The Mysterious Mr. Wong (1934) – Some ancient cheese and a dash of Chinatown

Ok so first, let me just say… old movies like “The Mysterious Mr. Wong” (directed by William Nigh, yeah he actually did a bunch of Poe stuff too) have a special sort of smell. It’s like my grandmother’s källare in Sundsvall – bit musty, sort of dangerous, but you want to poke around anyway.

Here we have Bela Lugosi, that guy with eyes so dark you think you might see your reflection if you stare long enough. He’s Mr. Wong, doing his usual ‘mysterious foreign villain’ thing (what a shocker in a 1930s flick, huh?), and honestly he could read the phone book and I’d be a bit freaked out. Anyway, there’s gold coins, weird secret societies, and a journalist who’s about as sharp as boiled spaghetti. I couldn’t stop giggling at Wallace Ford (the so-called “hero”) who just bumbles around, sweating and wisecracking, almost as much as me when I lost my wallet at Hovet last autumn.

I should say, the Chinatown setting is about as real as a Liseberg haunted house. All smoke and shadows, no one speaks any real Chinese, and the “Oriental” music sounds like a kid poking an accordion. Is it racist? Ah, yeah, quite a bit. Typical old-Hollywood laziness. But the energy… it’s got that fun, nervous, slightly desperate pulse. One of those films you watch with your friends and start making up your own dialogue (highly recommended).

The pacing’s madcap, the laughs sometimes intentional, sometimes just… wow. But it’s barely an hour long, so what do you want? Some Swedes would say “det är bättre än chans på skid-VM,” and you know what, maybe they’re right if you’re a sucker for Bela being weird. Otherwise, stick to Eurovision reruns.

Oh wait, there was this time when I watched this film at 2AM after my brother’s wedding. Everyone half-drunk, half asleep, and we kept shouting “Wong!” every time Bela glared at the camera. Perfect movie for that mood. So, yeah. Grab some popcorn and low expectations.

watch the full movie on Mavshack Movies on YouTube

please note that there may be geographical blocking implemented.