The Fatal Hour (1940 film)

The Fatal Hour is a 1940 American thriller crime drama film directed by William Nigh and starring Boris Karloff (as James Lee Wong), Grant Withers, and Marjorie Reynolds.

The Fatal Hour
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	William Nigh
Written by	Hugh Wiley Scott Darling George Waggner
Produced by	Scott R. Dunlap William T. Lackey
Starring	Boris Karloff Grant Withers Marjorie Reynolds
Cinematography	Harry Neumann
Edited by	Russell F. Schoengarth
Music by	Edward J. Kay
Distributed by	Monogram Pictures Corporation
Release date	January 15, 1940 (1940-01-15)
Running time	68 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Fourth installation of the series, the film is also known as Mr. Wong at Headquarters in the United Kingdom. The picture was followed by the sequel Doomed to Die, which also stars Karloff, Reynolds and Withers.

Plot

The body of policeman Dan Grady is rescued in the San Francisco Bay lifeless and with clear indications of an execution. His good friend Captain Street, very touched by the tragedy, asks for the help of Mr. Wong and the journalist Bobbie Logan to solve the mystery. Dan was carrying out an investigation into gemstone smuggling, and the investigation leads to suspicion of jeweler Frank Belden's shop. A witness appears who saw Dan at 8.30 pm the night before at the Neptune club, a disreputable place run by Harry Lockett, a well-known cheater, con man and smuggler. The investigations will lead to the discovery of a ring of precious stone trafficking that revolved around the Neptune, in which both the owner and Frank Belden himself, and the vamp Tanya Serova were involved. Slowly, however, all the members of the gang end up killed, and the blame seems to fall on the young Frank Belden jr. son of the jeweler and boyfriend of Serova. It will be Wong himself who will discover the cunning ploy devised by the real culprit to frame the young man, so the head of the gang, the lawyer John T. Forbes, is arrested by Captain Street thanks to the decisive collaboration of Miss Logan.

Cast

• Boris Karloff as James Lee Wong
• Grant Withers as Capt. Bill Street
• Marjorie Reynolds as Roberta 'Bobbie' Logan
• Charles Trowbridge as John T. Forbes
• Frank Puglia as Harry 'Hardway' Lockett
• Craig Reynolds as Frank Belden, Jr.
• Lita Chevret as Tanya Serova
• Harry Strang as Det. Ballard
• Hooper Atchley as Frank Belden Sr.
• Jason Robards Sr. as Griswold (billed as Jason Robards)
• Richard Loo as Jeweler
• Jack Kennedy as Mike, Police Sergeant

External links

• The Fatal Hour at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
• The Fatal Hour at IMDb
• The Fatal hour at the TCM Movie Database
• The Fatal Hour is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive
• The Fatal Hour at AllMovie