When Were You Born (1938) is an non-credited remake of From Headquarters (1933). The plot is the same. The differences are WWYB introduces an astrologer to aid the police, while FH is a straight police procedural.While both are interesting "B" pictures, FH is, in my opinion, the better of the two. It has more stylish photography, moves along a bit faster, and has a somewhat better cast (though Margaret Lindsay appears in both films as a lead).Watch closely in this version, however, and you will see TV's The Lone Ranger (Clayton Moore) without his mask. (by Dr. Charles G. Waugh)

****SPOILERS*** Weird sort of movie where everyone in it is identified by their astrological signs not just their names with Chinese astrologist Mel Li Ming, Anna May Wong,cracking this puzzling murder case by interrupting the astrological charts of those involved in it. We also get a 7 minute introduction to the movie by the narrator-whoever he is-Manl;y P. Hall who's like Miss. Ming supposed to be an expert on the subject of astrology. It's on a cruise from Hong Kong to San Francisco that Miss.Ming in noticing businessman Philip Corey's, James Stephenson,birthday on his passport predicts that he'll be dead within 48 hours. When that in fact happened she's a suspect in his what looks like his murder not suicide with her friend and former school mate Doris Kane, Margaret Lindsey,Corey's fiancée held for questioning.It soon turns out that Doris' brother Larry Camp, Anthony Averill, was the last person to see Corey alive who in fact is later exposed by the sharp eyed Miss. Ming in her getting the astrological charts of all those involved in knowing his astrology chart that Miss. Ming realizes that he's not her brother at all but her lover! With the police going nowhere in the case it's Miss. Ming who puts all the loose ends as well as son moon and planets together in finding out who Corey's killer is. This is done by her finding out the charts of all those involved and identifying from them the killer's identity.****SPOILERS**** It soon turns out that Doris's mom was being blackmailed-in her having a serious drinking problem- by Corey to get her to agree her to have have her daughter Doris marry him by also-I if the drinking story didn't work-coming up with this story that she's involved in a drug trafficking operation with Corey and his business partner Frederick Glow, Lenonard Mudie, that in fact Corey was the head had honcho of. The confusing final that takes place in San Francisco's Chinatown has Glow exposed and on the run as Corey's killer who ends up getting all that's coming to him with Corey's loyal valet Shields, Eric Stanley, a crack shot and Olympic gold medal winner who spotted Glow taking Miss. Ming hostage shoots him dead as he tries to make his escape.

I should know - I'm a firm non-believer in anything even remotely associated with astrology, but I still enjoyed "When Were You Born" - to a degree. Besides, if I were to take it too seriously, I should be offended: my zodiac sign - Libra - is represented by the most negative character in the film! But at least the skeptics in the audience are fairly represented too. The problem with the film is that it's too static - about 75% of the "action" happens inside one police station. But it makes clever use of flashbacks, and Anna May Wong, playing an astrology specialist who ends up offering valuable assistance to the police, gives more conviction to her lines than most other actresses would - and make no mistake, she is the star of this film; top-billed Margaret Lindsay's part is relatively small, third-billed Lola Lane's even smaller. **1/2 out of 4.

This B-movie murder mystery is unquestionably different than most films of it's time. The clap-trap about using astrology as a crime fighting tool is an odd gimmick, but what the heck?This sort of programmer benefits from the unusual astrology "window-dressing", and though it is supposedly solved by using astrology, this pat little mystery can be figured out by the characters simply using their heads, anyway!The cast is entirely competent, and the pace is swift. The pre-war San Francisco Chinatown background, the hidden passage-ways in the Chinatown home, and Miss Wong's monkey, all add to the enjoyment of this film.As a devoted fan of B-movie murder yarns of this period, I may be somewhat prejudiced, but I loved watching this film, and highly recommend it to fellow fans of the genre. --D.--