MR. WONG IN CHINATOWN

MR. WONG IN CHINATOWN (1939). Director: William Nigh.

A woman (Lotus Long) comes to see investigator James Lee Wong in his house in San Francisco, and is promptly murdered with a blow gun. it turns out that she is a princess who recently came into the country on a tramp steamer. Could some of the other passengers be involved? What does the dwarf on the ship know about the murder? Boris Karloff gives a flavorful performance as Mr. Wong, and Grant Withers is Police Captain Street. Marjorie Reynolds is a reporter who saves Wong and others from a violent murder attempt. Bessie Loo is the princess' maid, Lilly May. Lotus Long had a larger part in the Mr. Wong film Phantom of Chinatown wherein Keye Luke essayed the role of James Lee Wong. The picture holds the attention -- barely -- but doesn't really amount to much.

Verdict: Where's Charlie Chan when you need him? **.