Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?

SparkMore n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Ortiz Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

JohnHowardReid Bela Lugosi (Wong), Wallace Ford (Jason H. Barton), Arline Judge (Peg), Robert Emmett O'Connor (McGillicuddy), Fred Warren (Tsang), Lotus Long (Wong's niece, Moonflower), Edward Peil (Jen Wu, a Wong henchman), Luke Chan (Professor Fu), Lee Shumway (Brandon, the editor), Ernest F. Young (Chuck Roberts), Chester Gan (Tsang's agent), Theodore Lorch (incompetent Wong henchman), James B. Leong (Wong henchman), Richard Loo (bystander).Director: WILLIAM NIGH. Screenplay: Nina Howatt. Additional dialogue: James Herbeveaux. Adapted by Lew Levinson from the story "The Twelve Coins of Confucius" by Harry Stephen Keeler. Photography: Harry Neumann. Film editor: Jack Ogilvie. Art director: E.R. Hickson. Music director: Abe Meyer. Sound recording: J.A. Stransky. Producer: George Yohalem. Executive producer: Trem Carr.Copyright 12 January 1935 by Monogram Pictures Corporation. Filmed at RKO-Pathé studios in Culver City. New York opening at the Criterion: 6 March 1935. U.S. release: 25 January 1935. 7 reels. 63 minutes. SYNOPSIS: Under the guise of a tong war in Chinatown, the ambitious Wong attempts to gain possession of the twelve coins of Confucius which promise unlimited power to their owner. NOTES: One of only two movies made from the oddball mystery/crime writings of the highly idiosyncratic American novelist, Harry Stephen Keeler. The other, also released by Monogram Pictures Corporation in 1935: "Sing Sing Nights".Dorothy Lee was originally cast as the heroine, now played by Arline Judge.COMMENT: Some smart, wisecracking dialogue for brash reporter Wallace Ford and a nicely timed comic performance by Irish cop-on- the-beat Robert Emmett O'Connor, helps out a rather corny plot in which Bela Lugosi attempts (not too convincingly) to impersonate a typical Fu Manchu character. He seems hampered rather than helped by his make- up and costumes. The sprightly heroine is also forced to do battle with an unappealing outfit (the one with a ridiculously wide collar). Director Nigh (aided by Neumann's glossy black-and-white cinematography) does his best to keep the action moving along. Production values are comparatively lavish by Monogram standards, and include some unexpectedly large sets, doubtless courtesy of RKO.Sample dialogue:BRASH REPORTER: The paper sent me over to do the murder.IRISH COP: You're too late. It's already been done.

fwdixon This isn't the Mr. Wong made famous by Boris Karloff a few years later but stars Bela Lugosi as the titular hero. Featuring Wallace Ford as a wisecracking reporter so popular back in the 30's, the plot revolves around Bela's trying to get the 12 gold coins of Confucius so he can become the ruler of a province in China. Bela makes little to no attempt to disguise his thick Hungarian accent, even when speaking in pidgin English, and the result is rather humorous. There's a lot of milling around on the typically cheap, tiny Monogram sets and the dialog is pretty lame too. My "B" Movie Meter: 4* (add one star if you are a die-hard Lugosi fanatic)

bkoganbing A few years before Boris Karloff did a series of films for Monogram as a Chinese detective named Mr. Wong, his rival Bela Lugosi starred in this anemically financed film where he was a bad guy with the same name. The Mysterious Mr. Wong has Bela cast as an apparently peaceful Chinese antique dealer, who is causing a whole lot of murders in Chinatown in a quest for some rare coins said to belong to none other than Kung Fu Tze or Confucius as we westerners know him. Possession of these items will give him some kind of legitimacy to rule in the part of China that Confucius called his home town.Now why in the wide wide world are these coins not in China proper but in America and why these people are being murdered this script leaves out. This is a film that relies on the talents of Bela Lugosi to look and act sinister which Lugosi could do in some of the most ridiculous films ever done. Wallace Ford as a reporter and girlfriend Arline Judge are the two that bring Lugosi down while on the trail of the story behind the Chinatown murders. Probably the best performance in the film is by character actor Robert Emmett O'Connor who plays the local beat cop in Chinatown who is absolutely clueless about what is going on. His knowledge of the Chinese culture doesn't go beyond ordering take out and he freely admits it.If Confucius could give us his review of this film he would say stay away and not bother to construct a fortune cookie aphorism to deliver the message.

Hitchcoc I've always been intrigued with Bela Lugosi. It's been an ambition of mine to see all the films he made. This effort must have been done to capitalize on his star power. For whatever reason, he (as Mr. Wong), is collecting Confucian coins. Men who possess them are being murdered and Wong's henchmen bring the coins to him. A silly reporter and his girlfriend get wrapped up in the case and find their way to Wong's lair. Leading up to a somewhat interesting conclusion, are a series of lame, tiresome interactions within the evil man's lair. Lugosi looks ridiculous and speaks with that heavy European accent, and, of course, Hollywood's version of an Asian. There is a lot of political incorrectness and Chinese stereotyping. It's interesting that so many movies have a criminal genius who does stupid things and gets himself caught. Even though a murderer, Mr. Wong doesn't kill the person who is the most danger to him. Then, again, it's all based on the cliffhanger and killing off the hero wouldn't be much fun.