Boris Karloff and Monogram jumped on the Asian detective bandwagon following the successful Charlie Chan/Mr Moto series with his own "franchise", about San Francisco-based super detective James Lee Wong, created by writer Hugh Wiley. There were six Wongs in all, although Keye Luke took over the lead role towards the end.
Boris Karloff looks little more Asiatic than Peter Lorre, with that Chinese makeup not really covering for his distinguished voice, but this has the benefit of a decent enough story - Wong investigating the murder of a chemist (killed, locked room mystery style via some poison gas) - with some twists and turns and I really enjoyed the ending.
However the pacing is slow - it's closer to a Chan movie than a Moto one, only without the warmth and humour of the best Charlie Chans. The acting is very hit and miss, and Mr Wong isn't very Oriental at all - no neat Chinese things, or sayings (although he does like to unwind at home in traditional Chinese garb which was a nice touch). The production values are low and the handling not particularly inspired.
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