The Mystery of Mr. Wong (1939)

Morgan Wallace is a tyrant over his household. Craig Reynolds is in love with his wife, Dorothy Tree. Ivan Ledbedeff is her musical protege. Wallace has bought The Jewel of the Daughter of the Nile, an oriental jewel. He throws a party (white tie and tails, of course) at which one of the gifts is Mr. Wong (Boris Karloff). He shows the Eye to the detective, along with a threatening note he received the day before he returned home with the gem. He has made a statement of the person he suspects, which he has placed in his safe.

At the party a game of charades is played. In one skit Reynolds shoots Wallace, but it turns out that there were not blanks in the gun, but real bullets. The police arrive with Grant Withers as the police lieutenant. He had received a call twenty minutes before the shooting occurred.  Wong and Holmes Herbert, a criminologist, are also working on the case. It turns out that the fatal bullet was not fired by Reynolds. Events begin to pile up. A Chinese servant in the house is knocked out when he tries to call Wong.

Whodunit? An unexpected answer, but you will have to watch the movie to learn. Lots of fun in a classic format.




Wallace


Tree