Doomed to Die (1940)

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Mr Wong returns in another murder mystery! This time, a wealthy shipping magnate is trying to cope with the burning of one of his ships which has caused the deaths of hundreds of people, when he's shot and killed in his office. Mr Wong's got his work cut out for him this time, as Detective Street thinks he's already got the culprit – the son of the businessman's rival who was in the office about ten seconds before the guy got shot. We all know that's too easy, right? You've got all manner of suspects here, from the shady business partner, the lawyer, the rival or even the weird guy who keeps handing around on the fire escape. With plucky female journalist on hand, Wong sets out to get his man.While not as good as the other Wong film I've seen (The Fatal Hour), Doomed to Die still holds its own. It takes a while to get going, but once Wong starts doing his investigations, things pick up a bit. He visits the local Tong, gets shot at, discover secret passageways and a corpse, and generally runs rings around everyone else in the film. I wouldn't like to say too much without giving away the plot, mind you. It's just what it is, a solid mystery film that won't take up too much of your time. I quite like the way that Karloff, although playing a Chinese guy, doesn't overdo it and carries Wong with a certain quiet dignity.

Boris Karloff is Mr. Wong (for the last time) in "Doomed to Die," a 1940 B movie. I find these films much less successful than Charlie Chan or his Japanese counterpart, Mr. Moto.Taping someone's eyes to give them a slight Oriental slant does not a Chinese make, and Boris Karloff is decidedly not Chinese. He's as English as Big Ben. If the makeup were better, his British accent would have worked well, as Chan's speech especially was always stereotypical Of course, the best thing would have been to hire someone Chinese for the role, which they did later on when Keye Luke was cast in "Phantom of Chinatown." Karloff's Wong has a nice laugh and a good sense of humor. He's called in by reporter Bobbie Logan (Marjorie Reynolds) to help out when her friend Catherine Wentworth's fiancé is accused of murdering his future father-in-law, shipping magnate Cyrus Wentworth. One of Wentworth's ships has just suffered a fire, killing many people. Also distressing Wentworth is his daughter's romance with the son of a rival.While Catherine's fiancé, Dick Fleming, is arguing with Wentworth in his office, a shot rings out. When people respond, they find Fleming is gone and Wentworth is dead. Ultimately, Fleming is accused of the crime, and it's up to Mr. Wong and Captain Street (Dick Withers) to figure out what happened."Doomed to Die" was made during the Chinese-Japanese war, pre-World War II. It turns out that Kuomintang bonds had been smuggled out of China on the doomed ship to keep them safe. This suggests arson on the ship. With the murder of a Tong leader later on, there is more to this case than an unhappy fiancé.Pretty good story with Captain Street and Bobbie Logan continuing their hatred for one another, which really peps up this film as it did "The Fatal Hour." They are really funny and the best thing about these films. Karloff is very good and gives an intelligent performance.Entertaining, if not the greatest.

Cyrus P. Wentworth(Melvin Lang)is logically despondent after his flagship The Wentworth Castle tragically catches fire causing numerous deaths. The tycoon is also hiding the fact the ship was smuggling a group of Chinese and their small fortune. Following an argument with his daughter's fiancé, Wentworth is murdered in his office. Miss Wentworth(Catherine Craig)calls on the renown Oriental sleuth Mr. Wong(Boris Karloff)to investigate and take suspicion off of her boyfriend(William Sterling). Police Captain Street(Grant Withers) isn't really happy taking a backseat to Mr. Wong, but knows he needs the help. A cub reporter(Marjorie Reynolds)is a thorn in Street's side and provides the film some light comical banter. Mr. Wong is no Charlie Chan, but makes for an interesting crime drama. Other players: Kenneth Harlan, Guy Usher and Wilbur Mack.

**SPOILERS** Last of Monograms James Lee Wong detective series with the great Boris Karloff playing the witty and preceptive Chinese sleuth. Wong gets involved in the mass murder of some 400 passengers of a cruise ship to cover up an illegal bond smuggling operation. Nowhere as good as the much better Charlie Chan detectives movies that James Lee Wong was an obvious spin off from but Karloff, as James Lee Wong, gives the series that class that it needs to make it at least watchable.As the president of the shipping company that owns the cruise ship Wentworth Castle Paul Wentworth realizes that he's been unknowingly involved in illegal bond smuggling and that his flagship, the Wentworth Castle, was sabotaged in order to cover that fact up, from the Maritime Commission and FBI. Wentworth is suddenly confronted by his rival in the shipping business Paul Fleming, who came over to Wentworth's office to offer his sympathies. This leads to a violent argument over Wenthworths son Dick's involvement with Fleming's daughter Cynthia.It turns out that Dick Fleming is in love with Wentworth's daughter Cynthia and wants her hand in marriage which the mad as hell Paul Wentworth, who feels that Fleming is trying to take over his shipping company, is totally against. In no time at all with young Dick showing, as his father left, up to talk some sense into the crazy old Wentworth's head there's a shot heard, off camera, and before you know it Wentworth is dead as a door nail! Dick is seen fleeing from his office and suspected by the police for Wentworth's murder.Seeing enough of these kind of films you just know that Dick is innocent but the cop on the scene, a captain no less, Bill Street in convinced that Dick is the killer For the rest of the movie Street makes a complete jerk of himself trying to prove it with all the evidence to Paul Wentworth's murder showing that it was someone else. Capt. Street is also hampered by this nosy and pesky reporter Bobbie Logan who, unlike him, feels that Dick didn't do it and in the end has the by them embarrassed cop, after being shown how completely wrong he was, forced to eat his hat with a little salt and pepper sprinkled on it to give it some taste.Wong who comes on the scene late in the film is convinced that, like everyone in the audience, Dick is innocent which leads the real killer to take aim on him wounding Wong when he's out on the street looking for evidence in the case. It turns out that a passenger on the cruise ship, Kia Ling who survived, which the unlucky 400 others didn't, was involved in this smuggling operating of illegal bonds. Kia after being discovered by Wong and Capt. Street in his dockside home murdered it's also discovered that he isn't Kia Ling who we and Det. Wong were lead to believe but Mr. Wentworth's Chinese houseboy and all around handyman Lem Hou!Hou had been working with someone very close to the late Mr. Wentworth in the smuggling operation and was himself knocked off when the real Mr. Big got a bit paranoid and wanted no one to be around to be able to finger him for one of the largest mass murder in US crime history. He didn't at all expect that Chinese/American super-sleuth James Lee Wong was to be put on the case by the Flemings. When Wong finally went to work to get Paul Fleming's son Dick off it was just a matter of time before the real killer of Paul Wentworth was apprehended. That is if the killer didn't get, or murder, James Lee Wong first.