The American movie public had a fascination during the 1930s with Asian-American detectives who solved complex cases regular city police forces were unable to figure out. Three notable detectives, whose origins began in pulp magazines, were popular on the screen during the decade: Charlie Chan, Mr. Moto and Mr. Wong. The last to be introduced to cinema, Mr. Wong, marked his movie debut in October 1938 "Mr. Wong, Detective."
All three Asian-American crime solvers were played by Caucasian actors: Charlie Chan was acted by Warner Oland (Swedish), Mr. Moto, Peter Lorre (Austro-Hungarian), and Mr. Wong, Boris Karloff (English). Hollywood studios felt their viewers weren't quite ready to have actual Asian-Americans play the hero detectives, despite many Asians in these films in strong supporting roles. After five movies as Mr. Wong, however, Karloff voluntarily left his role, and was replaced by Chinese-American actor Keye Luke in 1940 for one movie before the series ended.
Film scholar Philippa Gates argues that "While the character of the detective provided a space for the representation and exploration of Asian and Asian American subjectivity, the detective was required to sublimate his/her bicultural status in favour of his/her profession and its alignment to the interests of mainstream (white) America." Viewers appreciated the Eastern wisdom these detectives brought to the screen, even though their fortune cookie-style statements were sometimes played for laughs, such as Chan's "Mind like parachute-only function when open."
Mr. Wong was created by writer Hugh Wiley, riding on the coattails of the Charlie Chan phenomenon. He introduced his Chinese-American Yale University-educated character in a 1934 Collier's Magazine story. In print he's a United States Treasury Department agent living in San Francisco. In "Mr. Wong, Detective," Karloff, as James Lee Wong, is a private eye who works with the city's police department. He assists Captain Sam Street (Grant Withers) to investigate the murder of chemical manufacturer owner Simon Dayton (John Hamilton, who later played newspaper editor Perry White in the 1950s TV series 'The Adventure of Superman.'). The police think Dayton died of a heart attack, but Mr. Wong discovers some glass shards around his body containing remnants of poison gas. He discovered chemical engineer Carl Roemer (John St. Polis) had threatened Dayton for not paying him contracted royalties on a successful product he had invented.
Low budget film studio Monogram Pictures, founded in 1931, had begun to produce many Grade B movie series in 1938. Mr. Wong was just one of their projects, which included The East Side Kids, a rip-off of the Dead End Kid, as well as several defunct series other studios had lost interest in, such as The Cisco Kid and Joe Palooka. Karloff's final appearance as Mr. Wong was 1940's 'Doomed to Die,' followed by his replacement Keye Luke with 'Phantom of Chinatown.' Critics claimed Karloff playing an Asian-American wasn't nearly as bad as some of his movie detective counterparts. Film reviewer Mitch Lovell notes, "He uses his silky British voice so he wasn't trying to speak in a broken Asian accent. Because of that, his portrayal of an Asian isn't nearly as offensive as some of his contemporaries."
Film scholar Philippa Gates argues that "While the character of the detective provided a space for the representation and exploration of Asian and Asian American subjectivity, the detective was required to sublimate his/her bicultural status in favour of his/her profession and its alignment to the interests of mainstream (white) America." Viewers appreciated the Eastern wisdom these detectives brought to the screen, even though their fortune cookie-style statements were sometimes played for laughs, such as Chan's "Mind like parachute-only function when open."
Mr. Wong was created by writer Hugh Wiley, riding on the coattails of the Charlie Chan phenomenon. He introduced his Chinese-American Yale University-educated character in a 1934 Collier's Magazine story. In print he's a United States Treasury Department agent living in San Francisco. In "Mr. Wong, Detective," Karloff, as James Lee Wong, is a private eye who works with the city's police department. He assists Captain Sam Street (Grant Withers) to investigate the murder of chemical manufacturer owner Simon Dayton (John Hamilton, who later played newspaper editor Perry White in the 1950s TV series 'The Adventure of Superman.'). The police think Dayton died of a heart attack, but Mr. Wong discovers some glass shards around his body containing remnants of poison gas. He discovered chemical engineer Carl Roemer (John St. Polis) had threatened Dayton for not paying him contracted royalties on a successful product he had invented.
Low budget film studio Monogram Pictures, founded in 1931, had begun to produce many Grade B movie series in 1938. Mr. Wong was just one of their projects, which included The East Side Kids, a rip-off of the Dead End Kid, as well as several defunct series other studios had lost interest in, such as The Cisco Kid and Joe Palooka. Karloff's final appearance as Mr. Wong was 1940's 'Doomed to Die,' followed by his replacement Keye Luke with 'Phantom of Chinatown.' Critics claimed Karloff playing an Asian-American wasn't nearly as bad as some of his movie detective counterparts. Film reviewer Mitch Lovell notes, "He uses his silky British voice so he wasn't trying to speak in a broken Asian accent. Because of that, his portrayal of an Asian isn't nearly as offensive as some of his contemporaries."