The Fatal Hour (1940)

The body of an undercover policeman is recovered in the San Francisco Bay, the victim of an executions style murder. His good friend, a police captain (Grant Withers), asks a famous local detective Mr. Wong (Boris Karloff) for help in solving the killing. But there will be several more murders before the case is solved. Based on the Mr. Wong character created by Hugh Wiley in a series of short stories and directed by William Nigh (STRANGE CASE OF DR. RX). The fourth entry in the Mr. Wong detective franchise. Asian detectives were popular in the 1930s and if Mr. Wong wasn't as notable as Charlie Chan or Mr. Moto, it might be because they were poverty row productions courtesy of Monogram pictures. This one isn't too bad and the mystery is interesting enough to hold the attention of diehard murder mystery fans. Curiously, unlike the Chan and Moto movies, very little attempt is made to have Karloff look Asian. With Marjorie Reynolds, Frank Puglia, Lita Chevret and Charles Trowbridge.