tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344878851139332715.post7423275889138494744..comments2024-03-08T18:49:51.289-05:00Comments on Classic Film and TV Café: Boris Karloff--DetectiveRick29http://www.blogger.com/profile/08358116647815569722noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344878851139332715.post-71877756327096188992014-09-24T18:10:37.754-04:002014-09-24T18:10:37.754-04:00Last night TCM aired a great classic film titled T...Last night TCM aired a great classic film titled The House of Rothschild starring Boris Karloff among others.<br />I am disappointed that the app Watch <br />TCM does not include this film for<br />viewing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344878851139332715.post-88100765138416644132014-09-16T20:08:57.520-04:002014-09-16T20:08:57.520-04:00Thanks, Mike, for catching the wrong nationality. ...Thanks, Mike, for catching the wrong nationality. It's fixed. Darn autocorrect!Rick29https://www.blogger.com/profile/08358116647815569722noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344878851139332715.post-34426149724994521322014-09-16T16:12:49.155-04:002014-09-16T16:12:49.155-04:00Because I love Boris I will watch the Wongs. Noti...Because I love Boris I will watch the Wongs. Notice the murder method from the first one echoes that of "Charlie Chan in Egypt". I know I saw it in another B mystery as well, but the name escapes me. Perhaps your memory is working on all cylinders.<br /><br />I think much could have been done with the exploits of "young" Mr. Wong as portrayed by Keye Luke. He had a lot of good will built up because of Lee. It's a shame the series didn't continue.Caftan Womanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05936895555808823221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344878851139332715.post-41268720810799065832014-09-16T14:02:35.992-04:002014-09-16T14:02:35.992-04:00As long as we're completing circles, Keye Luke...As long as we're completing circles, Keye Luke returned as Lee Chan for the final two Roland Winters Chans, Luke now a few months older than "Honorable Father".Bill Ohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06041905291496937729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344878851139332715.post-16992540036409229662014-09-16T13:27:44.588-04:002014-09-16T13:27:44.588-04:00A few points here and there:
- Warner Oland was ...A few points here and there:<br /><br /> - Warner Oland was Swedish, not Swiss ( born Johan Werner Ohlund ) .<br />For those keeping score, Sidney Toler was a Midwesterner of mainly Scottish descent, Roland Winters was originally Winternitz, J.Carrol Naish was a New York Irishman, and Ross Martin was a Polish Jew (Martin Rosenblatt).<br /> <br />- After Peter Lorre, Mr. Moto was played by Hispanic Henry Silva (once).<br /><br /> - After the <i>Judge Dee</i> pilot, Khigh Dhiegh starred in a short-lived (four episodes aired) detective show called <i>Khan!</i> (the exclamation point was intentional). This got some notice because Mr. Dhiegh declined onscreen billing, although he did do some promotion for the show.<br />Mr. Dhiegh gave as his reason that he didn't believe in "star billing" for himself as a "personal ethic"; an actress named Irene Yah-Ling Sun, who was cast as his daughter, tried to do the same, but Mr. Dhiegh talked her out of that. <br />My own guess: the 'Kenneth Dickerson' story wasn't that well known in 1974, and 'Khigh Dhiegh' wanted it kept that way.<br />As it was, TV GUIDE barely managed to get his true ethnicity into a very friendly profile a year or so earlier.<br /><br /> - Finally, <i>Mr. Wong</i>:<br />That Monogram turned the <i>Wongs</i> into <i>Chans</i> should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the work of W.Scott Darling, the common scenarist for both sets of films.Mike Dorannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344878851139332715.post-4461733788941384632014-09-16T06:37:45.416-04:002014-09-16T06:37:45.416-04:00Clayton, we did a review of JUDGE DEE AND THE MONA...Clayton, we did a review of JUDGE DEE AND THE MONASTERY MURDERS at the Cafe. It was a nifty mystery and pilot for a TV series that should have been picked up. Rick29https://www.blogger.com/profile/08358116647815569722noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344878851139332715.post-87095303159524995832014-09-15T21:06:56.322-04:002014-09-15T21:06:56.322-04:00I love, love, love the Mr. Wong films, and whatev...I love, love, love the Mr. Wong films, and whatever anyone might say about the so-called "Yellowface", I though Keye Luke as the final Mr. Wong was inferior to Karloff. Boris was amazing. I think the only really credible Asian detective of this style was the one-off Judge Dee from the 70's TV special, played by Khigh Dhiegh (kenneth Dickerson)...which also had Keye Luke.<br /><br />I did an article about South Asian detectives in written fiction a while back, and it got me over to these great old faux-Asian guys...such a great time. ;) Great write-up!Clayton @ Phantom Empireshttp://phantomempires.weebly.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344878851139332715.post-67028955010214545682014-09-15T15:52:15.546-04:002014-09-15T15:52:15.546-04:00Bill is correct. Karloff had a six-film contract w...Bill is correct. Karloff had a six-film contract with Monogram and when the horror film boom began in 1939, Monogram realized what a prize they had with Karloff under contract. So Keye Luke became Mr. Wong and Monogram put Karloff in THE APE (1940). <br /><br />The first Mr. Wong film also was later re-made as a Chan, in 1948 as DOCKS OF NEW ORLEANS. <br /><br />My least favorite of the big three Oriental detectives, but I'm glad I have copies of all these films. I think I like the first one the best...a most ingenious way of bumping someone off. Kevin Deanyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07697597405552599370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344878851139332715.post-31701448105493075802014-09-15T09:45:50.277-04:002014-09-15T09:45:50.277-04:00Technically, Peter Sellers didn't play Chan, b...Technically, Peter Sellers didn't play Chan, but a Neil Simon scripted parody of same. Did play a version of Fu Manchu, tho.Bill Ohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06041905291496937729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344878851139332715.post-46827632123046518582014-09-15T09:32:46.488-04:002014-09-15T09:32:46.488-04:00BK didn't so much bow out of Wong, as Monogram...BK didn't so much bow out of Wong, as Monogram took him off to catch the second wave of horror that started with Son of Frankenstein '39. After that, he never had to work on poverty row again, unless he did voluntarily.Bill Ohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06041905291496937729noreply@blogger.com