hte-trasme Boris Karloff's performance as James Lee Wong is probably the best thing about this film. It's subtle and effective, and doesn't fall back on the Chinese stereotypes that many would have. Monogram was about the least respected studio around at this time, but Boris Karloff probably couldn't resist the offer to star in his own detective series, and his enjoyment shows.The others actors, however, are almost universally horrible. The performances tend towards either the wooden or the constantly-shouting. Grant Withers even seems to forget his lines at one point, and nobody thinks to do another take.The direction and design are both flat and dull. There is some cleverness to the film's mystery plot, but it is developed mainly with long, clumsily-written passages of exposition. Karloff fans will want to see him as Mr. Wong, but otherwise there's not much reason to bother with this sloppy B-picture.

Athanatos The basic gimmick to this movie is clever. Mr Wong, on the other hand, either isn't clever or is a sort of passive-aggressive fiend, who delights in murder.Before the second murder has occurred, Wong has the gist of how the first murder was effected. And, as the second murder is about to be committed, Mr Wong is positioned to know what the triggering mechanism is. So I'm shouting "Kick the door! Kick the door! Kick the door!" But Wong is just standing there. Perhaps he's not figured it out.After the second murder, Wong is positioned to know exactly what the trigger is. But Wong allows a third murder to happen.Well, I submit that Mr Wong does know; that, as the third murder is committed, the buzzard is sitting next to Street, giggling inside, as Street unwittingly kills the third fellow.Wong doesn't bother to expose the murderer until the murderer has little cause to kill again. Unfortunately for the killer, Wong figures that he can get one more death out of the situation, by sending the killer to the gallows.Wait! Why was Street sending people to the gallows in 1938? California switched to gas for people convicted after 27 August 1937. (Lethal injection was introduced in the '90s.)

sergio choren In the great tradition of Chinese detectives as Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto, Boris Karloff's Mr. Wong was a solid addition to that venerable kind of films. Is really difficult to think in Karloff as a Chinese person, but the British actor delivers a solid performance, if you can dig his weird accent. The plot is simple, the strange murders are against logic, but Mr. Wong's patience and intelligence can solve the mystery. The other actors are far below Karloff, but the overall fell of the movie is candid and likable. Another completely different Mr. Wong was played before by Bela Lugosi, a villain, but this detective deserves your interest if you are a fan of the genre.

Snow Leopard Although most of the production is pretty plain, the basic mystery story in "Mr. Wong, Detective" is rather interesting, and Boris Karloff's good performance as the detective also makes it worth seeing. Karloff brought a human touch to every role that he played, and even though this is an atypical part for him, he is a believable Mr. Wong. Most of the other characters are somewhat nondescript, except for Grant Withers's abrasive police officer, and aside from Karloff the cast is nothing special, but the story itself is enough to hold your interest.In the story, the detective must patiently solve a mystery from the slightest of clues. Some of the developments strain credibility, but if you can accept the premise, it's an interesting idea and it makes decent use of the details. There are several places where it could have been written better or edited more effectively, but the pacing is pretty good, and as it proceeds, it often gives you what you need to know in order to try to anticipate what happens next.The climactic sequence is one of the better ones that you'll see in this kind of B-movie. The production values are lower than a Karloff feature deserves, but with a solid story and Karloff in the lead, it's definitely worth seeing.