The Fatal Hour
Brief Synopsis
Asian sleuth Mr. Wong gets caught up in the mystery surrounding a policeman's death.
Cast & Crew
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William Nigh
Director
Boris Karloff
James Lee Wong
Marjorie Reynolds
Bobbie Logan
Grant Withers
Captain Bill Street
Charles Trowbridge
Forbes
Frank Puglia
Hardway Harry Lockett
Film Details
Also Known As
Mr. Wong at Headquarters
Genre
Suspense/Mystery
Crime
Drama
Release Date
Jan
15,
1940
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Monogram Pictures Corp.
Distribution Company
Monogram Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on characters created by Hugh Wiley in the "James Lee Wong" short stories in Collier's .
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 8m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
8 reels
Synopsis
When Detective Dan Grady is murdered while on smuggling detail in Chinatown, his friend Bill Street, captain of homicide, investigates with James Lee Wong, "the Chinese copper." Wong finds a rare jade figurine in Dan's desk and visits Chinatown jeweler Belden, who specializes in Oriental imitations. With the help of female reporter Bobbie Logan, Street locates a witness who saw Dan in the Club Neptune the night he was murdered. The club is run by crooked gambler "Hardway Harry" Lockett, who is part of Belden's smuggling ring. Lockett's moll, Tanya Sarova, wants out of the smuggling ring in order to marry Belden's innocent son Frank. When Belden learns of his son's plans to marry, he threatens to talk if Lockett has Frank killed. That night, Belden is killed in his store, which Wong realizes is filled with smuggled jade. Tanya is then found dead, and Frank is arrested on suspicion of murder. The next morning, Street calls all the suspects to his office, and Frank insists that Tanya was dead when he arrived at her apartment and that the radio had been on. During the interrogation, Griswold, the writer of a mystery radio play which Belden sponsored at the request of his financial adviser, Mr. Forbes, is murdered in Street's office. Wong discovers that the play was aired at the exact time Tanya was murdered and contains a gunshot fired at exactly the time a switchboard operator heard one over the phone. A ballistics report then reveals that Tanya, Belden and Dan were all killed with the same gun. Wong goes to Tanya's apartment and finds Forbes, whom he now knows killed Tanya because she was leaving him for Frank. Forbes had rigged a cord to unhook Tanya's phone so the operator could hear the shot on the radio and place the murder during Frank's visit. Forbes now pulls a gun on Wong, who is saved by Bobbie, and Street arrests the killer.
Director
William Nigh
Director
Cast
Boris Karloff
James Lee Wong
Marjorie Reynolds
Bobbie Logan
Grant Withers
Captain Bill Street
Charles Trowbridge
Forbes
Frank Puglia
Hardway Harry Lockett
Craig Reynolds
Frank Belden, Jr.
Lita Chevret
Tanya Sarova
Harry Strang
Hooper Atchley
Richard Loo
Jack Kennedy
Mike
John Hamilton
Belden, Sr.
I. Stanford Jolley
Soapy
Pauline Drake
Bessie
Crew
Chas. J. Bigelow
Production Manager
Louis Brown
Wardrobe
Scott Darling
Screenwriter
Scott R. Dunlap
Company
W. B. Eason
Assistant Director
E. R. Hickson
Tech Director
Edward Kay
Music Director
William Lackey
Associate Producer
Harry Neumann
Director of Photography
R. F. Schoengarth
Film Editor
Joseph West
Adaptation
Karl Zint
Recording Engineer
Film Details
Also Known As
Mr. Wong at Headquarters
Genre
Suspense/Mystery
Crime
Drama
Release Date
Jan
15,
1940
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Monogram Pictures Corp.
Distribution Company
Monogram Pictures Corp.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on characters created by Hugh Wiley in the "James Lee Wong" short stories in Collier's .
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 8m
Sound
Mono
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
8 reels
Articles
The Fatal Hour
Asian sleuth Mr. Wong gets caught up in the mystery surrounding a policeman's death.
The Fatal Hour
Asian sleuth Mr. Wong gets caught up in the mystery surrounding a policeman's death.
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title for this film was Mr. Wong at Headquarters. For more information on the series, see the entry for Mr. Wong, Detective (below) and consult the Series Index.
