DOOMED TO DIE

Henry Brandon, Catherine Craig, William Stelling

DOOMED TO DIE (1940). Director: William Nigh.

Cyrus Wentworth (Melvin Lang) is bitterly opposed to his daughter Cynthia's (Catherine Craig) marriage to Dick Fleming (William Stelling) because he is the son of his shipping rival, Paul Fleming (Guy Usher). Paul is hoping to consolidate both firms, especially after there's an accident at sea which claims many lives. Naturally the Flemings are the top suspects when Cyrus is murdered, but Cynthia sticks by her fiance. Of course Captain Street (Grant Withers) is convinced Dick is guilty, but reporter "Bobbi" Logan (Marjorie Reynolds) gets James Lee Wong (Boris Karloff) on the case. Other characters embroiled in the mystery include Matthews (Wilbur Mack), who works for Wentworth; attorney Victor Martin (Henry Brandon); and insurance adjuster Baldwin (Tristram Coffin). Doomed to Die is not awful and moves fast, but it's just blah; it's a series that ran out of gas early on. One of the problems is that the blustery character of Captain Street and his prickly relationship with Bobbi wore thin. The considerable talents of Henry Brandon [Captain Sindbad] are completely wasted in this movie. This was the penultimate Mr. Wong movie, and the last to star Boris Karloff. Keye Luke replaced him for Phantom of Chinatown. Catherine Craig is much better in this than she was in Spy Train.

Verdict: One last gasp for Karloff's Mr. Wong. **.

THE FATAL HOUR

Hands up! Grant Withers and Boris Karloff

THE FATAL HOUR (1940). Director: William Nigh.

Police captain Bill Street (Grant Withers) is disheartened to learn that old friend and fellow cop Dan O'Grady has been murdered and his body dumped in the river. Criminologist James Lee Wong (Boris Karloff) thinks there's little he can do as the case seemingly has no connection with the Chinese-American community, until Street reminds him that many Chinese objects have been smuggled; O'Grady himself was investigating a smuggling racket. The people the two men investigate include dealer Frank Belden (Hooper Atchley); his son (Craig Reynolds of Romance on the Run), who is in love with adventuress Tanya (Lita Chevret); radio actor Griswold (Jason Robards Sr.); financier Forbes (Charles Trowbridge of Mysterious Dr. Satan); and crooked club owner "Hardway" Lockett (Frank Puglia of The Boogie Man Will Get You), who owns the Club Neptune. Street has a love-hate thing going with reporter Roberta Logan (Marjorie Reynolds). The actors, especially Karloff, are swell, and Tristram Coffin has a small role as a desk clerk in a hotel. The Fatal Hour has a fairly clever murder scheme but the movie is not very memorable. One of the characters is inexplicably murdered in police headquarters right outside Street's office.

Verdict: Pleasant time-passer but little else. **.

THE MYSTERY OF MR. WONG

A well-composed cast shot from "Mr. Wong"

THE MYSTERY OF MR. WONG (1939). Director: William Nigh.

"I confess I'm completely at a loss."

James Lee Wong (Boris Karloff) is invited to the home of Brendan Edwards (Morgan Wallace), who shows him the fabulous and cursed sapphire known as the Eye of the Daughter of the Moon. Not much later, Edwards participates in a parlor sketch [during a Charades-like game called "Indications"] in which he gets shot by a jealous husband, but in a plot twist used in other films, Edwards is really killed. At first there seem to be real bullets in the gun, but this is just the first of a number of interesting twists in the movie. Suspects include his wife, Valerie (Dorothy Tree of City in Darkness); his secretary Harrison (Craig Reynolds of Romance on the Run); the musician Strogonoff (Ivan Lebedeff); and the maid, Drina (Lotus Long); among others. Wong is assisted by his old associate Professor Janney (Holmes Herbert of Daughter of the Dragon) as well as Captain Street (Grant Withers). Karloff is excellent, as usual, there's a good wind-up, and the picture is quite entertaining.

Verdict: Snappy Mr. Wong mystery. ***.

MR. WONG, DETECTIVE

Boris Karloff and Grant Withers

MR. WONG, DETECTIVE (1938). Director: Hugh Wiley.

Mr. Wong is the third Oriental sleuth introduced after Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto. James Lee Wong originally appeared in stories that appeared in Collier's and was the subject of several pictures for cheapie studio Monogram (where Charlie Chan eventually wound up). In this first Mr. Wong movie, Wong (a well-cast Boris Karloff) receives a plea for help from the frightened Dayton (John Hamilton), who runs a chemical company and who is convinced that someone is out to get him. As usual in these pictures, the client winds up dead, and there are more murders to follow. The murder method is poison gas but the killer is especially clever in figuring out how to get the gas to the victim. Suspects and other characters include Captain Street (Grant Withers of Radio Patrol) who's investigating the case; his gal, Myra (Maxine Jennings); the bitter inventor Roemer (John St. Polis); the mysterious Olga Petrov (Evelyn Brent of Daughter of Shanghai); and Dayton's partners, Meisle (William Gould) and Wilk (Hooper Atchley). The performances are fine and the picture moves fairly quickly, although a musical score certainly would have helped. Withers and Brent also appeared together in the serial Jungle Jim. 

Verdict: Not bad intro to the Mr. Wong series. ***.

PHANTOM OF CHINATOWN

PHANTOM OF CHINATOWN (1940). Director: Phil Rosen.

While giving a lecture accompanying slides of a recent trip he'd undertaken with colleagues, Dr. Benton (Charles Miller) collapses and dies. Jimmy Wong (Keye Luke) investigates and along the way discovers the existence of a scroll that leads to a shrine of eternal flame that is over a valuable oil deposit. Captain Street (Grant Withers) pokes his nose in the plot, and so does Benton's secretary, Win Lee (Lotus Long), who may or may not be on the side of the angels. Keye Luke isn't bad as Wong, and he's authentically Chinese-American, but he's a bit colorless compared to Karloff, who originated the role. Of course, he plays a sort of alternate Wong. Lee Tung Foo makes an impression as Jimmy's excitable cook, Foo. Mason is played by John Holland, probably most famous for his role as Alice's handsome employer, who thinks Ralph is her brother, in a classic episode of The Honeymooners. (He also played Henry Higgins' butler years later in My Fair Lady.)

Verdict: Acceptable if very minor mystery. **.

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? **.