Doomed to Die

Shipping magnate Cyrus Wentworth (Lang) is shot in his office.  Wentworth was in the midst of a scandal after his ocean liner sunk.  He also rewrote his will, leaving everything to his daughter Cynthia (Craig).  Cynthia is in love with Dick Fleming (Sterling), the son of Wentworth's business rival, Paul Fleming (Usher).  Wentworth did not approve of the relationship, and Dick was the last person to see him alive.

Captain Bill Street (Withers) believes that it is an easy case and arrests Dick.  Cynthia is convinced that Dick is innocent and on the advice of her friend, reporter Bobbie Logan (Reynolds), hires Mr. James Lee Wong (Karloff) to get to the truth.  Mr. Wong discovers that there is more to the case than it initially appears.  Can he find the real culprit before more bodies line up?

Hugh Wiley wrote 12 short stories about James Lee Wong in Collier's Magazine, published from 1934-1938.  Monogram Pictures produced 6 films with the character: Mr. Wong, Detective in 1938, The Mystery of Mr. Wong in 1939, Mr. Wong in Chinatown in 1939, The Fatal Hour in 1940, Doomed to Die in 1940, and Phantom of Chinatown in 1940.

The Good:

This was Boris Karloff's 5th and final appearance as James Wong.  Karloff is always good, and delivers another good performance as Mr. Wong.  He is again joined by Grant Withers as Captain Street.  Withers and Karloff have good chemistry and work well together.  Marjorie Reynolds is also back as Bobbie Logan.  She is still annoying, but not bad here.

The Bad:

Again, the film is too short.  If it was a little longer, they could flesh out the story and drama a little more.  Things move a good pace, but a slightly longer running time would make the film a little better.

Other Comments:

-The story / mystery are good and keep you guessing.  The answer isn't obvious from the beginning and keeps the action moving.

Doomed to Die (1940) 68 minutes
Director: William Nigh
Starring: Boris Karloff as James Lee Wong
Marjorie Reynolds as Roberta "Bobbie" Logan
Grant Withers as Captain Bill Street
William Stelling as Dick Fleming
Catherine Craig as Cynthia Wentworth
Guy Usher as Paul Fleming
Henry Brandon as Victor Martin

Melvin Lang as Cyrus Wentworth

Wilbur Mack as Matthews

Kenneth Harlan as Ludlow