Phantom of Chinatown (1940) [Action] Crime] [Mystery]

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In the middle of a pictorial lecture on his recent expedition to the Mongolian Desert, Dr. John Benton (Charles Miller) the famous explorer, drinks from the water bottle on his lecture table, collapses and dies. His last words “Eternal Fire” are the only clue Chinese detective Jimmy Wong (Keye Luke) and Captain Street (Grant Withers) of the police department have to work on. Win Len (Lotus Long), Benton’s secretary, reveals the doctor’s dying words refer to a scroll which tells the location of rich oil deposits. Wong and Street then begin the search for the killer among Benton’s associates.

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Directed by Phil Rosen, produced by Paul Malvern, written by Hugh Wiley and Gilbert Bettison, starring Keye Luke as James Lee Wong, Grant Withers as Police Captain Street, Lotus Long as Win Lee, Charles F. Miller as Dr. Benton, Huntley Gordon as Dr. Norman Wilkes, Virginia Carpenter as Louise Benton, John Dilson as Charles Fraser and Paul McVey as Detective Grady.

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Source: “Phantom of Chinatown” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.. 30 May 2013. Web. 12 June 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_of_Chinatown

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23 Replies to “Phantom of Chinatown (1940) [Action] Crime] [Mystery]”

  2. Pretty good potboiler, held together by a very credible teamup of Keye Luke as Mr. Wong and Grant Withers as Capt. Street. Too bad they did not make a few more of these.
    Loved the footage of the expedition.
    It was great to see Keye Luke get a starring role, nearly half a century later he will be the unfogettable blind Master Po of the Kung Fu series on TV

  7. It is almost sinful to see how Hollywood films depict the crulty to the camels at the beginning – simply because they didn't understand the camel. The people of the deserts and Middle East have been using the camels extremely successfully for centuries. Yet, when White Man wants to come right in and think they're no more than trained (the key word) mules for their use – they resort to beating them into submission. That's what White Man Does as their living – Beat Submission into everything.

  9. Love these oldies.  Keye luke….before he became a monk LOL….he would have had no trouble with that fellow if he already did "Kung Fu".  Haha.  Anyway…awesome film…thanks for the upload.

  10. Boris Karloff played a very stereotyped version of Detective Wong. Keye Luke played this as less "inscrutable" and more intelligent. It is hard to tell what would have happened if the war with Japan had not started. It could have changed the whole mindset toward Asians. This could have been his breakout like Bruce Lee after reprising Keye Luke's role as Kato with the Green Hornet.

  11. Very poignant line where Mr. Wong says they are digging up the body of George Washington in exchange for the sarcophagus of  the Chinese leader. From an archeological and anthropological view, I am sure Washington's body would hold some useful information in a day and age of forensics. We might find THC in his hair from hemp tea.

  12. Chop suey is Americanized "chow mein," which, itself may be a Portuguese version of yet another Chinese dish. Both names are sort of a joke on those who think they are "Chinese" dishes.

  13. according to imbd this was the last of series of 6 movies,  Karloff couldn't do this one so Keye Luke stepped in and did an excellent job.  Funny that Street first asked him his name and did not have a reaction when he said James Lee Wong..

  14. It's a damn shame we didn't see more of Keye and Pearl (Lotus) Shibata through the years. They were both quite enjoyable in the films they did, and much more talented than the studios gave them credit for……..

  15. Oh – so it is a continuation of the Mr. Wong movies which had Boris Karloff, at first – and that's why the name Captain Street sounded so familiar to me – I remember him from all the "Mr. Wong" movies…

  16. I suspect that the desert film footage shown at the beginning of the movie was from the Gobi Desert expeditions made by the American Museum of Natural History scientist Roy Chapman Andrews between 1922 and 1925. If memory serves, they discovered the first clutch of dinosaur eggs ever found. This movie was great fun to watch. Keye Luke did a fine job as Jimmy Wong….. perceptive, friendly, and a good sense of humor. Wong's cook was wonderful and always a pleasure to watch with his sarcastic wit.

  17. Can't help but admire that first directive of Western Archeological Scholarship upon completing an exhaustive search far and wide: "At last, we've discovered the centuries lost tomb! Let's tear it apart haphazardly with pick axes and rifle its contents!"

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