Leofwine_draca THE MYSTERIOUS MR. WONG is an old-time crime movie that boasts a starring role for Bela Lugosi as the titular villain (he doesn't attempt an accent other than his usual DRACULA one). He plays a megalomaniac desperate to get his hands on twelve rare coins which he believes will grant him wealth and power; his modus operandi is to kill anyone in possession of said coins in order to steal them for himself. The film is a brisk and cheerful effort, with a wisecracking hero who seems to take forever to get to any kind of conclusion, but the Chinatown setting is an enjoyable one and there's plenty of murderous mayhem to see it through.

Athanatos I'm not sure whom of five people to hate: the director? one or more of the people given the writing credits? In any event, this is one of those movies that fairly actively insults the viewer by having the ostensible hero repeatedly be implausibly foolish -- as if drunk through-out the entire story. On top of this, the movie is awash with offensive ethnic stereotypes, and with obviously Caucasian actors pretending to be Chinese by looking filthy and acting sub-human. The Chinatown is made to seem as if it were literally over-run with villains, so that Wong's henchmen are to be found on every balcony and in most doorways. The banter between the hero and his love interest is not so much a volley of witticisms as it is an inept logomachy.I paused the movie repeatedly, wanting to recover from sequences of stupidity before slogging onward.

Snow Leopard It has some good sequences, but overall "The Mysterious Mr. Wong" doesn't really live up to its promise. With Bela Lugosi starring as a shadowy villain, a decent plot idea that involves artifacts from ancient history, and a couple of interesting-looking settings, it had the makings of a good B-feature, at least as long as you are willing to overlook some stereotypes and the like for the sake of entertainment.Lugosi's character is interesting, as is his hideout, and Lugosi also gets the chance to play two different sides of his character. The script seems to miss a lot of opportunities, though, because the character really never comes to life as well as it could have. Wallace Ford actually gets the best opportunities, as the reporter who, along with Arline Judge, tries to contend with Wong's plots. Ford does pretty well in the role, and he has plenty of energy.The story likewise holds some possibilities that are never realized. There are some fairly good sequences with the characters inside Wong's secret lair, but at other times the story doesn't always make a lot of sense, and the interesting ideas involved in Wong's quest for the coins are mostly mentioned only in passing. It's all right as light entertainment, but it could have been more.

Chris Gaskin The Mysterous Mr Wong is nothing to do with the Mr Wong detective movies starring Boris Karloff. I found this quite good.A reporter is sent to investigate a series of murders in Chinatown and these turn out to have something to do with Mr Wong, a mad man who wants to be ruler of a large province in China once he has a full set of 12 coins of Confucius. The investigation takes the reporter and his lover into Mr Wong's residence where they are captured and nearly become victims themselves. Luckily, there is a telephone there and he calls for the police and at the end, Mr Wong is shot dead.The Mysterious Mr Wong has everything you would expect in this kind of movie: hidden doorways, secret passages, mysterious rooms and a torture chamber where Wong kills his victims.As well as Bela Lugosi as Mr Wong, the movie also stars Wallace Ford (The Ape Man) as the reporter and Fred Warren.This is worth a look at, especially for Bela Lugosi fans. Enjoyable.Rating: 3 stars out of 3.