Mr. Wong in Chinatown
A pretty Chinese woman, seeking help from San Francisco detective James Lee Wong, is killed by a poisoned dart in his front hall, having time only to scrawl "Captain J" on a sheet of paper. She proves to be Princess Lin Hwa, on a secret military mission for Chinese forces fighting the Japanese invasion. Mr. Wong finds two captains with the intial J in the case, neither being quite what he seems; there's fog on the waterfront and someone still has that poison-dart gun...
Details
Release Date: 8/1/1939
Runtime: 71 minutes
Languages: English
Director: William Nigh
00Production
Companies: Monogram Pictures
Countries: United States of America
Where to watch · US
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Reviews
CinemaSerf
When the Princess "Lin Hwa" (Lotus Long) is killed by a poisoned dart in the home of our eponymous San Francisco detective (Boris Karloff) she leaves him one, singly enigmatic, clue which he must utilise to thwart a gang involved with the Japanese occupation of China. Local plod "Capt. Street" (Grant Withers) bucks the trend of many similar style adventure films, and demonstrates some competence as the pair soon discover the foggy docks of their city harbour much more than just ships. There is never any doubt who will come a cropper in the end, but William Nigh gets a lot from his star, a limited script and an even more limited budget and presents us with a basic, but acceptable murder mystery with shades of political intrigue.
