The Fatal Hour (1940)

Touches You

the audience applauded

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

When Detective Dan Grady is found murdered in San Francisco Bay his friend Captain Bill Street is in charge of the investigation. Early evidence suggests that Grady was investigating the smuggling of precious Chinese Jade. Due to the Chinese connection Street calls Detective Wong to assist in his investigations. Reporter Roberta 'Bobbie' Logan also assists although Street wishes she wouldn't. Early clues lead to the 'Neptune Club' and its shady owner and a Jewellery Store that may be involved in selling the jade. As the investigation continues more murders take place; the problem is the main suspects have cast iron alibis for the time of one of the murders.This might not be a classic film but it is still entertaining with a good central mystery and it isn't obvious who did it prior to the final reveal. The characters are fun if a bit over the top... this is particularly true of Street who rarely stops shouting at whoever he is talking to. It must be said that in this day and age the idea of having a white actor play a Chinese character would not be acceptable but here it didn't really bother me; partly because of the film's age but mostly because if it weren't for his name and the fact that he is described as 'The Chinese Copper' I wouldn't have realised Wong was meant to be Chinese! Still Karloff was interesting in the role. Much of the film's fun is provided by Marjorie Reynolds's portrayal of Bobbie Logan, particularly in the scenes between her and Grant Withers's Captain Street. Overall I thought this was a fun little B movie.

After the Improvement of the Mr Wong series with the previous entry, "In Chinatown", the series returns to its slow and pondering ways. It starts off intriguing, revealing the death of a pal of Boris Karloff's and Grant Withers found in the San Francisco Bay, having been working alone on a secret case involving a smuggling ring. Marjorie Reynolds returns as the ambitious reporter, and what was cute in the previous film in her rivalry with Withers now seems to be simply obnoxious. Much of the film focuses on interviewing people who claim to have seen the deceased in his last hour alive, or those who possibly could have been involved in his death or know something. That takes away time for action, making this entry boring and stagnant. There are a few interesting supporting characters, most notably Charles Trowbridge and Lita Chevret as the proprietor of a fancy nightclub and his seemingly hard as nails girlfriend. This goes to show the hit or miss quality of these quickly written and even faster made B crime dramas, made to collect a quick buck when released, but thoroughly analyzed decades later. Karloff is beginning to show his boredom with the series, or perhaps that heavily lackered hairstyle was becoming as painful to deal with as his Frankenstein monster's costume.

Not only is THE FATAL HOUR a clumsy and mediocre film from the low-budget Monogram studio but it seems much longer than it is despite a brief running time. It's a strictly by-the-numbers sort of thing with very little actually happening until halfway through the story. Boris Karloff dons oriental make-up as the "Chinese copper" aiding Grant Withers and Marjorie Reynolds in solving the case of a murdered policeman on the San Francisco waterfront.With its drab sets and lack of any close-ups during long scenes, the story isn't interesting enough to hold the attention span of anyone but those determined to sit through this potboiler.Craig Reynolds, as a chief suspect, is the only player to inject any over-the-top histrionics to his role. All the others play their parts in an almost indifferent manner with the exception of Marjorie Reynolds as the newspaper lady with a perky sense of humor.Summing up: Hardly worth a peek--and certainly one of Karloff's dullest roles.

Before Charlie Chan switched from Fox to low-budget Monogram Studios, Monogram created its own Chan knockoff in the form of the Mr. Wong movies. Like the Chan films, the lead character is some white guy in cheesy makeup--in this case, Boris Karloff. Unlike the Chan movies, Wong speaks without any particularly noticeable accent and he works without the assistance of his kids or Birmingham Brown. Instead, while not exactly his sidekick, the same nosy female reporter follows him and the police inspector during all the Wong films. Unfortunately, while the two series were awfully similar, the Chan series just seemed a lot more fun. A sense of whimsy was definitely missing from this film. Now as for the plot, it isn't bad at all but it also isn't enough to lift this from the category of a "time passer" and I can certainly see why Monogram soon dropped the Wong series in favor of their own line of Chan films. An interesting but ultimately ordinary film from start to finish. I wish I could say more about the film, but even after just watching it, nothing whatsoever stands out in my mind--and that says a lot about the film.