Mr. Wong (fictional detective)

James Lee Wong
First appearance	Medium Well Done
Last appearance	The Room of Death
Created by	Hugh Wiley
Portrayed by	Boris Karloff Keye Luke
In-universe information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Detective
Nationality	Chinese-American

James Lee Wong, known simply as Mr. Wong, is a fictional Chinese-American detective created by Hugh Wiley (1884–1968).^[1] Mr. Wong appeared in twenty magazine stories and a film series of six, the first five of which starred English actor Boris Karloff as Wong, the last with Chinese-American actor Keye Luke in the role, the first Asian lead.

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Description

In his story "No Witnesses", Wiley describes Mr. Wong as six feet tall, educated at Yale University and "with the face of a foreign devil-a Yankee".^[2] In the stories, he is an agent of the United States Treasury Department and lives in San Francisco.

Short stories

Story title	Release date	Publisher	Collected
"Medium Well Done"	1934	Collier's^[3]	Murder by the Dozen
"The Thirty Thousand Dollar Bomb"			Murder by the Dozen
"In Chinatown'			No
"Ten Bells"			Murder by the Dozen
"Long Chance"
"A Ray of Light"	1935
"Too Much Ice"			No
"Jaybird's Chance"			Murder by the Dozen
"Scorned Woman"
"Three Words"
"No Witnesses"	1936
"Seven of Spades"	1936
"Hangman's Knot"	1937		No
"No Smoking"	1937
"The Eye of Heaven"	1938
"The Bell from China"			Murder by the Dozen
"The Feast of Kali"			Murder by the Dozen
"The Heart of Kwan Yin"	1940		No
"Footwork"
"The Room of Death"

Films

The Mr. Wong character was featured in a series of films for Monogram Pictures. The first five starred Boris Karloff and directed by William Nigh. All the films co-starred Grant Withers as Wong's friend, Police Captain Street. Karloff also played the Chinese character Dr. Fu Manchu in The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932) and General Wu Yen Fang, in West of Shanghai (1937), just prior to the first Mr. Wong.

The sixth film featured Chinese-American actor Keye Luke in the title role, the first time an American sound film used an Asian actor to play a lead Asian detective. Luke had formerly played one of Charlie Chan's sons in the Chan mysteries and Kato in The Green Hornet 1939 serial. In the prequel of the Mr. Wong series, the young "Jimmy Wong" (Luke) was introduced to Police Captain Street, whom Karloff's character worked with in the previous films. A 1940 article, Keye Luke Sleuths on his Own, in the Hollywood Citizen News, announced that Luke had been signed for four Mr. Wong pictures a year.^[4] However, due to Karloff's departure, exhibitors lost interest and the series ended.^[5]

Film title	Star	Director	Released	Distributor	Notes
Mr. Wong, Detective	Boris Karloff	William Nigh	1938	Monogram Pictures
The Mystery of Mr. Wong			1939
Mr. Wong in Chinatown			1939
The Fatal Hour			1940		Also known as Mr. Wong at Headquarters
Doomed to Die
Phantom of Chinatown	Keye Luke	Phil Rosen

Comics

From 1939 a comic of the film The Mystery of Mr Wong appeared in four consecutive issues of Popular Comics.

Popular Comics (Dell, 1939–40) Issues 38-41

Notes

^ "Hugh Wiley Biography".
^ p.120 Brunsdale, Mitzi Icons of Mystery and Crime Detection: From Sleuths to Superheroes ABC-CLIO, 26/07/2010
^ "James Lee Wong (Mr. Wong)". www.thrillingdetective.com. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
^ p. 117 Fuller, Karla Hollywood Goes Oriental: CaucAsian performance in American Film Wayne State University Press, 2010
^ p.82 Everson, William K. The Detective in Film Citadel Press, 1972