The Mystery of Mr. Wong
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
William Nigh
Boris Karloff
Grant Withers
Dorothy Tree
Craig Reynolds
Ivan Lebedeff
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Brandon Edwards, a heartless collector of ancient Chinese treasures, smuggles the precious jewel "Eye of the Daughter of the Moon" out of China. A day before he obtained it, however, he received a note warning him that the possessor of the jewel faces death. Later, during a charade skit at a party at the Edwards' San Francisco home, Edwards is shot. Among the suspects is Edwards' secretary, Peter Harrison, who is in love with Edwards' wife Valerie and was holding a gun filled with blanks that was to be used in a mystery sketch when Edwards was killed. Detective Wong, who attended the party with his criminologist friend, Professor Ed Janney, investigates the murder with Detective-Sergeant Street of the San Francisco police. Peter is arrested until a ballistics report confirms that the fatal bullet was fired from the balcony. Before he died, Edwards wrote the name of a suspect on a piece of paper and told Wong it would be in his safe. Wong learns that Valerie is the patron of a Russian singer, Strongonoff, who lives with the Edwards. Strongonoff's sweetheart is a Chinese woman, Drina, who took a job as the Edwards' maid so she and Strongonoff could procure the jewel. Drina had hoped Strongonoff would marry her when they got to America, but realizes now he is in love with Valerie. Drina steals Edward's note from the safe, but discovers that the jewel is already missing. Wong then learns from Edwards' lawyer, Carslake, that Edwards had cut Valerie from his will, leaving a majority of his estate to his faithful Chinese butler, Sing. While Wong and Janney are staying in the Edwards house in order to pick up clues, they discover both the jewel and the letter missing. Drina accuses Strongonoff of stealing the jewel and backing out on his promise to marry her, then threatens to send Wong the note. She is killed by a poisoned cigarette before she is able to do so, however. Sing contacts Wong regarding the note and is knocked on the back of the head before he can tell Wong where it is. On the day Wong expects to receive the note in the mail from Sing, all the suspects converge at his office. Methodically, Wong rules out every suspect but one. It was obvious to all that Peter and Valerie loved each other and had a motive for the murder, but both were standing next to Edwards when he was shot. Wong knows Strongonoff is really a thief named Petrovich, but is not the killer. Carslake, who quarreled with Edwards when he cut Valerie out of the will, had an alibi for the night of the murder. The real murderer, Wong tells his audience of suspects, is Janney, who hated Edwards for driving Janney's sister, Edwards' first wife, to suicide. When Janney saw Edwards emotionally torturing Valerie the way he had his sister, he decided to kill him. Janney admits his guilt and shakes Wong's hand goodbye, slipping him the jewel. With the case solved, Wong sends his valet to China to return the jewel to the Chinese people.
Director
William Nigh
Cast
Boris Karloff
Grant Withers
Dorothy Tree
Craig Reynolds
Ivan Lebedeff
Holmes Herbert
Morgan Wallace
Lotus Long
Chester Gan
Hooper Atchley
Bruce Wong
Jack Kennedy
Joe Devlin
Lee Tong Foo
Wilbur Mack
Dick Morehead
Crew
Chas. J. Bigelow
Louis Brown
Scott Darling
Scott R. Dunlap
W. B. Eason
E. R. Hickson
Edward Kay
William Lackey
Harry Neumann
Russell Schoengarth
Karl Zint
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
This picture was the second film in the "Mr. Wong" series. For additional information, consult the Series Index and see the entry above for Mr. Wong, Detective.
