|
|
Rating:  - Chasing Ghosts in a Funhouse....
1944's "The Chinese Cat" pits famous detective Charlie Chan, here played by Sidney Toler, against a murderous diamond smuggling gang. The famous Honolulu detective, seconded to the U.S. Government for the war effort, is assisted by series regulars Number Three Son Tommy (Benson Fong) and nervous cab driver Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland).
Chan is asked to investigate a cold case involving the locked room murder of the husband of a wealthy socialite, who has now been acccused of the murder by a muck-raking novelist. Chan and his son follow a rather improbable string of clues that point to a bigger conspiracy and high stakes in the form of stolen diamonds. As witnesses keep showing up dead, and one dead witness keeps showing up alive, Chan, Tommy, and Brown close in on the smuggling gang's hideout in a old amusement park funhouse. The climax of the movie is a deadly cat and mouse chase through secret rooms.
Dialogue in this particular episode is unusually woooden. Charlie's normal chastisement of his errant son seems almost like hectoring. Tommy and Birmingham Brown are played mostly for laughs, although both will get a chance to be a hero in the end. The plot is just obscure enough to keep the audience guessing for awhile, but the wrap-up seems artificially convenient. This movie will be of interest primarily to dedicated fans of the Charlie Chan series.
Rating: - Murder is His Business
A man is working on a chess game. Someone enters and fires two shots; Thomas Manning is found dead in a locked room. There are no clues, and the case is dropped. Miss Manning visits to ask Charlie Chan for help. A novel was written that accuses her mother of the crime. [There are jokes sprinkled in the dialogue for amusement. The prices date this picture.] A telephone call summons Chan to give him information about the murder. But a stranger makes sure he will tell no tales. Detective Dennis shows up, he was trailing Chan. They discover statues hidden away in loaves of bread. Chan talks to Dr. Paul Rechnick about his book Mrs. Manning was alone in the house at the time of the murder. Next they visit the murder room; there is a secret panel and door to another room. Somebody places a bomb in Chan's taxi, but Chan escapes this attempt.
Chan visits Wu San, the artist who created those hidden statues. There are gems hidden inside! When Chan visits Manning's partner they discover new facts. When this man is found dead there are no clues. Somebody uses a poison gas in their hotel room, but it is discovered in time. Three murders by three different methods seems puzzling. But Chan figures out a solution based on the wrong pieces for a jigsaw puzzle. Chan returns to the closed "Fun House" and is found by the criminal gang. After some adventures and threats (more comic than serious) the murders are solved. The last minutes explain the murders. One of the gang tried a double-cross, and this started the reaction.
The first pictures in this series were murder mysteries with some comic or witty remarks. This film has too much comedy to be a murder mystery, and too many murders to be a comedy. Yet the success of this series says they met the needs of the audiences.
Rating:  - The Best Entry From THE CHANTOLOGY Box Set
The 6 films in the box set basically concentrated on Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan joining the US Government during WII and solving mysteries involving weapons and other sundry items involved with the government. Due to the time era, Fox had dropped the series in fear of losing profits on the series and due to the anti-oriental sentiment at the time. B studio, Monogram picked the series up. "The Chinese Cat" deviates from the usual Chan films during this period and concentrates on murder and diamond smuggling with less emphasis on government projects. #3 son Benson Fong and sidekick Matlon Moore (portrayed as a very atypical stereotyped black person of era) are along for the fun and provide comic relief. Chan also has a few good one liners he delivers to #3 son. As most of the movies made during wartime were careful and cautionary, this outing is much more relaxed and entertaining and is more typical of the series prior to the war. I would stick with the pre-war movies (most of them are now public domain and not available). But if you can get them, they are far more enjoyable. For now, we have THE CHINESE CAT for our viewing pleasure.
The best outing by Chan during WWII.
Rating: - Serial Villain Reunion
I knew I was going to have fun with this film just from seeing some of the names in the credits. Cy Kendall was the king of the rackets in the first Green Hornet serial. Anthony Warde was Killer Kane to Buster Crabbe's Buck Rogers in the single Buck serial. And John Davidson, who has a nice turn here as two creepy twins, was the Ghost in one of the Dick Tracy serials.
Plus there's I. Stanford Jolley,who was in every single B-movie and serial ever made (well, most of them, anyway).
Chan investigates a locked-room murder, chases some McGuffins in the form of cat statues, and ends up battling the bad guys in a gloomy fun-house. A minor but enjoyable B-feature, and not so long that it overstays its welcome.
Rating: - Among the Best of Monogram's Chan Films--But Still Best Left to Hardcore Fans and Collectors
Loosely based on novels by Earl Derr Biggers, 20th Century Fox's Charlie Chan series proved an audience favorite--but when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor the studio feared audiences would turn against its Asian hero. This was a miscalculation: actor Sidney Toler took the role to "poverty row" Monogram Studios, where he continued to portray the character in eleven more popular films made between 1944 and his death in 1947.
20th Century Fox had regarded the Chan films as inexpensive "B" movies, but even so the studio took considerable care with them: the plots were often silly, but the pace was sharp, the dialogue witty, and the casts (which featured the likes of Bela Lugosi and Ray Milland) always expert. The result was a kindly charm which has stood the test of time. Monogram was a different matter: Chan films were "B" movies plain and simple. Little care was taken with scripts or cast and resulting films were flat, mediocre at best, virtually unwatchable at worst.
Released in 1944, THE CHINESE CAT finds Chan beset by son Tommy, who has promised the step-daughter of a murdered man assistance; they are joined in the investigation by cab driver Birmigham, who is not overeager to be reunited with the Chans given that murder tends to follow in their wake. Indeed, there will be three murders, stolen jewels, and a carnival fun house before the killers are captured. Like all the Monogram Chan films, the plot is trivial and the script even more so; unlike the worst of the Monogram Chan films, however, it does have the occasional touch of atmosphere and moves at a respectable pace.
Sidney Toler gives a nice reprise of Charlie Chan in this film, but as usual in the Monogram Chan films Mantan Moreland (Birmingham) is the real scene stealer. Changing times have led us to look upon Moreland's brand of comedy as demeaning to African-Americans, but he was an expert actor and comic, and taken within the context of what was possible for a black actor in the 1940s his work has tremendous charm and innocence.
Fans of the 20th Century Fox series are likely to find Monogram's Chan a significant disappointment and newcomers who like the Monogram films will probably consider them third-rate after encountering the Fox films. Like other Monogram Chan films, MEETING AT MIDNIGHT is best left to determined collectors. Three stars, and that's being generous.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
|
|