Our Monday Evening Chat, Film Viewing: "Mr. Wong, Detective"
Our film for this week’s Monday Evening Chat/Film Viewing feature will be the film that provided the plot for the second Roland Winters Chan film, “Docks of New Orleans,” which we viewed together last week. “Mr. Wong, Detective,” stars Boris Karloff as Detective James Lee Wong, a San Francisco-based detective whose character, created by Hugh Wiley, was something of a response to the wild popularity of Charlie Chan. Beginning in 1934, a series of twelve Mr. Wong stories appeared in ‘Colliers’ magazine, running until 1938. There were stark differences between Charlie Chan and Wong: Mr. was described as being six feet tall and weighing 165 pounds. He was also a graduate of Yale University (interestingly, a rival to the Alma Mater of Chan’s creator, Earl Derr Biggers, a graduate of Harvard!).
As we view “Mr. Wong, Detective,” we can first of all see the similarities to the plot and details seen in “Docks of New Orleans.” Next, we can seek to determine any other Chan connections, as well.
So, please join us in our Chat Room which is located HERE at our Charlie Chan Family Home. Please use any of the “Chat Room” links to join us. We begin with arrivals and greetings at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, and we roll our personal copies of our film exactly 30 minutes later.
Even if you cannot access a copy of the above-noted film, please do join us anyway, as you will NOT be left out of our ongoing chat and festivities. Also, as is our custom, newcomers are offered the seat of honor at our humble table. (Many of our films, such as this week’s entry, may be found available for viewing online through such outlets as YouTube, etc., although of late, the number has decreased markedly due, understandably, to copyright issues. Happily, a check just now reveals that “Mr. Wong, Detective” IS available at YouTube…!)
Thank you so much, and let’s meet for yet another fun Monday evening as we gather to watch “Mr. Wong, Detective.”
(PLEASE NOTE: If you would like to receive weekly email announcements regarding our Monday Evening Chats, as well as receive high-quality scanned movie still images (one per week) from our films of the week, please email us at: charliechanfamily@yahoo.com.)
