The Mysterious Mr. Wong (1934) User Reviews

Interesting old-time crime pulp

[djensen1 · 5/10 · 13 March 2005]

Modern viewers must be forgiven if they're confused over the genre of this Bela Lugosi film. It's crime pulp, something hardly seen today except in Quentin Tarantino films. The focus is on the villain, in this case Lugosi as a Chinese(!) gangster tracking down the twelve coins of Confucius. The only mystery is how he will be stopped and whether or not he will escape to cause trouble another day.

Wallace Ford is fun as the wry reporter (reminding me a bit of Chevy Chase). And Arline Judge is as cute as a button as the switchboard operator he's trying to romance. It all takes place in Chinatown, for some reason, with plenty of casual bigotry, altho its sometimes turned around on the bigot for comic comeuppance (as when Ford talks pidgin to a Chinese girl only to be answered in fluent English).

If you like the era, this is a fun film and a good example of the genre. It's got the menacing thugs, mysterious murders, and secret passageways you expect and a bit of sassy dialog to boot.

A Lot of Fun

[aimless-46 · 6/10 · 16 February 2006]

Bela Lugosi changes genres in 1934's "The Mysterious Mr. Wong"; a detective mystery set in LA's Chinatown. As Li See he is the low profile owner of a herb shop patronized for comic relief by a stereotypical Irish cop. But he is secretly the title character who will stop at nothing to gather all twelve of the Coins of Confucius. Once he has all twelve he will have special powers in Keelat (a Chinese province) from where he apparently can inflict his evil on a wider scale.

All these coins have found there way to 1930's LA for some reason and Wong's minions spend the first part of the movie murdering assorted Chinese characters to gain possession of each coin. You quickly learn which guys are his minions because they are the only ones in the movie who wear "Billy Jack" style flat brim hats.

Newspaper reporter Jason Barton (Wallace Ford) begins to investigate the murders, both alone and in the company of his paper's cute and plucky switchboard operator Peg (Arline Judge). Judge becomes one of the earliest scream queens as talking pictures had only been around a few years. The chemistry and banter between Ford and Judge is the best thing about "The Mysterious Mr. Wong". It is the equal of Gable and Colbert in "It Happened One Night" but unfortunately their scenes together are not the central focus of the story.

Wong has a beautiful niece (played by Lotus Long) who periodically appears in short scenes of no actual consequence to the plot. She is in a constant state of great distress about her uncle's evil activities and it is implied that Wong kills her after she leads Barton and Peg to him.

The movie never explains why Wong regards this as a bad thing because it appears to be exactly what he wanted her to do. But this is an illustration of many logic problems in the screenplay, which are best ignored. Just enjoy the great dialogue despite the flaws in storyline logic. Some stuff essential to the plot was probably trimmed to reduce the running time. Barton and Peg are given one of the coins by a disembodied hand while they are having dinner in a Chinese restaurant. Viewers have to fill in a lot of missing action to connect this improbable coincidence with earlier events.

The Hollywood racist and ethnic stereotypes abound, my favorite is a Chinese university professor who heads up the Department of Orientology.

Lugosi is sinister in a nice self-parodying way, with an accent that is more vaguely foreign than Chinese. His Mr. Wong is entirely unrelated to Boris Karloff's later detective series of the same name.

If you enjoy early cinema this one is highly recommended. The suspense won't keep you on the edge of your seat but the Ford and Judge interplay is timeless

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Better than Average B Movie

[fcullen · 6/10 · 7 July 2008]

If you like only big budget 'A' movies that provide the director, set designers, technicians and actors all the advantages that money can buy to make a decent flick, you shouldn't watch B programmers. And the Mysterious Mr. Wong is a B pic without apologies from Monogram. The small Poverty Row studios whose budgets permitted then to make only B movies, rented everything from actors to sound stages so they had to make their movies cheaply and quickly. Anyone can made a $60 million dollar film--even a 30 million dollar flick in today's dollars, and if it turns out to be anything less than a good film, the people responsible haven't talent. On the other hand, it took solid craftspeople to turn out an entertaining 6-reel B movie in a week or two for chump change. (If you ever need a hint to distinguish between A budget and B budget movies, look for ceilings in the settings. Eliminating ceilings saved construction money and made lighting easier.) If I compare The Mysterious Mr. Wong with the better A movies, I give it a 6. If I compare it to the best of the B flicks, such as the Thin Man series (which earns a 9 from me), I'd award Mysterious Mr Wong an 8. Nina Howett banged out a script peppered with amusing dialogue, and the seemingly spontaneous Wallace Ford and Arline Judge do it up proud. Robert Emmett O'Connor always scores as the pudding-faced Irish cop with little in his noggin. Bela Lugosi, regardless of how ineptly he handled his career, remains one of the most striking and interesting performers ever on the screen---able to excel in operatic horror, comedy and drama roles. Versatile as he was, however, his acting talent didn't include a facility with accents. His Hungarian accent could only adapt to Central or Eastern Europeans characters. Still, his exotic quality triumphed over that sole limitation. William Nigh, one of the most competent B directors, keeps the pace crackling for all of the film's 65 minutes. Even the camera work is smart. Yes, the script is racist: the film's Chinese are inscrutable, untrustworthy and murderous (except the roles of Lotus Lee and her mother (?)) and Irish are thick-headed. But, as another reviewer noted, two young Chinese women turn their own back from Wallace Ford's character by replying in cultivated English to his condescending pidgin talk. The picture quality of the Alpha release is fine, but the sound is muddy.

OK, But Doesn't Really Fulfill Its Promise

[Snow Leopard · 16 June 2005]

It has some good sequences, but overall "The Mysterious Mr. Wong" doesn't really live up to its promise. With Bela Lugosi starring as a shadowy villain, a decent plot idea that involves artifacts from ancient history, and a couple of interesting-looking settings, it had the makings of a good B-feature, at least as long as you are willing to overlook some stereotypes and the like for the sake of entertainment.

Lugosi's character is interesting, as is his hideout, and Lugosi also gets the chance to play two different sides of his character. The script seems to miss a lot of opportunities, though, because the character really never comes to life as well as it could have. Wallace Ford actually gets the best opportunities, as the reporter who, along with Arline Judge, tries to contend with Wong's plots. Ford does pretty well in the role, and he has plenty of energy.

The story likewise holds some possibilities that are never realized. There are some fairly good sequences with the characters inside Wong's secret lair, but at other times the story doesn't always make a lot of sense, and the interesting ideas involved in Wong's quest for the coins are mostly mentioned only in passing. It's all right as light entertainment, but it could have been more.

Monogram Pictures Strikes Again!!!

[Bucs1960 · 3/10 · 20 November 2008]

That bottom of the barrel movie mill, Monogram, gives its all in this ridiculous but fun film about mysterious happenings in a pseudo Chinatown. Bela Lugosi is the power-hungry overlord searching for the 12 Coins of Confucius which will allow him to become the Boss of Bosses. True to the era and for no particular reason except to add to the running time, all Chinese, good or bad, are murdered, tortured and generally abused.

Throw in Wallace Ford and Arline Judge as the newspaper reporter and his girlfriend for some unfunny comic relief and E. Alyn Warren (who???) as Lugosi's arch enemy and you are off and running. The dialogue will remind you of the Charlie Chan films with those "Confucious say......." aphorisms.

Two of the most humorous things in this mish-mash (and there are many) are: (1) Lugosi playing an Oriental with that heavy Hungarian accent; and (2) after trying every type of torture to make his arch enemy crack under pressure, Lugosi kicks him in the shins. Priceless!!! It's foolish, tacky, poverty row at its finest..........what fun!!!!

He will let nothing stand in his way.

[michaelRokeefe · 3/10 · 20 October 2001]

This is one of the strangest I have watched in a good while. Of course an hour is not too long to devote to one of your horror film favorites. Disappointment sets in when you realize this is not horror, just odd. Bela Lugosi plays a ruthless Chinese villain that is not short in ordering murder in order to collect the fabled 'twelve coins of Confucius' for himself. Conveniently the coins are concentrated in New York City's Chinatown. Adding to the mystery and oddity of Lugosi's character...his thick Hungarian accent is not disguised.

Note:Lugosi's arch rival Boris Karloff had a series of Mr. Wong Chinese detective flicks also directed by William Nigh.

Pretty tough going--it's amazingly dull and listless

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 17 January 2008]

I am a fan of Bela Lugosi but I also realize that he often appeared in cheesy films. However, much of this cheese was actually a lot of fun to watch despite the low budgets and silly writing. Sadly, however, this film is neither well made nor is it cheesy fun--just amazingly dull.

The film begins with the old Monogram Studios logo--the one with the monorails and zeppelins. Despite this cool start, I also immediately realized that because it was made by a so-called "Poverty Row" studio, that the budget and overall quality would be suspect.

Wallace Ford is a rather obnoxious reporter (a standard cliché of the day) who is assigned to Chinatown due to some suspicious murders. At the heart of it all is Mr. Wong--but exactly WHO Wong is no one seems to know. Considering the film stars Lugosi, it doesn't exactly take a rocket scientist to figure it probably is him!! However, who thought that a Hungarian with a heavy accent would make a good Chinese-American?! And who would have thought that Lugosi actually looked and sounded MORE Chinese than his motley group of henchmen. They all sported Chinese-style clothes but looked about as Chinese as Mae West!! The film does have some killing and tossing of knives and even some bamboo shoots being inserted under the nails. Yet, because the acting is so flat, the script so limp that even these crazy story elements can't breathe life into this soggy biscuit. Perhaps the movie would have been better if Lugosi had actually played twins--then maybe two Wongs could have gotten it right! I should be ashamed of myself.

A final note--The DVD version of this film I saw was from Passport Video and was of very dubious quality (it came in "The Bela Lugosi Box"). This company specializes in releasing public domain films and consistently does nothing to clean up the prints. This one was almost unwatchable due to terrible sound and no captioning. Also, Passport imprints their logo at the bottom right corner of the screen--which seems like a lot of nerve considering they didn't pay for the film!! Public domain AND emblazoning their name across it like they made the film?! Gimme a break. See if you can find a different and cleaner version.

So bad it's just plain bad

[jonfrum2000 · 1/10 · 15 February 2011]

I can't believe the relatively good ratings this one is getting - I find it unwatchable. I'm a big Charlie Chan fan, and i'll defend the series against all charges of racism, but this stinker is beyond defending. The only redeeming factor is that it insults the Irish cop as much as the Chinese characters. This is a film that consists entirely of stereotypes - the wisecracking reporter, the pretty love interest who puts off the 'hero,' the half-wit Irish cop, the nefarious orientals - all that's missing is the cowboy in the white hat.

Don't confuse this with the Boris Karloff Wong series - the difference is like night and day.

What Was Lugosi Thinking?

[bsmith5552 · 3/10 · 14 June 2007]

"The Mysterious Mr. Wong" is a mystery to me. Star Bela Lugosi made some questionable career choices following his success in "Dracula" (1931). This was certainly one of them. He accepted many parts from so-called poverty row studios probably because he needed the money. At this time he was about to embark on a trilogy of films with Boris Karloff (The Black Cat, The Raven , The Invisible Ray) that should have solidified his career. Unfortunately it did not.

This mess of a movie casts Lugosi as a Chinese (Chinese?) lord, Fu Wong, who is seeking the 12 coins of Chinese Philosopher, Confuscious. The coins it seems were given by Confuscious on his death bed to 12 of his closest friends. They have been passed down to their descendants. The 12 coins when gathered together are supposed to confer untold power to their owner.

The story opens promisingly with three murders by unseen assassins. Each of the victims has one of the fabled coins in his possession. It's all downhill from here. The murderers report back to their boss, Fu Wong (Lugosi, complete with drooping mustache and thick Hungarian accent). He now has 11 of the twelve coins in his possession. He sends his men out in search of the twelfth. Now how in heaven's name did these rare coins all wind up in the same city in the USA?

The murders of the Chinese are assigned to fast talking reporter Jay Barton (Wallace Ford) who with bumbling Police Officer McGillicuddy (Robert Emmett O' Connor) investigate the deaths. In between Barton manages to romance the comely young Peg (Arline Judge). A note left by one of the victims leads Barton to Wong. He seeks the aid of good Chinese philosopher Philip Tsang (E. Alyn Warren) to translate the note. The note leads to the 12th coin and.............................

Lugosi is laughable as the "Hungarian Chinese" villain. He may have seen Karloff have success with "The Mask of Fu Manchu" and wanted to emulate him, who knows? Wallace Ford was about to escape "B" movies with a memorable role in John Ford's "The Informer" (1935).

A dreadful movie.

Remember, Confuscious say:

Actor with thick Hungarian accent Cast in part of Chinese villain Wind up in "wong" role

Politically Incorrect But Still An Entertaining Lugosi Epic

[zardoz-13 · 7/10 · 28 December 2008]

The 1935 Monogram Pictures' release "The Mysterious Mr. Wong," with Bela Lugosi, clearly didn't deserve any Oscars, but neither does director William Nigh's poverty-row crime thriller qualify as ghastly. This low-budget, black & white whodunit about a series of murders occurring in the Chinatown section of an anonymous metropolitan American city is incorrigibly xenophobic. Remember, when this movie came out, Americans harbored paranoid fears about the so-called 'Yellow Peril' that Chinese immigrants represented as they poured into the west coast. Any multi-culturally minded liberals who partake of "The Mysterious Mr. Wong" are going to be not only appalled but also offended this movie's conspicuous, racially charged invective.

Clocking in at a meager 63 minutes, this melodrama never wears out its welcome. Prolific director William Nigh, who helmed 120 movies in a career spanning thirty-four years, and his writers keep things clicking. Lew Levenson adapted author Harry Stephen Keeler's story "The Twelve Coins of Confucius," and Nina Howatt penned the screenplay with James Herbuveaux contributing additional dialogue. Neither Howatt nor Herbuveaux wrote anything after "The Mysterious Mr. Wong," but the dialogue sounds pretty snappy, slang-riddled, but quotable. The action itself resembles a twelve chapter serial pared down to the bare essentials. Secret passageways, concealed doors, underground sanctums, exotic coins, and torture chambers permeate this yarn.

"The Mysterious Mr. Wong" opens with expository information from an encyclopedia about the fabled twelve coins of Confucius and how the person who possesses them will rule a province called Keelat. A newspaper story about a murder appears next. Indeed, newspaper accounts of homicides in Chinatown recur throughout the film. Three slayings occur in rapid succession in the first few minutes. The police believe that the Tongs are on the warpath. The first victim staggers out into a street and collapses. A man searches his body, finds a perforated coin, and plants a note with a Chinese letter on the corpse. The second victim has been hanged and hands rifle his pockets to acquire a coin. The third man is strangled as he sleeps—yes, he is strangled perhaps too quickly, but the Production Code censors might have forced Nigh to accelerate this lurid death scene—and hands plunder his body, extract the coin from a shoe and leave the usual note on his body. Meanwhile, agents of the Keelat province show up in town to thwart Mr. Wong. Phillip Tsang (E. Alyn Warren of "Chinatown Squad") heads up the operation. Eventually, Tsang crosses paths with Mr. Wong and Wong takes him hostage.

A cynical newspaper reporter, Jason Barton (Wallace Ford of "Freaks"), investigates these murders. The authorities are convinced that the Tongs are responsible. Barton disagrees in a news story, and his editor Steve Brandon (Lee Shumway of "The Lone Star Ranger"), packs him off to find a Chinaman named Wong. "Did you ever run into a Chinaman by the name of Wong?" Brandon inquires. "Have I ever run into any that ain't named Wong?" Barton retorts. Our journalistic hero ventures into Sam Toy's Laundry where he encounters an Irish cop, Officer 'Mac' McGillicuddy (Robert Emmett 0'Conner of "Picture Snatcher"), who seems to be the only policeman walking a beat in the district. He shares Barton's racism and refers to the Chinese as "monkeys." None of the other reporters are interested in the murder. Barton checks over the body and learns that Toy died with a pencil in his hand. A breeze blows through the laundry when Mac opens the door and Barton finds a message written in Chinese. He visits the herb shop of Mr. Lysee (Bela Lugosi), but Lysee plays dumb when Barton quizzes him. Barton visits a nearby university where Professor Chan Fu (Luke Chan) works as a translator. Lysee sends one of his minions to steal the note from Barton, but Barton eludes him.

Later, Barton ransacks Toy's laundry and finds the last coin, but an assailant gets the drop on Barton and steals the last coin. When Barton recovers, he learns another Chinaman has died. "Say, this is getting monotonous," Barton complains, "I'm supposed to bring in real live news, the best I can do is run down dead Chinamen." Later, Barton and the newspaper switchboard operator, Peg (Arlene Judge of "Flying Devils"), have dinner in a restaurant and Barton discovers that the man who stole the coin from him is trying to return it. This man dies in the booth next to Barton and Peg. Afterward, Mr. Wong's murderous minions capture Barton and Peg. Eventually, Wong takes them to his underground torture chamber where he plans to stick bamboo shafts up Peg's finger nails unless the reticent Barton surrenders the last coin.

Just before the torture commences, Wong and company leave our hero and heroine alone long enough for Barton to find a convenient telephone and call his boss. "I'm somewhere back of old Lysee's herb shop. It's a matter of life and death. There's a secret panel on the back of the counter. You better come well heeled. These babies don't play with marbles." Nigh was no stranger to directing movies about Asians with white actors impersonated Orientals. He directed all five Boris Karloff mysteries in the "Mr. Wong" franchise: "Mr. Wong, Detective," "The Mystery of Mr. Wong," "Mr. Wong in Chinatown," "The Fatal Hour," and "Doomed to Die." Later, Nigh directed Lugosi again in "Black Dragons" during 1942.

Of course, "Dracula" star Bela Lugosi was atrociously miscast as Mr. Wong with his obvious Hungarian accent. More than likely, Monogram cast Lugosi because Universal had cast Bela's biggest rival Boris Karloff in their 1932 epic "The Mask of Fu Manchu." Nevertheless, Bela delivers his lines with reasonable credibility and doesn't bump into the furniture. He looks pretty sinister as an Asian villain and he is up to his ears in intrigue and murder. "The Mysterious Mr. Wong" wallows in racial prejudice that was part and parcel of its time. Nevertheless, it still ranks as an entertaining B-movie.

"A few hours will loosen his tongue to tell the truth!"

[Hey_Sweden · 5/10 · 28 July 2017]

This pulp crime fiction, based on a story by Harry Stephen Keeler, is zippy enough and atmospheric enough to make it an okay view. Modern viewers may wince at the level of political incorrectness on display, but sometimes the ignorant characters are properly made to feel embarrassed. Front and centre is horror star Bela Lugosi in the dual role of nefarious Fu Manchu style Chinese villain Fu Wong, and kindly shopkeeper Li See. He wants to obtain the "twelve coins of Confucius" in order to have ultimate power. Following a trail of dead bodies is obnoxious reporter Jay Barton (Wallace Ford), whose investigation leads him to the mysterious Mr. Wong.

Old time movies like this clearly were never meant to be great cinema, but just simple, straightforward, amusing programmers that typically clocked in at barely over an hour. And it IS pretty amusing, provided you know what to expect. Elements of intrigue and suspense are heavily contrasted against a lot of wise ass comedy. Ford, certainly, had put the patent on the sort of character that he plays here, and guys like Barton popped up time and again in such tales. The script is actually pretty funny at times, and with the amount of quips that he utters, it's true that a role like Barton would be a natural for a comedy actor like Chevy Chase.

Lugosi is great fun as always, no matter if his accent rarely sounds like anything other than Hungarian. Ford is a hoot, as is the pretty and tough talking Arline Judge. She plays Peg, his leading lady. E. Alyn Warren is good as a Chinese secret agent, Lotus Long is lovely as Wongs' niece "Moonflower", and Robert Emmett O'Connor is spot on in a deliberately stereotypical portrait of an old Irish beat cop.

Although ultimately forgettable, this offers enough laughs and irreverence to make it pretty easy to take.

Five out of 10.

Bela Lugosi wants to rule China

[reptilicus · 8/10 · 7 March 2006]

Ages ago, so the story goes, Confucius gave 12 coins to his disciples and vowed that anyone who came into possession of all 12 would rule the province of Keelat (wherever THAT is!). Many centuries later 10 of the 12 coins have fallen into the possession of Mr. Wong (Bela Lugosi) who will stop at nothing, including murder, to get the other 2. Therein, my dear readers, lies our plot.

Local newspaper reporter Jason Barton (Wallace Ford) hears about the killings in San Francisco's Chinatown and decides to investigate; or rather he is TOLD to investigate by his editor. Barton tracks the killer to the seemingly innocent shop of Ly See the herb dealer (also Bela) who tries to put him on the wrong trail but after several attempts on his life, Barton realises all roads lead back to the humble Ly See. Could he be more than what he seems? Perhaps!

It would be easy to dismiss this film as anti-Asian and racist but let us consider when it was made. In 1935 many Americans feared what came to be known as The Yellow Peril. They feared that China would take over the USA by sheer force of numbers since China's population well outnumbered that of the US. Furthermore the movie reflects the attitudes of Americans AT THAT TIME toward the Chinese. You need only watch a few minutes of SHANGHAI EXPRESS (1932) or THE MASK OF FU MANCHU (also 1932) to be convinced that Hollywood believed all Asians to be inferior. The dialog in this movie is no exception. When first informed of a killing in Chainatown Ford's character remarks "What do I care about a dead laundryman?". Even MacGillicuddy the friendly cop on the beat down in Chinatown (J. Farrell MacDonald) says things like "Them Chinamen is jabberin' like a room full o' monkeys." and when informed of another death says "Better dead ones than live ones." Sadly this was the attitude of many Americans at the time and this movie, like several others, merely reflects that attitude.

Meanwhile it is a rather good mystery with lots of plots that would do a 12 chapter cliffhanger good with believable villains, good heroes and a plot which never strays too far from believability. Of course Bela's accent is no more Chinese than it was Mexican, Greek, French, German or any other role he had to play in those days but it does lead a touch of exotic authenticity to his role. Obviously turning down the role in FRANKENSTEIN was already beginning to haunt him since Universal loaned him out for this low budget film.

Wallace Ford is quite good as the wisecracking reporter. He fills in the spot left vacant by Lee Tracy after his . . . er . . . "incident" on a Hollywood street and Ford had a niche which he would return to many times in his career.

So is MYSTERIOUS MR. WONG bad? No! Is it a fun film? Yes. Is it worth seeing? Yes! It is 65 minutes well invested in your education into film history and you will not regret it.

Oh, and does Bela's character ever get all 12 coins of Confucius? Now come on, you don't really think I was going to say, did you? Find out for yourself!

Bela turns Chinese

[chris_gaskin123 · 7/10 · 4 May 2005]

The Mysterous Mr Wong is nothing to do with the Mr Wong detective movies starring Boris Karloff. I found this quite good.

A reporter is sent to investigate a series of murders in Chinatown and these turn out to have something to do with Mr Wong, a mad man who wants to be ruler of a large province in China once he has a full set of 12 coins of Confucius. The investigation takes the reporter and his lover into Mr Wong's residence where they are captured and nearly become victims themselves. Luckily, there is a telephone there and he calls for the police and at the end, Mr Wong is shot dead.

The Mysterious Mr Wong has everything you would expect in this kind of movie: hidden doorways, secret passages, mysterious rooms and a torture chamber where Wong kills his victims.

As well as Bela Lugosi as Mr Wong, the movie also stars Wallace Ford (The Ape Man) as the reporter and Fred Warren.

This is worth a look at, especially for Bela Lugosi fans. Enjoyable.

Rating: 3 stars out of 3.

Bela Lugosi as the Mad Manchurian

[kevinolzak · 4/10 · 17 January 2022]

1934's "The Mysterious Mr. Wong" casts Hungarian Bela Lugosi in something of a dual role: Fu Wong the titular character a 'Mad Manchurian' (a Poverty Row Fu Manchu) seeking 12 coins given out by Confucius on his death bed, which would enable the owner to command the Chinese province of Keelat, and his elderly masquerade as herb dealer Li See, whose shop is connected to Wong's inner sanctum through a secret panel. The picture begins with a series of murders that have authorities believing there's another Tong war, Wong's henchmen successfully delivering 11 coins, each corpse identified by a piece of Chinese writing. The downward spiral introduces Wallace Ford as roving reporter Jason Barton, wisecracking with Irish cop McGillicuddy (Robert Emmet O'Connor), various comings and goings repeated endlessly as the elusive final coin is passed from person to person. Arline Judge gets in a few shots as Barton's sweetheart, but the comic relief overwhelms the rest of the film, leaving Lugosi in a vacuum to carry the burden on his own, as he so often did in low budget productions (not enough screen time at 18 minutes). Ford also opposed Bela in "Night of Terror" and "The Ape Man," but this nauseating newshound is his worst yet, on par with Lee Tracy's unfunny antics opposite Lionel Atwill in "Doctor X." This was Lugosi's only film for the original Monogram company, soon to be absorbed into Herbert J. Yates' Republic Pictures, a new Monogram emerging from the ashes to kick off Sam Katzman's infamous 9 picture deal in 1941. An entirely new Mr. Wong inspired by Charlie Chan would later allow Boris Karloff a crime solving respite during the horror blackout of the late 30s, a six film series concluding in 1940 with one shot Wong Keye Luke doing the honors in the closer "Phantom of Chinatown." Concluding a year playing heroes in "The Black Cat" and "The Return of Chandu," Lugosi returned to full time villainy back to back in both this and Columbia's forgotten programmer "The Best Man Wins," before well remembered roles in MGM's "Mark of the Vampire," and Universals "The Raven" and "The Invisible Ray."

About Harry Stephen Keeler, inspiration for the film

[polt · 3 November 1998]

This film is based on Harry Stephen Keeler's novel Sing Sing Nights. If you think the film is weird, read the book! It also inspired the movie "Sing Sing Nights." For more information on both films, see CULT MOVIES No. 26.

UNINTELLIGIBLE LUGOSI...WISE-CRACKING REPORTER ROMANCE...TORTURE ENDING TOO LATE

[LeonLouisRicci · 5/10 · 13 August 2021]

Not to be Confused with the Boris Karloff "Wong" Detective Monogram Series.

This is a Tuff-Going bit of Yellow-Peril with an Overload of Dated Date-Humor,

Very Limited Sets and Surroundings, with the "Chinese" Players all around 6' Tall.

Bela Lugosi's Hungarian Accent is on Full-Throated Display, and about 1-10 Words Reach the Ear with Clarity or Understanding.

It'a a Typical Talkie Low-Budget Affair with a Dull Display of Chinatown, or for that Matter, most Scenes are Droll and Unremarkable.

The Movie Tries to Up its "Pulp-Magazine" Sensibilities and Reason for Being in the Last Act.

With a Claustrophobic Torture Chamber and "Women in Peril" Lurid Sensationalism.

But it's Too Little Too Late.

Lugosi Fans will be Disappointed, but will Watch Anyway.

Below Average even for Monogram.

Speaking of Monogram...

A High-Light is the Really-Cool Monogram Title Opening.

It's Art-Deco Snazzy.

So Boring Even Bela Can't Save This One

[Deloreanguy79 · 3/10 · 28 September 2018]

Woof this was dullsville, a bunch of things happen in this movie and none of them are interesting or memorable. Even Bela Lugosi can't save this cheap B movie. Bela always gives his all and he is the only highlight of this movie that feels more like a cheapie serial. Only for Lugosi fans like me who want to own every Bela movie,good or bad. If you don't love Bela Lugosi skip it and avoid a hour of yawning.

Dated Chinatown mystery

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 10 July 2018]

THE MYSTERIOUS MR. WONG is an old-time crime movie that boasts a starring role for Bela Lugosi as the titular villain (he doesn't attempt an accent other than his usual DRACULA one). He plays a megalomaniac desperate to get his hands on twelve rare coins which he believes will grant him wealth and power; his modus operandi is to kill anyone in possession of said coins in order to steal them for himself. The film is a brisk and cheerful effort, with a wisecracking hero who seems to take forever to get to any kind of conclusion, but the Chinatown setting is an enjoyable one and there's plenty of murderous mayhem to see it through.

Too Foolish To Be Serious, Too Dull To Be A Burlesque

[boblipton · 1/10 · 20 April 2023]

A series of murders happen in Chinatown. Newspaperman Wallace Ford isn't interested in covering a tong war, but he's assigned to the case, which cuts into his dating of switchboard operator Arline Judge. Bela Lugosi, who's playing Wong, is looking for the Twelfth Golden Coin of Confucius which, like all maguffins will let him rule the Chinese province of Keelat and kill tigers in the Scottish highlands.

It's pure pulp, with striking gongs, hordes of futile assassins, mazes and sliding passages beneath Chinatown, and Lugosi smiling jovially as he contemplates sticking bamboo splinters into Miss Judge's fingernails and setting them alight. Ford and Miss Judge banter poorly, and those who play ethnic Chinese like to talk in pidgin English. In fact, the only thing this movie seems to get right is the utter indifference the Caucasians exhibit towards half a dozen deaths in Chinatown.

I think it's possible that director William Nigh thought he was making a burlesque rather than ineptly directing a serious movie. However, if so, he directed the burlesque ineptly.

Weirdly watchable

[CatherineYronwode · 5/10 · 11 October 2006]

Like others who have reviewed this film, i must comment on the improbability and sheer weirdness of Bela Lugosi playing a Chinese master criminal / herb shop dealer with his thick Rumanian accent. That being said, i'd like to give a credit to the underrated Lotus Long. She had a beautiful screen presence and is seen to better advantage in "Phantom of Chinatown" with Keye Luke playing the "other" Mr. Wong, but even her small role here is memorable.

Both Long and Lugosi are given fantastically embroidered Chiense Opera costumes to wear (the real thing, not simple silk robes) and the sets are of interest as well, filled with then-contemporary (now "vintage") Asian art, plus a few high-grade antiques.

The true shortcoming of this film is not Lugosi's bizarre turn as a Chinese man, nor the casual racism in the script -- it is the sheer lack of human interest that the other actors display in the deaths of the Chinese carriers of the mysterious ancient coins, a "so-what?" attitude that diminishes the dramatic tension of the plot.

Neat Little Mystery Movie

[Rainey-Dawn · 6/10 · 20 October 2015]

The movie does have some plot-holes, not everything is fully explained, but if you can overlook that then you might like this film. It's a cute little mystery-horror film that is intriguing in spite of it's flaws. The script writers seemed to write this one fairly quickly but somehow that is part of the charm of the film.

Lugosi tends to pour his heart into playing his character roles - Mr. Wong is no exception. Mr. Wong is seemly a really nice guy but he does have a bad side... a very bad side. The character is likable in a wicked sorta way. You don't won't to get on his wrong side.

I have to say the costumes are beautiful... so are some of the sets!! Overall I liked the film. I found it fun to watch.

6.5/10

Who Is Responsible for This?

[Athanatos · 2/10 · 22 December 2007]

I'm not sure whom of five people to hate: the director? one or more of the people given the writing credits? In any event, this is one of those movies that fairly actively insults the viewer by having the ostensible hero repeatedly be implausibly foolish -- as if drunk through-out the entire story. On top of this, the movie is awash with offensive ethnic stereotypes, and with obviously Caucasian actors pretending to be Chinese by looking filthy and acting sub-human. The Chinatown is made to seem as if it were literally over-run with villains, so that Wong's henchmen are to be found on every balcony and in most doorways. The banter between the hero and his love interest is not so much a volley of witticisms as it is an inept logomachy.

I paused the movie repeatedly, wanting to recover from sequences of stupidity before slogging onward.

LUGOSI A MUST SEE AS MR. WONG...

[tcchelsey · 10/10 · 22 March 2024]

Harry Stephen Keeler, a popular writer of detective novels in the 20s and 30s, wrote this trim mystery for Bela Lugosi. Keeler may have been inspired by Boris Karloff's grandiose performance in THE MASK OF FU MANCHU a few years earlier, though with a much higher budget than Monogram Pictures could afford.

Nevertheless, this thriller has its moments --and Lugosi -- playing diabolical Mr. Wong, in desperate search for twelve rare oriental coins that will bring him amazing powers. The coins are reportedly secreted in various places in New York's Chinatown and his league of assasins are on the hunt.

Crusading reporter Wallace Ford senses an incredible story and gets caught up in the killings, getting trapped himself by Wong. His companion and assistant is switchboard operator Arline Judge, in a very good role. Judge actually brings a bit of humor to the story amid guns, knives and torture chambers.

Not bad for a low budget entry, and the acting from the three leads is excellent. No matter what part he plays, Bela Lugosi makes a terrific villain, this time dressed in oriental robes, sporting a long black moustache. The banter between Ford and Judge is fun stuff, they make a sporty team up against Lugosi's brooding, devious character which is a campy treat.

This was Bela Lugosi's very first film for Monogram, many years before his series of low budget chillers for them and producer Sam Katzman. What sets this apart from the rest is the feeling of an independent production, perhaps with a bit more class, much in the style of WHITE ZOMBIE. Not to be confused with the MR. WONG detective series (also produced by Monogram) starring Boris Karloff.

One goof; Wong ties up Ford and Judge in a room that happens to have a telephone? The ending with Wong's fingers clutching the door handle, perhaps suggested by Lugosi himself from his silent film days, is a classic, making up for the rest. Lugosi followed this up with MGM's elaborate MARK OF THE VAMPIRE.

Roan Group has issued a very good remastered copy of the film, and in an attractive box set. Also thanks to RETRO TV for rerunning this oldie.

Great acting gets wasted in mediocre movie...

[jluis1984 · 6/10 · 6 November 2007]

While originally created as the embodiment of the racism towards Asian people that was prevalent when British writer Sax Rohmer wrote about him for the first time, the criminal mastermind Dr. Fu Manchu is nowadays considered as one of the most famous and influential characters in fiction. In the early 30s, several movies about Fu Manchu were very popular, specially the fourth one, 1932's "The Mask of Fu Manchu", which had horror legend Boris Karloff playing the infamous criminal (Swedish actor Warner Oland played Fu Manchu in the first three American movies). While not a success of the proportions of other horror movies of the same period, "The Mask of Fu Manchu" performed very good commercially, and producer George Yohalem at the legendary B movie studio Monogram Pictures decided to cash make his own thriller with an Asian mastermind played by another horror legend: Bela Lugosi, who in those years was beginning to be type-casted in villainous roles.

A series of mysterious murders begin to take place in San Francisco's Chinatown, in what at first sight looks like a war between rival Tongs, the infamous Chinese American secret societies. Reporter Jason Barton (Wallace Ford), is sent to investigate on the case, but while he also initially believes that this killings are nothing more than a typical clash between mafias, soon he discovers that the truth behind them is far more amazing than what he ever thought, as the clues unveil a mysterious criminal mastermind known only as Wong (Bela Lugosi) as the responsible of the murders. Mr. Wong is looking for the Twelve Coins of Confucius, a mythical set of coins that according to legend, will grant to its owner the power to rule over an ancient Chinese province. Barton will have to solve the mystery behind the identity of Mr. Wong in order to stop him before he finds the twelfth coin.

Written by Lew Levenson and Nina Howatt, "The Mysterious Mr. Wong" is an adaptation of a short story by the then popular detective fiction writer Harry Stephen Keeler, "The Twelve Coins of Confucius", which was included in his "Sing Sing Nights" book (itself adapted to film that very same year). Like many horror and mystery films of those days, "The Mysterious Mr. Wong" follows a wisecracking reporter trying to catch a murderer and solve the case, however, what's interesting about this movie (and Keeler's original story) is that even when the movie was obviously done to cash in the success of "Fu Manchu", the attitude towards the Asian people is completely different, as although the villain is of Asian origin, most of the Asian characters are presented (albeit stereotypically) as wise and cultured people while the American counterparts are racist and ignorant about their culture.

Director William Nigh, famous for his career on B movies, helms "The Mysterious Mr. Wong" with his usual restrained but effective style. While the movie is built like a thriller in the "Fu Manchu" style (sometimes it almost feels like a chapter from a serial), Nigh keeps the movie deeply rooted in its crime fiction origins, and it even has traces of the elements that would evolve in the Film-Noir genre of the 40s. Already used to work with truly limited budgets, director William Nigh packs his movie nicely and makes the most of what he's got, wisely leaving his cast (namely Bela Lugosi and William Ford) to do their thing and drive the film with their talents. Nigh may had been a Poverty Row director, but he knew what worked on his movies and this time his work with the cast was spot on. Sadly, it wouldn't be enough to save a movie with an extremely poor script.

As written above, it is the cast's performances what truly makes the film worthy, as while the script it of a mediocre quality, the three lead actors make a terrific job with what they had in their hands. As our wisecracking hero, Ford is genuinely funny in his delivery of jokes and one-liners, showing that ease with comedy that he had showed before in Browning's "Freaks". Arline Judge plays the romantic interest, but she doesn't limit herself to be a damsel in distress, as she makes her character the real equivalent of Ford's and gives their relationship the dynamics of classic screwball comedy. Finally, Bela Lugosi steals the show as usual in his performance as the ambitious Mr. Wong, playing a malicious and intelligent character with great skill and enthusiasm. It's odd to see him play a Chinese man, but his accent actually works and one wonders how Fu Manchu movie with Bela would had been.

It's a real shame that such great performances get wasted in the movie, as while they make the movie worth a watch, they aren't enough to save the film from its problems, deeply rooted in the awful script built from Keeler's short story. It's true that Harry Stephen Keeler's novels never were really high class literature, but Levenson and Howatt's screenplay make what could had been an exciting mix of horror and thriller to feel slow and average. The main problem is that the movie has a great potential (that gets shown in a couple of scenes), but never truly delivers because it fails to explore what it proposes and everything ends in good ideas that never really were exploited. In all fairness, this may had been caused by their budgetary limitations, as one gets the feeling that the story was cut to make the movie shorter.

While "The Mysterious Mr. Wong" never really reaches its true potential, it's still a fun (albeit average) thriller that benefits a lot from Judge, Ford and specially Lugosi. It's no masterpiece, but despite its limitations, it's a very entertaining film. And by the way, this movie has no relation to the other "Mr. Wong" movies produced later by Monogram, where the character was reworked as a detective in the vein of Charlie Chan.

6/10

The Coins Of Confusion oops Confucius

[bkoganbing · 3/10 · 17 January 2012]

A few years before Boris Karloff did a series of films for Monogram as a Chinese detective named Mr. Wong, his rival Bela Lugosi starred in this anemically financed film where he was a bad guy with the same name. The Mysterious Mr. Wong has Bela cast as an apparently peaceful Chinese antique dealer, who is causing a whole lot of murders in Chinatown in a quest for some rare coins said to belong to none other than Kung Fu Tze or Confucius as we westerners know him. Possession of these items will give him some kind of legitimacy to rule in the part of China that Confucius called his home town.

Now why in the wide wide world are these coins not in China proper but in America and why these people are being murdered this script leaves out. This is a film that relies on the talents of Bela Lugosi to look and act sinister which Lugosi could do in some of the most ridiculous films ever done.

Wallace Ford as a reporter and girlfriend Arline Judge are the two that bring Lugosi down while on the trail of the story behind the Chinatown murders. Probably the best performance in the film is by character actor Robert Emmett O'Connor who plays the local beat cop in Chinatown who is absolutely clueless about what is going on. His knowledge of the Chinese culture doesn't go beyond ordering take out and he freely admits it.

If Confucius could give us his review of this film he would say stay away and not bother to construct a fortune cookie aphorism to deliver the message.