Mr. Wong, Detective (1938)

James Groves

4/2/03

There is no time for winning the girl, and there is no need to brag until the job is done. Mr. Wong (a detective played by Boris Karloff) is having a

quiet evening at home when Simon Dayton, the owner of Dayton Chemical Works stumbles into Mr. Wong’s parlor and claims that his life has been threatened. Twelve hours later he is found dead on the floor of his office. Mr. Wong shows up for his appointment with Dayton to discuss the life-threats and soon finds himself on the trail of the murderer. On the scene he finds a few shards of glass, which the other detectives dismiss, but Mr. Wong is scrupulous and clever. Details are important. The number of suspects grows, starting with the office workers, then several others with known motives, but Mr. Wong soon learns that the weapon of choice is quite unconventional. It is a fragile glass bulb filled with a very deadly, odorless, colorless gas.

Sound familiar? For anyone who has seen Murder Over New York, the poison-filled bulb is the most obvious ripped off detail. In fact, there are

multitudes of similarities. However, it becomes apparent that Murder Over New York (1940) attempts to distinguish itself from Mr. Wong, Detective

(1938) in a number of ways. The first is a change of setting from San Francisco to New York. Another involves an issue of vernacular English.

Charlie Chan portrays a stereotyped Chinaman whose economic vocabulary often excludes principle parts of speech, but Mr. Wong speaks fluidly and

convincingly, with a slight British accent, and always in complete sentences. In my estimation, this quality makes for a more effective

investigator, despite the Confucius-say wisdom of Charlie Chan. Whereas Murder Over New York has a plot full of discrepancies and tacked on

explanations (plastic surgery is the reason Mrs. Narvo cannot recognize her ex-husband), Mr. Wong, Detective follows a clear, convincing, and compelling

storyline.