Castle in the Desert

Charlie Chan, who's just planning a little vacation with son Jimmy, gets a letter from a Mrs. Manderley, née Lucrezia Borgia (!), who summons him urgently to Manderley castle because she fears for her life... And THERE we've got a classic isolated old mansion if ever there was one: Mr. Manderley, a famous historian, has built his castle in the middle of the Mojave desert, complete with a vault full of poison bottles and Renaissance torture instruments, with no electricity and no phone - and very soon the distributor of the only car available is stolen as well, which leaves the persons present in TOTAL isolation - except for Jimmy, of course, who finds his way to the castle together with a strange old lady with spiritualistic gifts, Madame Saturnia...

And very soon it is revealed that recently, a genealogist who wanted to investigate on Mrs. Manderley's Borgia family tree (although she seems perfectly alright, her step-brother was a mad poisoner...) was poisoned in the castle - but strangely, Madame Saturnia insists that 'the finger of Isis has never touched this house'... yet...

She also warns Charlie to 'watch out for an arrow' - and very soon, arrows from an old crossbow start flying through the castle halls, dangerously near to our detective hero! And the suspects are plenty: Mrs. Manderley (who insists she didn't write the note to Charlie, and that her step-brother is dead; another thing Madame Saturnia denies vehemently...), Mr. Manderley, who wears a mask over one side of his face (a result of an accident, he explains), Dr. Retling, whose death certificate for the genealogist is being questioned by private eye Fletcher, Mr. Hartford, Manderley's attorney, who together with his wife seems to be seeking to take control of the Manderley fortune, and sculptor Watson King, who reveals himself as yet another private detective hired by Mrs. Manderley... Make your choice!

The creepy atmosphere of the old castle of course makes this entry in the 'Charlie Chan' series another immensely entertaining whodunit; and the cast is also superb: apart from distinguished British star Henry Daniell as Watson King and Douglas Dumbrille as Manderley, we also meet again with some of the cast members of that magnificent Charlie Chan movie "Dead Men Tell" from the previous year: Milton Parsons, Lenita Lane - and Ethel Griffies, giving once again a FORMIDABLE performance as the mysterious Madame Saturnia. Jimmy as always adds lots of fun, disguised in a medieval armor - a great mystery movie that shouldn't be missed by any fan of the genre!

Lucy Manderley makes a brusque announcement: "Two things we never discuss in this house—my family and Paul's accident." –Her husband Paul wears a mask that covers half of his face; Lucy herself is descended from the Borgias of Renaissance Italy, renowned for power and poison. "This house" is the Manderley estate, a lonely medieval-style castle stuck out in the desert.

Charlie Chan is on hand at said estate—but the urgent invitation he answered was apparently a fake. Has Mr. Chan been summoned to witness a murder or provide an alibi? Sidney Toler is steady as always as he attempts to find out.

Eerie music, dimly lit castle sets and some good shadowy camera work create an appropriately spooky atmosphere for this fairly standard but highly enjoyable Chan mystery.

Among the entertaining cast on hand at the old dark castle are Douglass Dumbrille as the odd Mr. Manderley and Lenita Lane as his nervous wife; Henry Daniell as mysterious sculptor Watson King; and Ethel Griffies as Madame Saturnia, a spooky soothsayer whose predictions all involve death.

Sen Yung also offers assistance as Jimmy Chan. On a week's leave from the Army, Jimmy tells his Pop that "What I'd like now is the relaxation of a good murder case." He finds a suit of armor a good hiding place to spy from, but keeps getting pushed over and tumbling down flights of stairs….

The plot involves a couple of murders by poison—pointing suspicion at Lucy Manderley, the only possibly-unbalanced Borgia in the group. Other elements adding to the mystery include a sleeping potion like the one Shakespeare's Juliet took, and the early disappearance of the only vehicle's distributor, leaving the entire group stranded and cut off.

Overall, it's a fairly standard Charlie Chan: a decent mystery plot featuring a few chills, a fair mix of comedy, and a bit of action as well. Very entertaining for fans.

Castle in the Desert (1942) was the last Charlie Chan movie produced by 20th Century Fox. This one starred Sidney Toler as the man himself and Sen Yung as number 2 son.

Charlie is invited to a desert castle to see Mrs. Manderley, a descendant of the Borgias, and her husband Paul, who wears a handkerchief over one side of his face because of a horrible accident. The castle has no phone or electricity because Paul is a historian and tries to replicate the conditions of the men he is studying.

A death has occurred, but in order for Manderley to hold onto his $20 million fortune, he cannot be attached to any scandal. He persuades a doctor to allow the man to be moved to a hotel where he will be found, and nothing will attach to the Manderley or the castle.

Soon Jimmy Chan arrives with a sculptor (Henry Daniell) he met at the station who also needed a ride; there is also an eccentric astrologer (Ethel Griffiths) who claims the man who died is not dead, and neither is Mrs. Manderley's stepbrother, who presumably died in the war.

There is another death and a murder, and Charlie soon uncovers not one, but two conspiracies that are designed to get control of the Manderley money.

This was a good movie, but confusing. I still can't figure out what the deal was with the stepbrother. All they did was talk about him being alive, and I think Charlie said he was in the house. I swear I never saw him. Anyway, I wasn't satisfied at all with the ending. They should have stuck with one conspiracy.

Anyway, Toler and Sen Yung are good, and the cast is high quality, with Douglas Dembrille as Manderley, Henry Daniell, Richard Derr, and Arlene Whelan. The quality of the series is about to go down -- this is the last one of any quality.

My opinion is this is one of the best in the Chan series. It has a good story that is written well. The cast is great with some wonderful character actors. I think the production quality is a little better than other Chan films. One thing that stands out are lighting and camera angles. They create an ambiance of suspense.

Good movie set in the Mojave desert. One of the best Chan movie with Sidney Toler. The ambiance for suspense is nicely set in a castle in the middle of nowhere. And there's always that famous phrase: «One of us is a murderer». I just love it when they say that!

The acting is good. Victor Sen Yung is funny as Number 2 son and I also liked the fortune teller lady. She was adding some fun to the movie.

One quote: «What I'd like now is the relaxation of a good murder case»! (Jimmy Chan to his father)

In all, an entertaining movie.

Out of 100, I gave it 78. That's good for **½ on a **** star rating system. Seen at home in Welland, June 2nd, 2001. Marko Roy.