Daughter of the Tong

Daughter Of The Tong is an old black and white FBI vs. organized crime mystery movie. The two groups are more or less at war with each other. The crime lord Carnie has her hand in politics and is worried about her men getting elected so she's backing off the heavy criminal activities for a while. There is crime work that can't wait, though, so she brings in some out of town muscle to do her dirty work.

Her attempt to distance herself from the crime turns out to be her undoing. In a stroke of luck for the FBI they nab that very guy and stumble onto the plot. They substitute their own guy, Dixon, to bring down Carnie and her gang from the inside.

A pretty girl and her brother are mixed up in the matter. Marion is afraid to trust the authorities for the sake of her brother, but Dixon is determined to help her anyway. Guys are like that with pretty girls I guess.

This movie really doesn't sound like it would be anything special. The plot isn't what I would consider superior to any other average police movie from the 30's or 40's. Yet it is better than a lot of them.

Part of the reason might be Grant Withers as the undercover FBI agent Dixon. He has a solid presence and is a pretty good actor. He brings a lot to the table in this, but the acting in general is not bad at all for the most part.

Besides good acting the flow and the pace are well done. There's a solid sense of excitement and danger. One negative might be that the FBI doesn't know Carnie is female. We find out who she is before we even meet the good guys, but I can't help thinking keeping the audience in the dark would have been a nice element. I don't know, I suppose the you-assumed-it-was-a-guy-but-it's-not has been done to death. Even so, most crime bosses in 30's movies are guys, so it might have worked here.

Whatever you might think about the rest of the movie I have to recommend the fireworks scene. Movies of this age don't offer much in the way of explosions, so the fireworks display is particularly fun.

MORALITY:

Typical of black and white films there is no strong language, sex, or nudity.

The violence is mild and amounts to little more than some fist fighting even though we're dealing with lots of people that carry guns around.

SPIRITUALITY:

There's not much of anything too terribly deep here, but I do like the plights of some of the characters. Marion is not a criminal type, but she doesn't want to get her brother into trouble. It can be a difficult position to have to determine between doing right by the law and taking care of someone we love.

I think Christians are frequently in this position because we are told to love God which would bring a desire to follow his commands, and we've commanded to love our neighbor. So what happens when we are in a position of loving a neighbor who does not love God's commands?

We need to look to Jesus as an example. He didn't beat up on sinners. He was harsh with people who turned the temple into a den of thieves and the religious leaders hiding behind a facade of piety. He defended the adulteress, the tax collector, the poor, and the dregs of society. Start there and then think about what to do with those sinners you encounter.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Daughter of the Tong is not the pinnacle of filmmaking, but it is en enjoyable flick. Definitely check it out if you like old movies cops and robbers type tales.

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