MR. WONG IN CHINATOWN (1939) Boris Karloff, Marjorie Reynolds & Grant Withers | Crime, Drama | B&W

Mr. Wong in Chinatown is a 1939 American mystery film directed by William Nigh and starring Boris Karloff as Mr. Wong.

SYNOPSIS
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.

A beautiful Chinese woman visits Mr. Wong late at night but is murdered before she can tell him why she needs his help. Wong discovers that she is Princess Lin Hwa, the sister of a powerful Chinese general, and that she was killed with a poisoned dart fired from a Chinese "sleeve gun."

As with some of his previous investigations, Wong is given important information by the leader of a powerful tong (Chinese secret society). The tong leader tells Wong that the princess had come to the United States with almost $1-million to arrange the secret purchase of airplanes that were to be smuggled into China.

As Wong continues the investigation he learns that all the money that the princess deposited in a local bank has been paid out—and that the signature on most of the checks is a forgery. Wong becomes the target of a killer, and is aided in his investigation by a blonde, beautiful and energetic newspaper reporter.

Was the princess killed by enemies of her brother to prevent the shipment of the planes to China? Or was she killed to hide the fact that there actually were no planes and the whole scheme was a scam?

Wong's careful conversations with the captain of the ship the princess traveled on, the owner of the aviation company that owned the planes she was going to buy, and the president of the bank where the princess deposited her money, result in him uncovering the identity of the killer.

CAST & CREW
Boris Karloff as Mr. James Lee Wong
Marjorie Reynolds as Roberta 'Bobbie' Logan
Grant Withers as Police Capt. Bill Street
Huntley Gordon as Mr. Davidson
George Lynn as Capt. Guy Jackson (as Peter George Lynn)
William Royle as Capt. Jaime
James Flavin as Police Sgt. Jerry
Lotus Long as Princess Lin Hwa
Lee Tung Foo as Willie (as Lee Tong Foo)
Bessie Loo as Lilly May
Richard Loo as Tong chief
Ernie Stanton as Burton
I. Stanford Jolley as Hotel clerk

Directed by William Nigh
Written by Hugh Wiley, Scott Darling
Produced by William T. Lackey
Cinematography Harry Neumann
Edited by Russell F. Schoengarth
Music by Edward J. Kay
Distributed by Monogram Pictures
Release date August 1, 1939
Running time 71 minutes
Country United States
Language English