He's Mysterious Alright

 

THE MYSTERIOUS MR. WONG-1934-The sinister Mr. Wong (Bela Lugosi in Asian makeup and Hungarian accent) is searching for the 12 coins of Confucius. Everyone suspects a Tong war but annoying, wise-cracking reporter Jason Barton (Wallace Ford; FREAKS (1932)) thinks otherwise. When one his henchmen fails, Wong has him thrown in a basement with rats (not shown). 

By day, Wong poses as Li See, a herbalist. He treats his niece Moonflower (Lotus Long) and her attendant pretty badly and she says he's mad. Jason & and girlfriend Peg (Arline Judge) team up to figure out the mystery when Jason gets a hold of the coin. 

Corny cliché talk and sometimes racist dialogue. Also with Richard Loo. Directed in fast fashion by William Nigh who ironically later did the Boris Karloff series of Mr. Wong detective films. It's based on the short story “The Strange Adventure of the 12 Coins of Confucius” (1927) by once popular mystery writer Harry Stephen Keeler. This was Lugosi's first film for the “poverty row” studio Monogram.

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The Bowery Boys

 

 (imdb)

SPOOK BUSTERS-1946-In the fourth installment of "The Bowery Boys" series, Slip (Leo Gorcey), Sach (Huntz Hall) and the rest of the boys (Bobby Jordan,Bill Bendict and David Gorcey) are exterminators who get a job in a haunted house. They are joined by their old pal Gabe (Gabriel Dell) just out of the navy, and his fiance Minon (Tanis Chandler). The house is actually being used by mad doctor Coslow (Douglas Dumbrille), his assistant Stiles (Charles Middleton) and a muscle head (Richard Alexander).

 He also has a Dr. Bender (Maurice Cass) as his assistant/captive. Coslow must really be mad 'cos he wants to put part of Sach's brain into that of a gorilla. There's a slow-motion fight and the gorilla (Art Miles) gets loose. Bernard Gorcey is Louie. 

Producer Jan Grippo was Leo Gorcey's agent while they made the series at Monogram. Busy William Beaudine must have taken a vacation in 1946 because he only director 5 movies! (Although he may have worked on 3 more...)

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Mantan Leads The Troops

 

DRUMS IN THE DESERT-Monogram-1940-Lt. Paul Dumont (Ralph Byrd; already doing the Dick Tracy series) meets Mme. LaRoche (Lorna Gray) on a ship headed for Algiers. They seem to fall in love but when they dock she disappears. He has to train the Senegalese army troop to be paratroopers whose Sgt. Williams is played by Mantan Moreland! 

Unfortunately for Paul, LaRoche is engaged to his best friend (George Lynn). A local named Abdullah (George Castello) gets very upset when his wimpy brother is executed for murder. 

There isn't much to this Monogram production except Moreland's role which has some serious overtones and the fact his troops are very eager to become paratroopers and not some racist stereotypical cowards. It was co-written and directed by the underrated George Waggner, a year or so before making THE WOLFMAN and MAN MADE MONSTER.

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Rondo Returns

  (wikipedia)

THE BRUTE MAN-1946-When a string of brutal murders credited to "The Creeper" hit town, a police chief (Donald McBride) and his Lieutenant (Peter Whitney) suspect a guy named Hal Moffat whose face was disfigured in a college chemistry experiment. He's out for revenge on the people he blames for his predicament especially classmates Clifford Scott (Tom Neal; in DETOUR the year before) and his wife Virginia (Jan Wiley). While killing and stalking potential victims Hal (the unforgettable Rondo Hatton in his last movie) meets Helen (Jane Adams), a blind piano teacher and they kind of bond. 

Helen needs money for an eye operation so Hal goes to Scott and demands money. Scott shoots Hal but he kills Scott and takes Virginia's jewels and gives them to Helen. When she has them appraised she learns all about her mysterious benefactor. She helps trap him and he's arrested. The movie actually ends on a comic note. 

This was originally a Universal Pictures production which was suppose to introduce Rondo Hatton as their new horror star (“the monster without make-up”) but Hatton died before the movie was released. Though the studio made no bones about their plan to exploit Hatton's looks while he was alive, it seems after his death they were a little more than embarrassed by presenting an actor with a real physical condition (acromegaly) as a guy who was a monster and his character in the film had once been “normal” before an explosion.

 Cutting their loses, controversy and questionable taste, Universal sold the film to Monogram who released it on a double bill. Work horse director Jean Yarbrough had already worked with Rondo Hatton earlier in the year in HOUSE OF HORRORS and made SHE-WOLF OF LONDON and three other features in 1946. Fred Colby plays Hal before "the accident" and Tris Coffin, Pat Costello and John Hamilton have un-billed roles. 

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Early Monogram Horror

 

HOUSE OF MYSTERY-1934-Asia 1913-An unscrupulous archaeologist John Prendergast (Clay Clement) kills a monkey at a sacred temple. The head honcho puts a curse on him but he mocks them and uses a whip on the head guy, who summons a gorilla to kill Prendegast. However with the help of a "Hidi" dancing girl Chandra (Laya Joy aka Joyzelle Joyner; also in JUST IMAGINE) he escapes and flees with some treasures and the girl. 

20 years later The Potters, an absent minded professor (Harry C. Bradley) and shrewish wife (Mary Foy) who backed the expedition Prendegast headed, hire Jack Armstrong (Ed Lowry in his only feature film) to get the treasure back when they suspect Prendegast is living in a mansion in the suburbs. Prendergast agrees to meet the backers at his house to discuss a settlement. He's now a dying cripple because of the curse but agrees to give everyone their share if they agree to live with him for one week in his house. After they hold a seance people start dying at the hands of a gorilla prowling around the house. Prendegast says it's all because of the curse. A cloddish police chief (Irving Bacon) thinks otherwise. This old haunted house horror comedy/mystery (with unintentional humor) is unexciting but I liked the twist with the character of the dumb plumber. George “Gabby” Hayes is also in it. 

Director William Nigh had been an actor in silent films and producer who directed over a 100 films but is most remembered today for making the 5 “Mr. Wong” Monogram series of films with Boris Karloff. He also directed Karloff in a 5^th Monogram movie THE APE which along with HOUSE OF MYSTERY are credited as being based on the same play, “The Ape” by Adam Shirk. Nigh also made BLACK DRAGONS with Bela Lugosi in 1942.

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The Ape Man Returns (?)

 

THE RETURN OF THE APE MAN-1944-Two scientists successfully keep a man alive in suspended animation for four weeks. Head guy Prof. Dexter (Bela Lugosi) needs a subject who's been frozen for hundreds of years to see if he can make him live again. So he and assistant Professor Gilmore (John Carradine) go to the Arctic to dig for one. They almost give up but a frozen specimen falls into there hands after an avalanche. They take him back to the US and revive him. 

He (Frank Moran) seems wild but Dexter uses a whip to tame him. Dexter plans to put part of a modern human brain into the ape man but needs a volunteer brain. At an engagement party for Gilmore's niece Ann (Teala Loring), he plays the Moonlight Sonata while Dexter decides her fiance Steve (Tod Andrews) would make a good brain donor and drugs him and prepares him for an operation. Fortunately Gilmore is wise to his partner's plan and saves Steve. He also tells Dexter he's mad and wants nothing more to do with him. Later after Dexter tries to tame the caveman with electricity and a blowtorch, the caveman escapes and kills a cop. Dexter recaptures him ("You brainless fool!") but the newspapers report a monster sighting. Gilmore wants to report the caveman to the police but Dexter persuades his too gullible ex-partner that he wants help destroying the creature. Of course instead Dexter uses Gilmore's grey matter to bring the prehistoric throwback under his control. But it doesn't work so well as the new improved cave ape (who can talk) makes a bee line out the front door to his former house. He climbs in a window and plays the piano for Mrs. G. 

Steve suspects Dexter and he and two cops go to his pad. When they check out his lab the cave guy (who'd been recaptured by Dexter) bursts through his cage behind a fake wall and kills Dexter despite being shot at point blank range several times. Cavey heads back to Gilmore's house and kidnaps Ann. A crazy chase ensues with Gil-ape going across some buildings with Anne (an obvious dummy). He hides out with her in the prop room of a theater until he kills a night watchman. Somehow he goes back to Dexter's lab, a fire breaks out but Steve saves Ann. The End. 

This Monogram quickie was directed by Phil Rosen (PHANTOM OF CHINATOWN) and though George Zucco is listed in the credits as the ape man he only appears for a few seconds when the ape man is first found in the block of ice. Apparently Zucco fell ill just as filming started and was replaced by Frank Moran. It has nothing to do with previous monkey business type horror films from Monogran like THE APE (1940).

 Fortunately Zucco got better and teamed with Lugosi and Carradine for VOODOO MAN soon after.

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Dual Belas!

 BOWERY AT MIDNIGHT-1942-Prof. Brenner (Bela Lugosi) is a criminology teacher by day and at night he's Karl Wagner who runs a Bowery mission that's a front for robbery and murder. Sgt. Crawford (Dave O'Brien) investigates. Wagner's M.O. is to kill one accomplice at the scene of a crime. He recruits psycho killer Frank Mills (Tom Neal; he'd star in DETOUR in 1945) to help. Wagner's nurse Judy (Wanda McKay) doesn't suspect but her boyfriend Richard (John Archer) goes undercover as a bum to study the underprivileged and winds up dead. The nutty ending has an insane doctor resurrecting Wagner's dead victims who in turn kill him. Since Richard comes back to life he and Judy live happily ever after. When Richard is on the Bowery he meets two oddballs almost in a row. One is played by Pat Costello and the other by Bernard Gorcey! Wheeler Oakman, Victor Adamson and Snub Pllard have small roles.

Director Wallace Fox made several "East Side Kids" comedies (that were set in The Bowery) and directed Lugosi in THE CORPSE VANISHES the same year. After making PILLOW OF DEATH, one of the Inner Sanctum series of film at Universal he drifted into low budget westerns then went into TV (The Gene Autry Show, Ramar Of The Jungle). He dies in 1958.

https://moviemeltdown.blogspot.com/2020/01/vanishing-bride.html

Sam Katzman was the executive producer of this low budget quickie released through Monogram but it's not bad despite some lapses in reason!

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He Should Have Stayed Where He Was

FRECKLES COMES HOME-1942-A guy nicknamed Freckles (Johnny Downs) goes to his sleepy old hometown of Fairfield, Indiana to help out his buddy Danny (Marvin Stephens) who's in a jam, partially thanks to hotel Porter Jeff (Mantan Moreland) who bought a machine that was supposed to find gold. Freckles romances Jane Potter (Gale Storm), the banker's daughter. At a barn dance they do a duet. Freckles and Dan want to put a highway through town but their plan falls through. A bank robber Muggsy Malone (Walter Sande), hiding out in town thinks he can help them. He brings in a dapper gentleman named Quigley (Bradley Page) who Jane promptly falls for. Of course Quigley wants to fleece the town. Meanwhile Jeff and Quigley’s chauffeur (Lawrence Criner) look for gold and play Craps. Then Muggsey winds up dead and the stupid constable (Irving Bacon) investigates. Two of Malone’s friends arrive pretending to be detectives. 

This is a boring little comedy from Monogram has Mantan Moreland wasted in demeaning stereotypical role. Director Jean Yarbrough at least keeps the running time down to just a little over an hour.

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Yeah..He Knows..When He Shows...

THE MISSING LADY-1946-Mystery and murder surround "the jade lady" (a statue). Lamont Cranston (Kane Richmond) is framed for murder and only The Shadow can clear him. The police chief (James Flavin) wants to run him in but Cranston's uncle the police commissioner (Pierre Watkin) saves and defends him. Margo Lane (Barbara Read), chauffeur Shrevvie (George Chandler) and Serrvy's girlfriend (Claire Carleton) provide the annoying comedy. 

There's not much of The Shadow himself in this cheap disappointing feature from Monogram. For some reason the character of Margo is presented in these three movies as a real airhead in direct contrast to her radio persona. Phil Karlson directed again.

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He Still Knows....

BEHIND THE MASK-1946-A conniving newspaper columnist Jeff Mann (James Cardwell) is killed by The Shadow in his office on the eve of the wedding of Lamont Cranston (Kane Richmond) and Margo Lane (Barbara Read). Of course someone is actually pretending to be the crime fighter. Mann was blackmailing a mobster (Robert Shayne) and a female bookie May Bishop (Marjorie Hoshelle). There's way too much comedy in this with Shevvie, the chauffeur now played by familiar character actor George Chandler. 

Director Phil Karlson made the Charlie Chan mystery DARK ALIBI the same year.

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He Knows....

THE SHADOW RETURNS-1946-This begins with a body being exhumed from its grave. Then Lamont Cranston (Kane Richmond) and Margo Lane (Barbara Read/Reed) argue about getting married. Of course Cranston is the crime fighting Shadow who dons a mask and appears as a shadow on the wall. 

The kind of boring story revolves around some jewels and the suspects who suddenly commit suicide (Frank Reichert and Cyril Devanti play two of them). Cranston is wise ass PI who the chief of police (Joseph Crehan) doesn't like (with good reason). But the commissioner (Pierre Watkin) is Cranston's uncle. Margo is somewhat of a ditz and they have a chauffeur named Shevvie (Tom Dugan, who seems to be channeling Shemp Howard!). 

The Shadow doesn't appear much in this first of 3 movies produced by Monogram featuring the mysterious crime fighter and the first to star Richmond (THE SPY SMASHER). Grand National had made 2 features (with Rod La Rocque in the lead) and a 12 part serial (with Victor Jory) in the late '30's. Old hand Phil Rosen handled the direction (some sources cite William Beaudine with an uncredited assist). He directed many of the Charlie Chan/Sidney Toler mysteries.

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What Is The Law?

LAW OF THE JUNGLE-1942-Nona Brooks (Arline Judge), an American singer is stranded in African and sings at a sleazy cafe for creepy owner Simmons (Arthur O'Connell). 

She meets American paleontologist Larry Mason (John “Dusty” King) who she hopes will help her but Simmons convinces Mason she's a con artist. When a guy is killed in the cafe, she wanders into the jungle to get away! To appease his native safari Mason agrees to re-bury some bones he dug up but the job falls to his assistant Jeff (Mantan Moreland) who hears Nona but thinks she’s a ghost. Mason takes her in but insists she return to the town. Meanwhile 2 German spies want some secret papers accidentally given to Nona. They kill Simmons and hunt for Nona in the jungle. They get another tribe (with rifles) to go after Mason's group. Mason, Nona & Jeff wind up hiding in a dark cave. After an encounter with a gorilla they are captured but things take a comic turn when a native female takes a liking to Jeff and the tribal chief (Lawrence Criner) is Oxford educated and speaks English. 

Criner was also in THE GANG'S ALL HERE and FRECKLES COMES HOME both made by LAW OF THE JUNGLE'S director Jean Yarbrough for Monogram Pictures.

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They're Back!

THE GANG’S ALL HERE-1941-Once again Frankie Darro is “teamed” with Mantan Moreland, this time in the trucking business. Pop Wallace (Robert Homans) is finding it hard to get drivers. His mechanic Chick (Jackie Moran) hires Frankie (Darro) and Jeff (Moreland) to drive a rig to Fresno. Unbeknownst to them “Pop” has been in cahoots with a crooked lawyer to collect insurance money. The duo due a pretty good job but almost get fired anyway. Wallace's daughter Patsy (Marcia Mae Jones; also in LET'S GO COLLEGIATE with Darro & Moreland) pretends to be sweet on Frankie to make Chick jealous. In an unusual turn a green horn Asian American named George Lee (Keye Luke; also in LET'S GO COLLEGIATE) is actually an investigator for an insurance company. Although Frankie insults and bosses Jeff most of the time they do use teamwork at the climax. 

This was one of several Monogram programmers director Jean Yarbrough made featuring Darro who sometimes acts like a third rate Leo Gorcey and not very likable especially when teamed with the outrageously funny Moreland.

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More Chan!

THE JADE MASK-1945-A scientist named Harper (Frank Reicher) has a gas that can turn wood into metal. Naturally the US government is interested in it. So are its enemies. Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) is called in by a local police chief (Henry Hall) to investigate when Harper goes missing. There's enough suspects. A loyal but abused butler Roth (Cyril Delevanti), Harper's assistant Meeker (Hardie Albright), sister Louise (Edith Evanson), housemaid Jean Kent (Janet Warren), Stella Graham (Dorothy Granger) who was assisting Harper on another project and mute handyman/chauffeur Michael Strong (Lester Dorr). Charlie's later joined by number 4 son Eddie (Edwin Luke; the real life brother of Keye) and Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland),who actually stops the murderer from escaping. 

Phil Rosen was back as director and keeps it moving. THE SCARLET CLUE followed.

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The Chinese Cat

CHARLIE CHAN IN THE CHINESE CAT-1944-The intrepid detective (Sidney Toler) and number 3 son Tommy (Benson Fong) investigate the murder of Thomas Manning at the request of his step-daughter Leah (Joan Woodbury). 6 months previously he was shot to death in a locked room. A famous doctor Paul Recknik (Ian Keith) has written a book about the case that implicates the girl’s mother (Betty Blythe). They are joined by taxi driver Birmingham Brown (the great Mantan Moreland) who says “Freedom of speech is gonna get me in trouble yet” and a police detective (Wendel Heyburn) who investigated the murder. Manning's business partner wants Chan off the case. It has to do with smugglers and stolen diamonds. The bad dudes hide out in a fun house so this provides several reasons for Birmingham to get scared. However he helps save Chan and Tommy when they are roughed up by the brutal thugs.

 This was director Phil Rosen's second Chan mystery in a row. Among his over 140 credits (!) are the underrated PHANTOM OF CHINATOWN, SPOOKS RUN WILD and two more Chan/Toler entries.

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Charlie Chan returns in BLACK MAGIC aka MEETING AT MIDNIGHT. 

Charlie In The Big Apple

MURDER OVER NEW YORK-1940-On a plane en route to NYC for a police convention, Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) meets his old friend Inspector Drake of Scotland Yard (Frederick Worlock). Drake is on the trial of a saboteur named Narda and his Hindu servant Ramullah (Lal Chand Mehra) who seem to have vanished so he’s been following Narda’s wife. Drake seems like a future victim especially after being invited to a party given by the smarmy and suspicious George Kirby (Ricardo Cortez). Then when Chan is met by Inspector Vance (Donald MacBride), No. 2 son Jimmy (Sen Yung) shows up! Sure enough, Drake is murdered in Kirby's study, killed by a odorless gas. There are many suspects of course including June Preston (Joan Valerie), an actress, chemist David Elliot (Robert Lowery) , Ralph Percy (Kane Richmond), a guy named Richard Jeffery (John Sutton), a pompous Englishman Herbert Fenton (Melville Cooper) and Patricia West (Mariorie Weaver)and Narda’s wife who turns out not to be a collaborator.

 An hysterical but politically incorrect scene involves a police lineup of local Hindi men where a phony mystic is played by Shemp Howard! They find Narda’s servant but he’s killed. His curio shop turns out to be a front for making poison gas! This method seems similar to the M. O. of the the kiiler in MR. WONG DETECTIVE (1938). Eventually Charlie gets all the suspects on a moving plane and reveals the real killer (Narda with plastic surgery). Jimmy is really a pest in this. Clarence Muse has one scene as stereotypical scared suspect. 

Director Harry Lachman directed DEAD MEN TELL the next year.

https://moviemeltdown.blogspot.com/2015/07/chan-returns.html

Mr. Wong: https://moviemeltdown.blogspot.com/2017/07/mr-wong.html

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Vanishing Bride

THE CORPSE VANISHES-1942-Somebody is killing then kidnapping the corpses newlywed brides. 

A young headstrong reporter named Pat (Luana Walters) and her older comic photographer Sandy (Vince Barnett) try to investigate. It's all a fiendish plot by Dr. George Lorenz (Bela Lugosi) who extracts bodily fluid from the dead brides to keep his ungrateful wife, The Countess (Elizabeth Russell) young and vital. Dr. Foster (Tris Coffin) assists Lorenz in a cure for The Countess. Lorenz uses drugged orchids and gets help from “my little family” which includes little Toby (Angelo Rossitto), tough guy Mike (George Eldredge), housekeeper Fagah (Minerva Urecal; also in THE APE MAN with Bela) and her brutish son Angel (Frank Moran) who Lorenz whips. He and his wife also like to sleep in coffins. When Pat is forced to stay at the doc's place for the night she snoops around and sees Angel talking to a dead bride. When Foster sees Lorenz strangle Angel he decides to help Pat by setting up a phony marriage but instead Lorenz drugs and kidnaps her. Before he can make the lethal injection Fagah stabs him to death (he killed her son). When the Countess tries to make the injection Fagah stabs her too. 

This is a typical outrageous Monogram studios Lugosi melodrama with Bela being a pretty cruel guy. Luana Walters is good as the noisy wisecracking lead. Too bad she didn't get better roles. Wallace Fox directed Lugosi in THE BOWERY AFTER MIDNIGHT the same year. He also made several “East Side Kids” comedies. Later he made a bunch of westerns and went into TV. He died in 1958. Sam Katzman was the producer...

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Young Wong

PHANTOM OF CHINATOWN-1940-This is the Monogram Pictures 6^th and final entry into their “Mr. Wong” series that started in 1939 with Boris Karloff in the lead. This time out however the detective is Jimmy Wong, a younger, more dashing and modern version than his predecessor and he's portrayed by Keye Luke, an actual Asian actor (born in China)! He helps investigate the poisoning death of an archaeologist. Capt. Street (Grant Withers) returns from the previous films and has a bigger role than usual. Jimmy's kind of love interest is Win Len (Lotus Long) and the plot revolves around the missing “Scroll of China”. 

It's refreshing to see the two leads actually played by Asian actors but unfortunately it's the only one made featuring “Jimmy”. The beginning lecture, photos and flashbacks look like they came from another movie. Director George Waggner (he directed THE WOLFMAN the same year) wrote the screenplay under the pseudonym Joseph Lewis. PHANTOM's director Phil Rosen made many “quickies” (like SPOOKS RUN WILD) and several in the Charlie Chan series.

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The Wong and Only!

THE FATAL HOUR-1940-After his friend Dan Grady is killed, Captain Bill Street (Grant Withers) teams up with Asian sleuth Mr. Wong (Boris Karloff; didn't know he was Chinese, did ya?) to find the killer. Meanwhile female reporter Bobbie Logan (Marjorie Reynolds) returns from the previous Wong mystery and tries to help. This entry, the fourth of six King Karloff made for Monogram features a lot of sub-plots involving jade smuggling, a radio broadcast and suspects galore but not enough Karloff! As with all of them William Nigh directed and Scott Darling wrote it.

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Forgotten Cosmo

COSMO JONES THE CRIME SMASHER-1943-In this low budget Monogram crime drama with comic overtones, amateur criminologist Cosmo Jones (Frank Graham, mainly a voice actor and announcer), a nerdy umbrella toting guy teams up with an African-American janitor (Mantan Moreland) to help vindicate a cop named Flanagan (Richard Cromwell) accused of killing a bystander. Flanagan's captain is played by Edgar Kennedy and his girlfriend is Gale Storm. Jones can impersonate many voices and there's a gang war and the kidnapping of a rich woman but the story isn't very good and Moreland is wasted (though he helps catch the thugs). 

Director James Tinling made CHARLIE CHAN IN SHANGHAI and MR. MOTO'S GAMBLE plus a whole bunch of forgotten low budget features and later went into TV. Despite having a very successful career star Frank Graham committed suicide in 1950.

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