| Product: |
Mr. Wong Detective (DVD) |
| Date: |
20/05/08 (141 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Classic B&W mystery, great character interaction
Disadvantages: Limited appeal these days, sadly
Mr Wong was called San Francisco's 'famous Chinese sleuth'. He first appeared in a series of novels written in the mid to late 1930's by Hugh Wiley and appeared in a magazine called Colliers. They were popular enough amongst the magazines readers that it wasn't too long before the character was taken up by Monogram, who were looking for the own oriental detective to put onto the movie screens. They wanted someone to compete with Mr Moto and, especially, Charlie Chan two popular screen detectives at the time.
In the usual way of the time period they didn't look for an oriental detective for the part instead picking on Boris Karloff. He soon agreed, seeing the intelligent and suave Chinaman as a promising part.
Mr. Wong never had any official capacity in his crime solving endeavours, not even as a Private Detective, but was often asked to help by individuals in trouble or by his fellow Chinese immigrants in San Francisco.
Mr Wong, Detective was the first of the 5 Mr Wong films starring Boris Karloff, (the sixth one starred Keye Luke, the first time any of the three main Oriental detectives was actually played by an Asian).
Mr Wong Detective starts with a businessman called Deighton visiting our eponymous hero. He is worried that he is being tailed and that his life is in danger, but he has no specific reason for thinking that. Wong agrees to visit Deighton the next morning only to find that the police are already there. Deighton is dead and the main suspect is an angry inventor who came to his office with a gun, to have it out with the man who stole his invention.
There is only one minuscule clue, a shard of glass near the body. Will Mr Wong be able to deduce what the glass is and what it has to do with the murder of Deighton?
Made in 1938 and only 71 minutes in length Mr Wong Detective is a fine example of the detective B-movies that Hollywood churned out in that era, short and sharp with an interesting main character that would hopefully lead to a series. Mr Wong is similar to a Sherlock Holmes, except quieter and more restrained in his actions. He is a thoughtful man who isn't prone to the theatrics that Holmes was in his explanations, though he uses the same deductive reasoning and has the same eye for detail that even the most observant Police Detective is prone to miss.
Like most of the series of B-movie investigators of the time the main police foil is a bit of a fool, supplying not only comedy moment buts also being used to keep the viewers up to par on what is going on, asking Mr Wong to explain his deductions or by making a stupid statement that Mr Wong shoots down and explains why Detective Street is wrong.
Grant Withers, who plays Detective Street, is the equivalent of Dr. Holmes in that respect. The bumbling fool prone to jump to completely the wrong conclusion at the drop of a hat.
In this movie Street is harangued by Roberta Logan, a reporter with an acid tongue and a sharp wit who seems to like playing with Street, leading him on and maybe hoping to attract more than his attention. There are shades of screwball comedy in their scenes and they take us away from the mystery and add a little light relief that keeps the movie flying along.
Yes Mr Wong is limited compared to today's standards but what it does it does extremely well. What I love is that there is no wasted time, not a scene is there to pad the film out, everything is important to either the plot or the characters. Everything is there to push forward the story, even the comedy scenes with Logan and Street. Even from the very beginning no time is wasted getting straight into the crux of the story.
I'll freely admit that not many people are ever going to see this, though The Falcon series did turn up on BBC over Christmas 2007, but they are part of the history of cinema, a look back at a bygone age where a cinema visit was a whole night out not just a couple of hours. A time when film was finding its feet and when all that mattered was the story, not the set pieces, action and special effects.
Having said that a quick look on Ebay will reveal that you can buy this, and the others in the series, from numerous sellers. Maybe there is a bigger demand for these films than I originally thought?
Summary: A classic B-Movie mystery from the 30's
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