''Doomed to Die'' is a 1940 American

mystery film A mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means of clues, i ...

directed by

William Nigh William Nigh (October 12, 1881 – November 27, 1955) was an American film director, writer, and actor. His film work sometimes lists him as either "Will Nigh" or "William Nye". Biography Nigh was born Emil Kreuske''Silent Film Necrology'' ...

and starring

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established ...

as Mr. Wong with Marjorie Reynolds and

Grant Withers Granville Gustavus Withers (January 17, 1905 – March 27, 1959) was an American film actor who acted under the screen name Grant Withers. With early beginnings in the silent era, Withers moved into sound films, establishing himself with a lis ...

. It is a sequel to the 1940 film, '' The Fatal Hour'',Stephen Jacobs, ''Boris Karloff: More Than a Monster'', Tomahawk Press 2011 p 259-260 which also featured Withers and Reynolds.

Plot

When the head of a shipping company is murdered in his office the identity of the killer seems obvious. The killer is the son of the owner of a rival shipping company; the reason is the Romeo and Juliet romance between the killer and the murdered man's daughter. They wanted to get married. The murdered man refused to give them his permission. The murdered man's daughter asks Mr. Wong to investigate. She hopes that Wong will be able to prove that her fiancé didn't kill her father. The killing took place a few days after the ''Wentworth Castle'', one of the company's liners, caught fire and sank with the loss of more than 400 lives. Once again, Wong is given important information by the leader of a powerful tong (Chinese secret society) that leads him to other suspects. The tong leader tells Wong that a member of the tong was smuggling a great amount of tong money into the United States aboard the Wentworth Castle. The smuggler is known to have survived the sinking but disappeared with the tong's money. Wong uses modern (for 1940) technology to recover seemingly "lost" evidence. He uncovers multiple conspiracies within the shipping company and succeeds in proving that the fiancé is not the murderer.

Cast

as James Lee Wong * Marjorie Reynolds as Roberta "Bobbie" Logan *

as Capt. William "Bill" Street * William Stelling as Dick Fleming *

Catherine Craig Catherine Craig (born Catherine Jewel Feltus; January 18, 1915 – January 14, 2004), sometimes credited as Kay Craig, was an American actress. Early years Catherine Jewel Feltus was born in Bloomington, Indiana, where she was a member of Phi ...

as Cynthia Wentworth *

Guy Usher James Guy Usher (May 9, 1883 – June 16, 1944) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 190 films between 1932 and 1943. Born in Mason City, Iowa, Usher acted on stage before venturing into films. Billed as James Guy Usher, h ...

– Paul Fleming * Henry Brandon as Victor "Vic" Martin * Melvin Lang as Cyrus P. Wentworth *

Wilbur Mack Wilbur Mack (born George Frear Runyon, July 29, 1873 – March 13, 1964) was an American film actor and early vaudeville performer from the 1920s through the 1960s. His film acting career began during the silent film era. Biography Mack w ...

as Matthews *

Kenneth Harlan Kenneth Daniel Harlan (July 26, 1895 – March 6, 1967) was an American actor of the silent film era, playing mostly romantic leads or adventurer types. Early life Harlan was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of George W. Harlan and ac ...

as Ludlow *

Richard Loo Richard Loo (October 1, 1903 – November 20, 1983) was an American film actor who was one of the most familiar Asian character actors in American films of the 1930s and 1940s. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1931 and 1982. Early lif ...

as Tong leader

Production

Filming began in mid June. The film uses actual news footage from the burning of the liner , which caught fire on September 8, 1934 during a trip from

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

to New York City.Internet Movie Database Trivia

References

External links

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Doomed to Die
at

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1940 films American black-and-white films American detective films Monogram Pictures films Films directed by William Nigh American sequel films American mystery films Films set in San Francisco 1940 mystery films Tongs (organizations) 1940s English-language films 1940s American films {{mystery-film-stub