''Mr. Wong in Chinatown'' is a 1939 American mystery film directed by

William Nigh William Nigh (October 12, 1881 – November 27, 1955) was an American film director, writer, and actor. His film work sometimes lists him as either "Will Nigh" or "William Nye". Biography Nigh was born Emil Kreuske''Silent Film Necrology'', ...

and starring

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established h ...

as Mr. Wong.Stephen Jacobs, ''Boris Karloff: More Than a Monster'', Tomahawk Press 2011 p 246

Plot

A beautiful Chinese woman visits Mr. Wong late at night but is murdered before she can tell him why she needs his help. Wong discovers that she is Princess Lin Hwa, the sister of a powerful Chinese general, and that she was killed with a poisoned dart fired from a Chinese "sleeve gun." As with some of his previous investigations, Wong is given important information by the leader of a powerful tong (Chinese secret society). The tong leader tells Wong that the princess had come to the United States with almost $1-million to arrange the secret purchase of airplanes that were to be smuggled into China. As Wong continues the investigation he learns that all the money that the princess deposited in a local bank has been paid out—and that the signature on most of the checks is a forgery. Wong becomes the target of a killer, and is aided in his investigation by a blonde, beautiful and energetic newspaper reporter. Was the princess killed by enemies of her brother to prevent the shipment of the planes to China? Or was she killed to hide the fact that there actually were no planes and the whole scheme was a scam? Wong's careful conversations with the captain of the ship the princess traveled on, the owner of the aviation company that owned the planes she was going to buy, and the president of the bank where the princess deposited her money, result in him uncovering the identity of the killer.

Cast

as Mr. James Lee Wong *

Marjorie Reynolds Marjorie Reynolds (née Goodspeed; August 12, 1917 – February 1, 1997) was an American film/television actress and dancer, who appeared in more than 50 films, including the 1942 musical ''Holiday Inn'', in which she and Bing Crosby introdu ...

as Roberta 'Bobbie' Logan (reporter) * Grant Withers as Police Capt. Bill Street *

Huntley Gordon Huntley Ashworth Gordon (October 8, 1879 – December 7, 1956) was a Canadian actor who began his career in the Silent Film era. Profile Gordon was born in Montreal, Quebec, educated in both Canada and England. He had various jobs including w ...

as Mr. Davidson (bank president) * George Lynn as Capt. Guy Jackson (Aviation Corp. president) (as Peter George Lynn) * William Royle as Capt. Jaime (captain, Maid of the Orient) * James Flavin as Police Sgt. Jerry *

Lotus Long Lotus may refer to: Plants *Lotus (plant), various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly: ** ''Lotus'' (genus), a genus of terrestrial plants in the family Fabaceae **Lotus flower, a symbolically important aquatic Asian plant also ...

as Princess Lin Hwa (murder victim) * Lee Tung Foo as Willie (Wong's servant) (as Lee Tong Foo) * Bessie Loo as Lilly May (Princess Lin Hwa's maid) * Richard Loo as Tong chief * Ernie Stanton as Burton (Davidson's butler) *

I. Stanford Jolley Isaac Stanford Jolley (October 24, 1900 – December 7, 1978) was an American film and television actor. He starred in the 1946 film serial ''The Crimson Ghost'', in which he played the role of Doctor Blackton and also voiced the title cha ...

as Hotel clerk *

Angelo Rossitto Angelo Salvatore Rossitto (February 18, 1908 – September 21, 1991) was an American actor and voice artist. He had dwarfism and was 2'11" (89 cm) tall, and was often billed as Little Angie or Moe. Angelo first appeared in silent films opp ...

as Mute Little Person (uncredited)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mr Wong In ChInatown 1939 films 1939 mystery films American black-and-white films American mystery films Films directed by William Nigh American sequel films Monogram Pictures films Films set in San Francisco Chinatown, San Francisco in fiction 1930s English-language films 1930s American films