Doomed to Die is a 1940 American murder mystery film in which Mr. Wong and a female reporter investigate the murder of a shipping magnate. It is the fifth in the Boris Karloff/Doctor Wong films.
The movie was directed by William Nigh (The Strange Case of Doctor Rx; Black Dragons; The Ape; The Fatal Hour; Mr. Wong in Chinatown; The Mystery of Mr. Wong; Mr. Wong, Detective) from a screenplay by Michael Jacoby from a story by Ralph Gilbert Bettison based on the James Lee Wong series in Collier’s Magazine written by Hugh Wiley.
The Monogram Pictures production stars Boris Karloff, Marjorie Reynolds, Grant Withers, William Stelling, Catherine Craig, Guy Usher, Henry Brandon and Melvin Lan.
Plot [contains spoilers]:
When the head of a shipping company is murdered in his office, suspicion is focused on the son of a competitor who is engaged to the dead man’s daughter. The girl asks the detective Mr. Wong to investigate, hoping to prove that her fiancé is innocent.
The murder occurred a few days after one of the company’s liners had caught fire and sunk, with the loss of more than 400 lives. Wong is given information by the leader of a powerful Chinese tong that leads him to other suspects. The tong leader tells Wong that one of their members was smuggling a large amount of tong money aboard the ship. The smuggler survived the sinking but disappeared with the tong’s money.
Wong uses technology to recover seemingly lost evidence. He uncovers multiple conspiracies within the shipping company and proves that the original suspect is not the murderer.
Cast and characters:
Boris Karloff as James Lee Wong
Marjorie Reynolds as Roberta “Bobbie” Logan
Grant Withers as Capt. William “Bill” Street
William Stelling as Dick Fleming
Catherine Craig as Cynthia Wentworth
Guy Usher – Paul Fleming
Henry Brandon as Victor “Vic” Martin
Melvin Lang as Cyrus P. Wentworth
Wilbur Mack as Matthews
Kenneth Harlan as Ludlow
Richard Loo as Tong leader
Tristram Coffin as Mr. Baldwin
Mike Donovan as Detective Mike
Gibson Gowland as Doctor
Jack Kennedy as Police Sgt. Casey
Maxine Leslie as Miss Reed
Moy Ming as Aged Tong Member
Angelo Rossitto as Newsboy in montage
Tech specs:
1h 8m (68 min)
Black and white
Aspect ratio: 1.37: 1
Production:
Filming began in mid-June 1940. The film uses actual news footage from the burning of the liner SS Morro Castle, which caught fire on September 8, 1934 during a trip from Havana to New York City.
Free online on YouTube [1080p Premium HD]:
Related:
MR. WONG, DETECTIVE Boris Karloff! Crime mystery – free online [4K]
THE MYSTERY OF MR. WONG Boris Karloff! Crime mystery – free online
MR. WONG IN CHINATOWN Boris Karloff! Murder mystery – free on YouTube
THE FATAL HOUR Boris Karloff! Free on BloodStream and YouTube in 4K
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