn) joins Grant Withers as a series regular. Withers’ police Captain Sam Street continues to come across as thickheaded and dull while Reynolds overplays the energetic reporter trying to get a big scoop. Neither one adds any value to this film nor subsequent outings, leaving it up to Karloff to carry the Mr. Wong mysteries by himself.

He’s up to the task, though one wishes that Wong was more interesting. He lacks Charlie Chan’s memorable proverbs and Mr. Moto’s judo. Hugh Wiley created the Yale-educated Chinese sleuth for Collier’s magazine in 1934. James Lee Wong lived in San Francisco and worked on the “federal pay rolls.” He appeared in twelve short stories, which were republished in the 1951 collection Murder By the Dozen.

Keye Luke as Jimmy Wong.

After five Mr. Wong films, Karloff bowed out of the series and was replaced by Keye Luke as Jimmy Wong in Phantom of Chinatown (1940). Although some critics suggest Luke is playing James Wong’s son, the film seems more like a reboot. The affable Key Luke does well enough in his first lead role after playing Charlie Chan’s son opposite Warner Oland. Although Luke was signed for additional Mr. Wong films, the series came to an abrupt end. Still, Phantom of Chinatown was something of a landmark—Keye Luke became the first Chinese actor since the silent film era to headline a Hollywood film.