Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Brenda The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

mark.waltz This has to be the best of the low budget Monogram series of crime programmers made briefly from 1938 to 1940, more for the sense of fun it provides, and partially for the more interesting plotline. The set-up is fascinating, too, showing the murder of Tong princess Lotus Long in Mr. Wong's apartment, shot in the neck by a teeny tiny poisoned darts. Long takes her time in expiring, dramatically writing down a clue for Boris Karloff's Wong to follow. A nosy reporter (Marjorie Reynolds) becomes a thorn in police detective Grant Withers' side, delighting in showing him up with her expertise in the breaking down of a murder investigation. Karloff, too, has a glint in his eye this time around, perhaps pleased by the fact that some thought went into the script which makes it more fun for the audience too.For once in the series, the investigation drops enough hints for the audience to get more involved, bringing in some interesting supporting characters, most notably Angelo Rossito ("Freaks", many Monogram programmers as Bela Lugosi's sidekick) as a mute Chinese dwarf and Bessie Loo as a Chinese matron. There's also a bit more action than normal, crisp dialog and not a lot of dramatic poses that made me fight to stay awake in others in the series. I really enjoyed the playful rivalry between Reynolds and Withers which had the potential to become a series itself. It reminded me of the later Monogram two part crime comedy/drama with Jean Parker as Detective Kitty O'Day and Tim Ryan as the flustered police detective. This is an example of how sometimes you can make a silk purse out of a sow's war.

blanche-2 There was a documentary on public television some time ago about the Chinese in the movies. It was short because they were mostly background in early films. God forbid a Chinese person was ever cast as a Chinese person in a movie.Boris Karloff, who was a wonderful actor, is Mr. Wong. I'm not sure where this comes in the series but I'll give you two words to describe it - Monogram Studios.A woman visits Mr. Wong, but before she can speak to him, she is killed with a poison dart. She has time to write a partial note with the words "Captain J." Naturally there are two Captain Js here.The film has to do with airplanes she was buying for her brother, an important person with the Chinese air command, and the apparent smuggling of them. Don't ask me how one does that. Aren't they kind of large? It also has to do with stealing money.It's just okay but it's nice to see Karloff as someone other than Frankenstein.

TheLittleSongbird For Boris Karloff fans Mr Wong in Chinatown makes for good curiosity value and has good things that makes it a little more than that. Mr Wong in Chinatown is far from bad and Karloff has certainly done worse(look at the Mexican films he did) but he has also done better and deserved better. If asked whether Mr Wong in Chinatown is recommended, I'd say yes but only partially. There are some good things, Karloff is still commanding and gives a very good performance(as said many times by me one of those actors that gave his all regardless of the material). Marjorie Reynolds is the other, and in a way only other, standout in the cast, she brings a great deal of sass to Logan and really spices things up but deserved better material to do so more. Some of the sparring-constant- between her and Grant Withers is entertaining. The closing gag is great. The music has its jauntiness and eeriness. The sets are appropriate and nicely done. And Lotus Long while killed off quickly, perhaps too quickly, she makes for a sensual presence and makes things promising to begin with. However, while the sparring between Reynolds and Withers is fun their chemistry could have been better, aside from their dialogue the chemistry doesn't gel. And Withers to me is the problem, his performance more scenery-chewing rather than subtle and often of the worst kind, the shouting and frozen facial expressions did get annoying after a while. The photography is serviceable but could have been more fluid, the low-budget does show. Outside of the verbal sparring and the closing gag, the dialogue does come across as stilted and could have developed things more. The story shows good potential but peters out after the beginning but picks up at the final solution, which is a nice surprise, the mystery did feel weak because of the dull pacing(the film did feel longer than it was), lack of suspense and tension, the lacking dialogue and that really only two performances stood out. It also got very routine and didn't contain that many surprises. In conclusion, a watchable film with interest points but not great, one of the weaker entries of the series. 5.5/10 Bethany Cox

Robert J. Maxwell I get these Oriental gentlemen -- Mr. Wong, Charlie Chan, Mr. Moto -- mixed up because they all look alike. This one has Boris Karloff as James Lee Wong investigating the murder of a Chinese princess fresh off the ship from Hangkow. She's the sister of an important warlord and had intended to buy airplanes so that he could defend his province and wage battle against "the other powers." This is 1939. The war had not yet started for the United States but there was a good deal of rivalry for Pacific territories and a lot of enmity based on "the other power's" invasion of first Manchuria and then China itself in the early 30s. But of course, before Pearl Harbor, no one could use words like "Japan", "Chiang Kai-Sheck", or the Wellesly-educated and charming "Madam Chiang Kai-Sheck." The resemblance between the fictional and real elements of the story may be coincidental, but I doubt it. The Japanese equivalent of Charlie Chan -- Mr. Moto -- made his last film appearance in 1939. The Green Hornet's faithful valet, Kato, lost his Japanese ancestry in the same year, becoming first a Korean, then a Filipino.That's a bit of arcana, I know, but there isn't really much to say about the film itself. Boris Karloff has both his eyelids and his hair pasted back. He doesn't try a Chinese accent, nor is he called on to speak any Chinese, thank the merciful heavens. He's a perfect gentleman throughout. And his fulgurating intuition allows him to solve mysteries with only the slightest of clues. Having overheard one of the characters order a nice headstone for a dog's grave, Wong is able to conclude that a dwarf is actually buried there "because one does not order an expensive headstone for a savage dog." This guy makes Columbo seem dim-witted.There's a relationship between a sassy blond reporter and the police detective who is always insulting her, sometimes pushing her around, shoving an apple into her mouth, telling her to "get lost." It's supposed to be funny.Yes, it's another blockbuster from MONOGRAM STUDIOS. That means "no extras," so the story has a handful of the same characters walking or driving from one location to another. Some of the interiors use the same sets with the furniture rearranged.It's the kind of B feature that you'll either find very entertaining or dull throughout. I don't think there's any third possibility.