Review of Mr. Wong, Detective (1938) by Duane E — 05 Sep 2014

I have a scale of offensiveness for White Actors Portraying Asians. At one, the least offensive, there's David Carradine playing Caine in Kung Fu. At five, the most offensive, there's Mickey Rooney as Mr.

Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany's. Boris Karloff rates about one on this scale. His Mr. Wong doesn't adhere to too many of the stereotypes of the day, there are very few parables, and he isn't afflicted with the Hollywood idea of a Chinese accent.

In fact, the makeup they use is so subtle that, well, he doesn't look remotely Chinese. If you were to squint, you might assume someone had left Karloff in the sun for too long and he had acquired a tanâ??and a mustache.