Vuelo de muerte

Roland Winters is Charlie Chan in "The Sky Dragon" from 1949.

Chan and his son Lee board a plane to go to San Francisco. Lee is very excited, as he's been taking flying lessons from the pilot. If Lee looks a little older here, it's because he's 45, and his father is the same age.

Coffee is passed around, and Lee spills his coffee on his dad. The coffee was drugged; so fortunately, Lee doesn't get much. He finds the detective hired to guard $250,000 that was on board plane dead, the pilots drugged, and the money gone.

Charlie figures the money was thrown out of the plane via parachute. And there are a lot of suspects - like everyone. The hostesses, played by Noel Neill (of Superman fame) and Elena Verdugo (of Marcus Welby fame) are suspects, as are the pilot (Milburn Stone of Gunsmoke), the copilot (Joel Marston), a burlesque queen (Iris Adrian) and her brother-in-law (Lyle Talbot), and a Mayor (Paul Maxey of The People's Choice). A baby-boomer movie for sure.

This was the last Chan film, with Winters a rather staid, formal Charlie spouting his words of wisdom. "Innocent act without thinking, guilty always make plans." Humor is added by Mantan Moreland as Birmingham, who aids Lee in an investigation, breaking into the burlesque house.

Enjoyable with some interesting camera work - everyone in the plane turning and facing the camera while Charlie is talking.

Though it's seen as un-pc today, this was a fun series.

After almost four dozen films, this was the final installment in the Charlie Chan series from Twentieth Century Fox and Monogram Pictures. Like the final six, this one starred Roland Winters as the detective...and his version of Chan was far weaker than the one played by Warner Oland as well as Sidney Toler.

The story begins on an airliner. Chan and #1 son, Lee (Keye Luke), are aboard and things seem pretty normal. After all, Charlie had just finished a case and they're heading home. However, something evil is afoot....and Lee realizes it when he awakens to find everyone either asleep or dead! One of the pilots was stabbed and someone obviously knocked everyone else out by lacing the drinks with something....and a fortune in money being transported in the plane is gone!

Like all the later Charlie Chan films, this one is weak...but still watchable. Roland Winters simply isn't as fun as Sidney Toler and the solution to all this was telegraphed. When baddies all 'accidentally' get shot and killed by the same person, it doesn't take Charlie Chan to figure out they are evil! Fair...at best.

The Charlie Chan series at Monogram comes to an end with this picture. The plot sees Charlie (Roland Winters) and "Number One Son" Lee (Keye Luke) on an airplane where all the passengers are drugged. While they're out, a man is murdered and a quarter-million dollars stolen. Also appearing in this one is bug-eyed comic sidekick Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland). The rest of the cast includes Milburn Stone (Doc from Gunsmoke), Noel Neill (Lois Lane from Adventures of Superman), and Lyle Talbot (movie star extraordinaire). Winters is weak as usual but the plot is surprisingly fresh for Monogram. Keye Luke is fun and the supporting cast is decent. It's ironic that the Winters series ended after its two strongest films. But it was a case of too little too late, I think.

The last Chan film made by Monogram and Roland Winters is a sad final bow for the great detective and great film series. The supporting cast is good for a Monogram picture. The best thing about it is that Keye Luke is back as Lee Chan. Great title. Poor picture! Sorry Charlie!

The Charlie Chan series ended with The Sky Dragon in which murder and a robbery are committed in a passenger airline while in flight. The ultimate of locked room homicides. Unfortunately for the ones who did this caper they had Charlie Chan and son Lee on board. After that they hadn't a chance.

Roland Winters and Keye Luke bring in Tim Ryan of the SFPD who is more than happy to assist the local authorities. Pilot Milburn Stone and co-pilot Joel Marston and hostesses Noel Neill and Elena Verdugo are also suspects. Gracing the cast as she always does is Iris Adrian playing a burlesque queen who was a passenger. She's traveling with brother-in-law Lyle Talbot on a mission of her own.

The guilty party is one who is rather quick on the trigger. In that it's easy to figure out who it is. How the robbery was done was a bit more clever and it involves an accomplice or two.

Keye Luke who was number one son while Warner Oland was Charlie Chan returns for the final film. I had the pleasure of seeing Keye Luke on Broadway in the original cast of Flower Drum Song, my first Broadway show. Ironically he played a traditional Chinese father in that show.

If they had only put a real surprise in the ending this would rate a notch or two higher. As it is The Sky Dragon is a fine film to conclude the series.