This collection features three Hollywood classics from the 1930s starring screen icon Anna May Wong. DANGEROUS TO KNOW (1938) – Screen legend Anna May Wong (Picadilly) reprises her acclaimed Broadway role in this romantic crime drama from the pen of Edgar Wallace (Chamber of Horrors). Racketeer Steve Recka (Akim Tamiroff, The General Died at Dawn) rules his town and the sultry, silk-gowned Madam Lan Ying (Wong) with an iron hand. But when he falls for the enchanting Margaret Van Kase (Gail Patrick, Death Takes a Holiday), a socialite not impressed by his power nor his wealth, he makes frantic efforts to win her and turns his back on the loyal Lan Ying. Dangerous to Know comes elegantly directed by Robert Florey (The Crooked Way) with the sparkling supporting cast of Lloyd Nolan (Portrait in Black), Harvey Stephens (The Cheat), Roscoe Karns (Night After Night), Porter Hall (Murder, He Says), Hedda Hopper (Little Man, What Now?), Ellen Drew (If I Were King) and Anthony Quinn (The Ghost Breakers).

ISLAND OF LOST MEN (1939) – Screen legend Anna May Wong (Daughter of Shanghai) clashes with J. Carrol Naish (Sahara) in this rousing remake of 1933’s Carole Lombard/Charles Laughton starrer White Woman. Cabaret singer Kim Ling (Wong), the daughter of a Chinese general who has been accused of absconding with government funds, arrives in the Straits Settlements. There she meets Gregory Prin (Naish), a half-caste gunrunner and head of a jungle empire where he treats the Malaysians ruthlessly. She agrees to accompany him in search of her father, as she has several reasons to believe Prin is responsible for the general’s disappearance. Directed by Kurt Neumann (The Secret of the Blue Room, The Fly) and co-starring Anthony Quinn (Road to Singapore), Eric Blore (Road to Zanzibar), Broderick Crawford (Seven Sinners) and Ernest Truex (His Girl Friday), Island of Lost Men is a torrid mix of thrills, mystery and adventure.

KING OF CHINATOWN (1939) – Screen legend Anna May Wong (Shanghai Express) co-stars with the “czar of a city of sin,” Akim Tamiroff (Desire), in the ripping crime yarn King of Chinatown. Violence and death stalk the Chinese faction of a big American city, but one man, Dr. Chang Ling (Sidney Toler, Shadows Over Chinatown), and his daughter, Dr. Mary Ling (Wong), defy the gangsters who are responsible, and, against terrific odds, bring peace to their oppressed neighbors. Wong gives a powerful and pioneering performance as a respected surgeon faced with a shocking moral dilemma. Directed by Nick Grinde (Million Dollar Legs), shot by Leo Tover (The Day the Earth Stood Still) and featuring J. Carrol Naish (Beau Geste), Philip Ahn (China), Anthony Quinn (The Last Train from Madrid), Bernadene Hayes (Dick Tracy’s Dilemma) and Roscoe Karns (It Happened One Night).

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Video Quality

Dangerous To Know, Island of Lost Men and King Of Chinatown come to Blu-Ray with the three films each given their own disc. These films share a lot of the same qualities, so I will mostly be judging them as a group while pointing out noticeable differences when necessary. Dangerous To Know and Island of Lost Men were given new 2K scans, while King Of Chinatown was given a 4K scan of the Original 35mm Camera Negative. As expected, the latter is the star of this set, but all hold up well in terms of quality. No one presentation in this set represents a flawless effort, but the quality stays in the “very good” to “excellent” range.

There is a minor amount of print damage found in these presentations, with the deficiencies becoming less and less with each film. Black levels are fairly firm with no substantial occurrences of black crush or compression artifacts. Shadow detail is surprisingly significant, which is appropriate for the mood of these efforts. The contrast is balanced well with only fleeting moments of density fluctuation in the print. The wonderful black-and-white photography across these films shines in high definition with natural grain intact. The grain field resolves well with nothing appearing overly thick or coarse. There is a welcome amount of detail present throughout with nice textures on the costumes and in the environments and production design. Kino Classics has delivered a great effort to preserve these films for fans of the actress.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray set comes with a pretty stable DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track for each of these three films that exhibit only a small amount of age-related limitations. These tracks do present with a minor amount of wear and tear including some faint hissing, humming and crackles that likely date back to the source elements. The music plays well with all of the important information, but it does sound a little fragile at its highest peaks. Dialogue comes through without sounding thin or distorted, and it remains in balance with the background noises so nothing gets lost in the mix. Kino Classics have done what they can to provide a good experience for fans. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles included for all feature films.

Special Features

Audio Commentary for Dangerous To Know: Film Historian Samm Deighan provides a really thoughtful commentary track in which she discusses why this film deserves a reappraisal, the background of the creative figures, how this fits into their careers, the thematic arc of the story, the production design and more.

Audio Commentary for Island of Lost Men: Entertainment Journalist/Author Bryan Reesman and Max Evry deliver a very entertaining and informative commentary track in which they delve into the performances in the film and the careers of the talent involved, an uncredited Edith Head providing some costumes, the disagreements Wong had with Paramount, the film’s legacy and more.

Audio Commentary for King of Chinatown: Film Historian David Del Valle and Archivist/Film Historian Stan Shaffer deliver a sturdy and informative commentary track which delivers great historical information about the production of the film, the talent involved, the thematic turns, the political environment of the time and much more.

Trailers: There is a minute-and-a-half trailer provided for King of Chinatown. There are also trailers provided for Death Takes A Holiday, The General Died At Dawn, Fives Graves To Cairo, Four Frightened People, The Eagle and The Hawk, Beau Geste, The Great McGinty and The Lives of a Bengal Lancer.

Final Thoughts

The Anna May Wong Collection brings together three films from an old-school Hollywood actress whose talents deserve to be more widely remembered by modern audiences. Without a doubt, Wong is the strongest part of each film in this set, so much so that we miss when she is more of a side character as is the case with Dangerous to Know. All three efforts are worth your time as they offer a good mix of thrills and intrigue. Kino Classics has released a Blu-Ray featuring a rock solid A/V presentation and some informative commentary tracks. If you are up for getting to know an under-appreciated Golden Era actress, definitely seek this one out. Recommended

Anna May Wong Collection is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Kino Classics has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.