The final film in Monogram’s James Lee Wong series of mysteries breaks with the previous pictures in what amounts to a “reboot.” Keye Luke takes over the role of the detective from Boris Karloff, and though Grant Withers does reappear as Captain Street, Bobbie Logan (Marjorie Reynolds), his foil and romantic interest in the previous …
Read the full post →“Monogram Monday: <em>Phantom of Chinatown</em> (1940)”
In Boris Karloff’s final outing as detective James Lee Wong, he is persuaded by reporter Bobbie Long (Marjorie Reynolds) to investigate the murder of shipping magnate Cyrus Wentworth. All appearances are against young Dick Fleming (William Stelling), who is the son of Wentworth’s chief rival, Paul Fleming (Guy Usher), but nevertheless engaged to Wentworth’s daughter …
Read the full post →“Monogram Monday: <em>Doomed to Die</em> (1940)”
A policeman who has been working undercover investigating smuggling is found murdered, and detective James Lee Wong (Boris Karloff) helps police captain Bill Street (Grant Withers) to track down their friend’s killer(s). Marjorie Reynolds is very good as reporter Bobbie Long, and the rest of the supporting cast does well with their parts. This is …
Read the full post →“Monogram Monday: <em>The Fatal Hour</em> (1940)”
The Mr. Wong series took on what I consider its definitive form with this, the third entry in the series. Marjorie Reynolds joins the regular cast as reporter Bobby Logan, always ready to bend rules to get a story and also eager to champion those she thinks wrongfully accused. She and Wong’s friend Captain Street …
Read the full post →“Monogram Monday: <em>Mr. Wong in Chinatown</em> (1939)”
Mr. Wong (Boris Karloff) attends a party whose host (Morgan Wallace) is slain in the midst of a charades-type game. The victim had feared for his life after arranging for a rare gem to be smuggled out of China. The slain collector’s wife (Dorothy Tree) and private secretary (Craig Reynolds) are suspected, as they were …
Read the full post →“Monogram Monday: <em>The Mystery of Mr. Wong</em> (1939)”
Before the Charlie Chan series moved to Monogram in the 1940s, that little studio had its own series about a Chinese detective, James Lee Wong, who had starred in short stories in the magazine Collier’s. The first five of the six movies star Boris Karloff as the sleuth, an expert on many things, including Chinese …
Read the full post →“Monogram Monday: <em>Mr. Wong, Detective</em> (1938)”
