''The Mysterious Mr. Wong'' is a

tongue-in-cheek The idiom tongue-in-cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner. History The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walter Scot ...

1934

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 ...

starring

Bela Lugosi Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), known professionally as Bela Lugosi (; ), was a Hungarian and American actor best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 horror classic ''Dracula'', Ygor in ''S ...

as a powerful

Fu Manchu Dr. Fu Manchu () is a supervillain who was introduced in a series of novels by the English author Sax Rohmer beginning shortly before World War I and continuing for another forty years. The character featured in cinema, television, radio, com ...

type criminal mastermind of the Chinatown underworld, and

Wallace Ford Wallace Ford (born Samuel Grundy Jones; 12 February 1898 – 11 June 1966) was an English-born naturalized American vaudevillian, stage performer and screen actor. Usually playing wise-cracking characters, he combined a tough but friendly-fac ...

as a wisecracking reporter. The film is based on

Harry Stephen Keeler Harry Stephen Keeler (November 3, 1890 – January 22, 1967) was a prolific but little-known American fiction writer, who developed a cult following for his eccentric mysteries. He also wrote science fiction. Biography Born in Chicago in 1 ...

's 1928 short story "The Strange Adventure of the Twelve Coins of Confucius" one of three stories in Keeler's book ''Sing Sing Nights''. Despite the name of the title character and being directed by

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

, it has no relation to Monogram Pictures later Mr Wong

film series A film series or movie series (also referred to as a film franchise or movie franchise) is a collection of related films in succession that share the same fictional universe, or are marketed as a series. This article explains what film series are ...

. The character of Mr. Wong does not appear in the original story.

Plot

stars as Mr. Wong, a "harmless" Chinatown shopkeeper by day and relentless blood-thirsty pursuer of the Twelve Coins of Confucius by night. With possession of the coins, Mr. Wong will be supreme ruler of the Chinese province of Keelat, and his evil destiny will be fulfilled. A killing spree follows in dark and dangerous Chinatown as Wong gets control of 11 of the 12 coins. Though played up as a

Tong Tong may refer to: Chinese *Tang Dynasty, a dynasty in Chinese history when transliterated from Cantonese *Tong (organization), a type of social organization found in Chinese immigrant communities *''tong'', pronunciation of several Chinese char ...

war, ace reporter Jason Barton and his girl Peg are hot on his trail as is the Chinese Secret Service. All parties soon find themselves in serious trouble when they stumble onto Wong's headquarters.

Cast

dual role as Mr. Fu Wong and as Li See *

as Jason H. Barton *

Arline Judge Margaret Arline Judge (February 21, 1912 – February 7, 1974) was an American actress singer who worked mostly in low-budget B movies, but gained some fame for habitually marrying. Early years Arline Judge was born in Bridgeport, Connect ...

as Peg * E. Alyn Warren as Philip Tsang *

Lotus Long Lotus may refer to: Plants *Lotus (plant), various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly: ** ''Lotus'' (genus), a genus of terrestrial plants in the family Fabaceae **Lotus flower, a symbolically important aquatic Asian plant also ...

as Moonflower *

Robert Emmett O'Connor Robert Emmett O'Connor (March 18, 1885 – September 4, 1962) was an Irish-American actor. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1919 and 1950. He is probably best remembered as the warmhearted bootlegger Paddy Ryan in '' The Public En ...

as Officer McGillicuddy *

Chester Gan Chester Gan (1908-1959) was an American character actor of Chinese descent who worked in Hollywood from the 1930s through the 1950s. Biography Chester Gan was born in Grass Valley, California, to Wing Hong Gan and Wong Shee. He went to China ...

as Tung aka "Hi Strung" * Edward Peil Sr. as Jen Yu - Wong Henchman * Luke Chan as Professor Chan Fu *

Lee Shumway Lee Shumway (March 4, 1884 – January 4, 1959), born Leonard Charles Shumway, was an American actor. He appeared in more than 400 films between 1909 and 1953. He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and died in Los Angeles, California. Select ...

as Editor Steve Brandon *

Etta Lee Etta Lee (September 12, 1906 – October 27, 1956) was an American silent film actress, known for supporting roles. Early life Lee was born on September 12, 1906, in Kauai, Hawaii. Her father was a Chinese medical doctor and her mother was of ...

as Lu San * Ernest F. Young as Reporter Chuck Roberts

External links

''The Mysterious Mr. Wong''
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

* * 1934 films 1934 mystery films American black-and-white films American mystery films American detective films Films directed by William Nigh Monogram Pictures films Films based on short fiction 1930s English-language films 1930s American films {{mystery-film-stub