James Hong Movies
Actor James Hong was working as a nightclub comic in San Francisco and Hawaii when he was tapped for his first regular TV role: "Number One Son" Barry Chan in the Anglo-American co-production The New Adventures of Charlie Chan (1957). Hong would later appear as Frank Chen in Jigsaw John (1976) and Wang in Switch (1977-78). In theatrical features, he played characters bearing such flavorful monikers as Chew, Lo Pan and Bing Wong. He was seen as Faye Dunaway's butler in Roman Polanski's Chinatown (1974), repeating the role (minus Faye) in the 1990 sequel The Two Jakes. One of his most sizeable screen roles was Lamont Cranston's brainy assistant Li Peng in The Shadow (1994). James Hong has also directed a brace of feature films, including 1979's The Girls Next Door and 1989's The Vineyard. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1966
This feature-length espionage thriller is an expanded version of an episode of the TV series The Man From U.N.C.L.E. entitled "The Alexander the Great Affair." Mr. Alexander (Rip Torn) is a power-hungry multi-millionaire who wants to take over the world from his compound in Greece, with Alexander the Great serving as his role model. Alexander starts his bid for world domination in a small but strategically crucial Asian nation, where he plans to assassinate the President and render his chain of command helpless with a chemical weapon that destroys a person's will to win. International agents Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn) and Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum) are sent out to stop him, while Alexander's wife Tracey (Dorothy Provine) has her own ideas of how to deal with him. The original airing of "The Alexander The Great Affair" led off the second (and most popular) season of the TV series; the theatrical release of One Spy Too Many proved somewhat less successful. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Vaughn, David McCallum, (more)
- 1966
Tony (Larry Hagman) angrily orders Jeannie (Barbara Eden) to stop using magic--completely, no matter what the provocation. Alas, a few moments later Tony is kidnapped by Communist spies and whisked off to a torture chamber, where his captors hope to extract certain top secrets from him. Jeannie materializes in the chamber, but because of her promise she can only offer words of sympathy to her flustered, chained-up master. It is up to Roger--who heretofore has been completely out of the story loop--to figure out a way that Jeannie can rescue Tony (Roger Daily) without violating the rules! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
An underwater research station headed by Dr LaSatier (Gary Merrill) finds evidence of a very fast-moving undersea craft, and request assistance from the United States Navy. which sends its top submarine officer, Commander Wayne (Scott Brady). He is able to confirm that there's no submarine, on our side or in the Soviet navy, that can match the size and speed of what has been tracked by LaSatier's people -- and the United States Navy wants to know what this object is. The visitor finally reveals itself as a saucer-like creation that sets down on the ocean floor near the sea-lab. Head diver Hugh Maddox (Mike Road) and photographer Sandra Welles (Wende Wagner) investigate the saucer and find a chamber containing an odd-looking capsule, which they bring back to the laboratory. No sooner do they get it aboard, however, then they realize that the capsule is getting larger, and starting to emit dangerous high-frequency sound-waves. Before anyone can prevent it, the capsule bursts open and a powerful and dangerous extra-terrestrial amphibian bursts out, attacking the scientists and crew and isolating them on the ocean floor. The creature's obvious intelligence, coupled with the fact that it carries a deadly microbe, convinces Wayne that the Earth is facing a full-scale invasion. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Scott Brady, Sheree North, (more)
- 1965
Posing as "Bob Mossman", Kimble (David Janssen) is forced to steal a wallet to pay his train fare. Unfortunately for him, the train is a shuttle to and from a local prison, and is chock full of guards and newly released prisoners. This makes things difficult for Kimble when attempts to repay the stolen money to its rightful owner, dairyman Roy T. Unger (Crahan Denton), who is currently up in arms over the fact that his daughter Betty Jo (Barbara Dana) has been impregnated by paroled convict Neil Hollis (Andre Prine). And if this isn't enough for Kimble to worry about, there's also the little matter of a local murder. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1965
Adapted from an Alistair MacLean novel, The Satan Bug is one of the best efforts in the "deadly virus at large" genre. Insane scientist Dr. Hoffman (Richard Basehart) steals several vials containing a lethal germ culture from a government lab. Hoffman has been unhinged by the notion of the government playing God and now it's his turn to do the same. Hot on his trail are Lee Barrett, a scientific investigator (George Maharis) and Ann, a general's daughter (Anne Francis). The climax, which seems to have been borrowed from the 1939 Bela Lugosi serial The Phantom Creeps, finds Maharis wrestling with the controls of a runaway helicopter, wherein the deadly vials are being jostled about. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Maharis, Richard Basehart, (more)
- 1963
Juli Eng (Irene Tsu) travels from San Francisco to Hong Kong to claim the cache of precious diamonds left to her by her grandfather. Alas, the gems are missing, so Juli returns to America and asks Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) to help her track them down. Eventually, the identity of the thief, Ralph Iverson (Jerry Oddo), is revealed--but by this time Iverson has been murdered, and poor Juli has been charged with the crime. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
The second volume in a collection culled from the 1963-1965 science fiction anthology television series focuses on an experimental drug which allows a con artist to make himself the doppelganger of the secretly-murdered U.S. President. After commandeering the Oval Office, the impostor begins making executive decisions. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Janet Brent (Mala Powers), a close friend of Perry Mason's secretary Della Street (Barbara Hale), is being blackmailed by Edward Franklin (John Dall), an employee of Janet's husband Alton (Wesley Addy). Franklin has in his possession some faked photos that could ruin the Brents' marriage and reputation unless Janet comes up with $25,000. Later on, Franklin is murdered and Janet is accused of the crime--with Della facing charges as an accessory. As if Perry doesn't have enough on his hands with this case, there's also the little matter of a Red Chinese slave ring complicating the plotline (which explains the preponderance of Asian-American actors in the supporting cast). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Paladin's friend Takura (Teru Shimada) informs the gunslinger that there is a plan afoot to conquer the United States.The plan has been cooked up by a Japanese high priest (James Hong) and a ferocious Samurai warrior (Fuji), who intend to set up an insidious Japanese spy ring throughout the West Coast. Can Paladin (Richard Boone) foil these plans in a peaceful manner, or will he be forced to square off against the savage Samurai? (Three guesses!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The only Rodgers and Hammerstein cinemadaptation to be produced by Universal Pictures, Flower Drum Song was, alas, also the only Rogers and Hammerstein film to lose money at the box office. It looks far better now than it did back in 1961, if only because of the paucity of musical films in the 1990s. Essentially a comedy about the culture clash between old-world Chinese and assimilated Chinese-Americans, the film begins when Mei Li (Miyoshi Umeki) and her grandfather (Kam Tong) smuggle themselves into San Francisco. It seems that Mei Li has arrived to honor an arranged marriage between herself and Runyonesque nightclub owner Sammy Fong (the incomparable Jack Soo). This might prove delicate, since Sammy is in love with flashy cabaret entertainer Linda Low (Nancy Kwan). Meanwhile, Linda is romancing Wang Ta (James Shigeta), the son of a wealthy Chinatown merchant (Benson Fong). Soon, however, Mei Li and Wang Ta have fallen in love.......It's a complex plot, to be sure, but comedy and music manage to predominate. The songs include "I Enjoy Being a Girl" (a tour de force for the special effects department, and for Nancy Kwan), "A Hundred Million Miracles," "The Other Generation," "Love Look Away," "I Am Going to Like It Here," "Don't Marry Me," "You Are Beautiful," "Grant Avenue" and "Chop Suey." Flower Drum Song is attractively produced and consummately acted; while no classic along the lines of King and I or Sound of Music, it deserves a second look. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nancy Kwan, James Shigeta, (more)
- 1960
On the night before he is to leave Hong Kong for his native England, Lt. Harry Fraser (Mario Alcalde) proposes to the beautiful Mai Ling (Laya Raki). The next day, Fraser returns to the girl's home, only to find out that she has completely disappeared. After a frantic search, Fraser is approached by the mysterious Mr. Lum (Stephen Cheng), who suggests that the young swain will ultimately find his beloved Mai Ling...in the "House of the Dead." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
In this wartime adventure, four courageous Seabees infiltrate a Japanese-controlled island to find a place to build an air-strip. A beautiful jungle lass helps them navigate the dense forest and blow up an enemy transmitter. The flight back to their boat is not without casualties. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Lupton, James Edwards, (more)
- 1958
Several robberies have occurred in LA's Chinatown district. Detectives Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) have but one clue to go on: a small, green jade monkey. Featured in the supporting cast is prolific Asian-American character actor James Hong, who went on to sizeable roles in such films as Blade Runner (1982) and The Shadow (1994). This episode bears a striking resemblance to the seventh-season Dragnet offering "The Big Jade". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
Writer-director Samuel Fuller applies his kino-fist to this raw-boned war drama -- one of the first American films to deal with Vietnam. The film concerns the battle between the Vietnamese and the Chinese, through the efforts of a small band of soldiers to locate and destroy a hidden communist arms depot. Gene Barry stars as Sgt. Johnny Brock, the cynical leader of the patrol, who is an American Korean War veteran. Leading the expedition to find the munitions dump is the half-Asian Lucky Legs (Angie Dickinson), Brock's ex-wife. One of Brock's less-endearing qualities is his rabid racism -- he can't accept the fact that their five-year-old son is completely Oriental in appearance. The other members of the patrol are also haunted by past memories -- Goldie (Nat "King" Cole) is a veteran of Korea and World war II who hates war and wants to see peace at all costs; Corporal Pigalle (George Givot) is an ex-French gendarme who doesn't like taking orders; and Private Andreades (Gerald Milton), is a hard-nosed Greek expatriate. When the patrol arrives at the compound, they are greeted by Major Cham (Lee Van Cleef), the communist commander who immediately falls in love with Lucky Legs -- complicating the situation immensely. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Barry, Angie Dickinson, (more)
- 1955
- Add Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing to QueueAdd Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing to top of Queue
Based on the autobiographical novel by Han Suyin, Love is a Many Splendored Thing was evocatively location-filmed in Hong Kong. Jennifer Jones plays Ms. Suyin, a Eurasian doctor and the widow of a Chinese general. She falls in love with American news correspondent Mark Elliot (William Holden), who unfortunately cannot obtain a divorce from his present wife. This, together with the disapproval of Dr. Suyin's tradition-bound relatives and Hong Kong's strict racial laws, forces the couple to carry on their romance in a clandestine fashion. The romance ends in tragedy, but with renewed hope for a happier future. The one lasting legacy of Love is a Many Splendored Thing is its Oscar-winning title song, written by Paul Fain and Sammy Webster; Oscars also went to Alfred Newman's musical score and Charles LeMaire's costume design. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Holden, Jennifer Jones, (more)
