Before Charlie Chan switched from Fox to low-budget Monogram Studios, Monogram created its own Chan knockoff in the form of the Mr. Wong movies. Like the Chan films, the lead character is some white guy in cheesy makeup--in this case, Boris Karloff. Unlike the Chan movies, Wong speaks without any particularly noticeable accent and he works without the assistance of his kids or Birmingham Brown. Instead, while not exactly his sidekick, the same nosy female reporter follows him and the police inspector during all the Wong films. Unfortunately, while the two series were awfully similar, the Chan series just seemed a lot more fun. A sense of whimsy was definitely missing from this film. Now as for the plot, it isn't bad at all but it also isn't enough to lift this from the category of a "time passer" and I can certainly see why Monogram soon dropped the Wong series in favor of their own line of Chan films. An interesting but ultimately ordinary film from start to finish. I wish I could say more about the film, but even after just watching it, nothing whatsoever stands out in my mind--and that says a lot about the film.
Review of The Fatal Hour
