I just recently read about this 1940 film starring Keye Luke as a private eye, James Wong. I'm going to try to find a copy. Has anyone ever seen this picture, and if so, what do you think? Assuming this is part of the "Mr. Wong" series, does anyone know why Luke, not Karloff, did the role? It obviously made a lot of sense to finally have a real Asian playing an Asian sleuth. And why didn't Luke continue in the role?

I purchased the DVD inexpensively at Amazon.com recently. I have yet to sit down and watch it, since I have been watching my Charlie Chan box sets first. I am looking forward to seeing it though. I took a peek at the first few minute and found the introduction enjoyable.

Gary,
It should be easy to find a DVD of Phantom of Chinatown.

What I didn't know about Phantom of Chinatown until I'd seen it a couple of dozen times is that it's supposed to be a prequel to Karloff's James Lee Wong movies.

That makes more sense than watching it as a sequel to the other movies.

I suspect that the reason that they didn't make more with Keye Luke was why they kept using Cuacasians as Charlie Chan: Movie audiences at the time just weren't buying Asians as Asians in the movie.

Don't ask me why because I adore Keye Luke and would have enjoyed more of the series with him.

And it was nice to see the good guy get the girl at the end of the movie!

Virginia

Hi Gary,

This is speculation on my part, but many today feel that Keye Luke was not effective in this role and if audiences of that time felt the same way there would have been no incentive to continue the role. Monogram was a bargain basement studio and if their films didn't make money they couldn't have afforded to continue the series.

In a way, Keye Luke was very lucky this series didn't continue. I've always felt he was an accomplished actor, and Monogram films were beneath his talents. His two appearances with Roland Winters didn't begin to capture the magic he had with Warner Oland. Post Monogram, Luke was able to position himself as a valued character actor who made many appearances over the years and became an iconic figure of sorts in the 70s during his Kung Fu years.

Steve

Thanks for the replies, folks. I've just ordered PHANTOM, so I hope I'll be able to watch it the next 10 days-2 weeks. Along with it, I ordered a 1939 Tex Ritter film called RIDERS OF THE FRONTIER, in which Mantan Moreland appears as the cook on a cattle drive. He and Ritter are supposed to share a song, so I can hardly wait!

PHANTOM arrived yesterday. I watched it when I got home from work. Wish Keye Luke could've had a better starring vehicle. The 62 minutes seemed much longer. His co-star, Lotus Long, seemed to be reading her lines off cue cards and Grant Withers was saddled with a too-small hat(!) and seemed embarassed by the whole thing. I'll watch it again to see if my first impressions hold up.

Hi Gary:

Just read your review of Phantom of Chinatown. I am curious if you have seen any of Karloff's Mr. Wong films. At one point I was considering purchasing a boxed set from Oldies.com, but have read some not so good reviews of this series.

I can't say that I've seen any of the Karloff "Wongs." But some of the dialogue in PHANTOM gives the impression that Keye Luke is supposed to be the son of the original Wong. Also, having watched PHANTOM two more times, it's started to grow on me. Lotus Long is still a stiff performer, but Luke is very relaxed and personable. I wish the series could have continued with him as the lead.