Phantom of Chinatown (1940)

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

A Disappointing Continuation

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

'Phantom of Chinatown, released in 1940 by Monogram Pictures, known for low budget films, it is remarkable in that it momentarily reversed a trend in the detective genre.Keye Luke had the starring role in this predictable murder mystery, as James Lee Wong detective.Better known as Charlie Chan's number one son, Kato in the Green Hornet and the blind master Po in the Kung Fu, Phantom of Chinatown offered him the chance to defy the stereotyping of Asians in cinema.Although there were capable Asians to play the role, the role was given to a European or white American actors, extravagantly disguised as a creation of social and cultural mores of the time.As Sax Rohmer's idea of a Yellow Peril, British-born Boris Karloff became Dr. Fu Man Chu; the Georgian Akim Tamiroff the wily warlord in Frank Capra's The General Dies at Dawn or the Swede Warner Oland the deceitful war lord in Josef Sternberg's Shanghai Express.On the other hand, a more comic buffoon character Charlie Chan amused Americans for almost 20 years with his fortune cookie philosophy, oddly cadenced English and exaggerated gestures bordering on the obsequious, as he solved crimes the world over.A creature from the pen of Earl Derr Bigger, Chan reinforced the stereotype of Chinese. As a stock sidekick, he had his number one son, American born, educated and speaking a colloquial English to heighten the ridiculous among second generation born Chinese, who although born in the US remained 'foreign'. John Marquand's Mr. Moto, played by the Hungarian Peter Lorre had all the features of the Japanese that became more exaggerated and racist during world war two. Wily, clever and speaking correct English resonated through his nasal cavity, he too was mysteriously different as a solver of murder and mayhem. (Imperial Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor ended the Moto series.) And then there was Hugh Wiley's creation in The Saturday Evening Post, James Lee Wong detective. Played in five films by Treasury agent Boris Karloff, who played him in a scholar gown, with a self- effacing and -deprecating manner.Karloff's English, correct as it is, distanced his Chinese detective by a lisp and a clipped to stress his foreignness.And the in 1940, Keye Luke plays Wong, the first Asian actor in a title role and a sound film as detective.Oh, what a difference: Luke's Wong is a Yale graduate; he speaks an impeccable American English; dress in a well-cut suit; he wears a dashing, raffish, pencil-like mustache, which makes him not only handsome, but shows that he is the leading man.Luke plays Wong with style, energy and youth enthusiasm, a good chip from the American Plymouth Rock.In consequent, the wisecracks and stereotyping are held to a bare minimum, a welcome relief.He's bright, no nonsense and lends an invaluable hand to the police captain who treats on an equal foot.The story line is formulaic, and tersely hold in a little over 60 minutes. The narrative holds our attention without taxing it.Of course what would a murder mystery picture with Asians be without exotic elements.. And Phantom of China doesn't let us down.Well we have scenes of the Gobi desert, search for a lost Ming Temple, an eternal sacred fire and a mysterious scroll to stitch the intrigue together.The murder is quick, by poison. The foot work quick without much fanfare to catch the killer.And there is the dead archaeologist assistant, played in a down-to-earth fashion by the Lotus Lang as Wen Lin, who keeps her counsel to herself.Wen Lin is written as a serious, supporting character whose manners and intelligence enhances the strength of Luke's Wong.Moreover, the film is peopled with many, nameless Chinese American actors and actresses who speak a standard English, are professional in demeanor and dignified in their roles. But for that one moment of stereotypical relief—Keye Luke's cook who speaks in a broken singsong cadence. And yet, he, too, is not made out to be a pumpkin nor a fool, the minor white detective assumes that role.Phantom of Chinatown directly shies away any allusions to the bloody Sino-Japanese war. Remember we are in an America with a strong isolationist streak, and substantial popular of America First, meaning keep out foreign wars.Suddenly the denouement is disconcerting: not in who the murder is nor his motive greed, but in the explanation of the scroll and the sacred fire that never stops burning.The scroll is the key to the secret of the Ming Tomb. It explains why the flame is eternal; it is fed by an unquenchable pool of petroleum that would be of great value to the forces of Chan Kai Check's troops fighting the Imperial Japanese invaders. (And by extension, after the war the fuel for China's growth and economic health.) Wen Lin is Chang's agent and as the film rushes to its conclusion, Wong and Lin will bring the news to China to bolster the war effort.Alas, the bombing of Peal Harbor put the kibosh on the Wong series, but not on the silliness of the Charlie Chan films.And no more did Hollywood until much later feature an Chinese or Asian actor as a leading man. And Luke went back to playing second banana and supporting roles.And it is this relatively obscure film that is worth reviewing for its brief breakthrough the walls of cultural racism in Hollywood and in America.

****SPOILERS**** Narrating a film he made on his expedition in the Mongolian Desert archaeologist Dr. John Benton, Charles Miller, just when he's about to reveal his findings suddenly drops dead, in fact he was officially declared dead a few hours later, in front of the shocked audience in attendance! With Dr. Genton's death declared a homicide, someone slipped poison in his drink, San Francisco police Captain Street, Grant Winters, is put on the case with Chinese history professor Jimmy Lee Wong, played by Charlie Chan #1 Son Keye Luke, doing the important leg work or investigating for him.It soon comes out that Dr. Benton had uncovered the tomb of the Emperor Ming, no not the guy in the Flash Gordon serial, of China in the 10th Century that had information in it about a secret map that leads to a massive oil reserves in the Mongolian Desert. It was one of the persons on Dr. Benton's expedition who's suspected in doing him in to get the map and sell it, for millions if not billions, to an either friendly or unfriendly country as well as oil conglomerate as long as it can some up with the cash!****SPOILERS**** Jimmy knowing his way around Chinatown and speaking the local lingo, Mandarin Chinese, slowly uncovers a plot to get the map but at the same time eliminate all those, except him or herself, involved so he wouldn't have to split the money, from the oil companies, with them. Setting a trap for Dr.Benton's, and later butler Mason's-John Holland-killer, Jimmy Leee Wong floats this made up story that the pilot on the expedition Jonas, William Costello, who was reported lost in the Mongolian Desert has shown up alive and is , after recovering from heat stroke, about to talk in who's responsible in Dr. Benton's murder not disappearance! How he could have known that in being some 7,000 miles away from the murder scene, is never explained? With him impersonating the at first dead now fully alive Jonas Jimmy Lee Wong has Dr. Benton's killer come out of the shadows and into the, in a well lit hospital room, light! Just as Captain Street and a half dozen members of the SFPD make the pinch on him as well as, this is the big surprise in the movie, his accomplice!

The beginning of this movie has an archaeologist unearthing an ancient tomb and subsequently murdered for it. No, it isn't a mummy movie. It's a Mr. Wong murder mystery. The last Mr. Wong movie, actually. This is today what we would call a reboot. They replace Boris Karloff with the younger Keye Luke, thereby restarting the series with a young Mr. Wong. It's interesting to see an actual Asian playing the lead role in one of these Asian detective movies, where a white man always played the part because it was believed at the time audiences wouldn't go to see movies with a non-white leading man.Keye Luke was an amazingly personable actor but this movie does not give him a chance to shine, forcing him to play Wong as a rather stuffy bore. Luke receives assistance from the lovely Lotus Long. They could have used this opportunity of a reboot to breathe some life into the Wong series, which was pretty stale. But instead this is quite possibly the dullest of the lot. Perhaps if given this shot at a better studio, it would have led to a long-lasting series with Keye Luke as the lead. But this is Monogram, king of the cheapies, so it's not surprising it didn't work out. Grant Withers was the only constant in all of the Wong films. While his character was a walking cliché, Withers played the part well.On the whole, the series was watchable but forgettable, even with Boris Karloff as the star. If you haven't seen many (better) B detective series, you might enjoy the Wong films more. But I've seen pretty much all of the them, certainly all of the major ones, and Mr. Wong does not stand up well.

Smilin' Leonard Maltin rates this one a bomb, but he couldn't be more wrong. It's a real forgotten gem and the best of the Mr. Wong detective series. Why? For whatever reason, the producers decided to cast Keye Luke--an Asian actor--in the role of the cinematic sleuth. Many similar films were made throughout the 30s and 40s, with Warner Oland and Sidney Toler cast as Charlie Chan and Peter Lorre as Mr. Moto. Luke was preceded by Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff as Wong. This seems to be the only example of an Asian detective being played by an Asian actor, and I'd love to know how Luke's casting came about. He's merely adequate as an actor, but his work gives the film an appealing realism (albeit as much as a film about an eternal flame and a lost scroll can be realistic). There are also reasonably good supporting roles for Asian actors, including Lotus Long as the leading lady, Lee Tung Foo in a comic role, and other uncredited actors. Series regular Grant Withers is on hand, wearing a rather unattractive and ill-fitting hat, as the bumbling police detective who needs Wong's help to crack the case. The film actually seems to take place in a somewhat realistic world, San Francisco's Chinatown, where Asian-Americans miraculously man and operate the telephone exchange! At 61 minutes the film is brisk entertainment that will keep your attention. It also manages to feel fresher than better acted and better budgeted genre films of the same period. Strongly recommended to sleuthing fans.