Shadows Over Chinatown

You'll find all sorts of gems by noodling around in films of the 30s and 40s. Some absolute treasures await you in unlikely places. One of these is in various experiments in the detective story that were being conducted at the time.

And sometimes a series in this period yields riches in how it evolves. But I can tell you that except in one respect this film is so poor in content and interest, you should avoid it. I'm not talking about production values here or even questions about the sense of the mystery.

We've never let them get in the way before if there is a core that rewards.

Everyone seems tired here (except for that one element I'll mention below). Toler was in his seventies and can merely grimace. The Confucianisms that were clever in a few Chan movies are rote and childish here. The plot bumps about until it tumbles down all the stairs allotted to it.

The one bright light is Mantan Mooreland. The series is, after all, about how one race, the Chinese, have gifts — inscrutable insight and some wisdom. Its always been peppered by the caveat of race by the comical black man. Mantan plays this man, the childish chauffeur (usually called a driver).

He's terrified, a coward. And he's ignorant. Combining these two with minstrel characteristics and you get a stuttering, bug eyed foil that easily is well over the line in offensive.

And yet. He is such an artist. His timing is so sublime, that you have to just watch him in awe. He's a star, a great actor. If we don't burden Brando by thinking that he is actually his characters, why should we do so here?

He's in more watchable films, and just as appealing in how he connects. But if you happen to accidentally be watching this, he'll give some relief.

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

I really liked this Chan, it kept my interest all the way through. I found the plot complex, not hard to follow. I think that is why I really enjoyed it, there is a lot going on with lots of characters coming and going. Some people on here claimed the plot didn't make sense but let us be fair, a mystery isn't a mystery if you know what is going to happen from one scene to the next. I really have no complaints, this is one I want to watch again very soon. One thing I appreciate about the Chan movies is the fact that the producers tried to give you something a bit different from one film to the next. Sure, they recycle themselves after a while but some Chans really stand out...like this one. I just relax and watch all the events as they occur and let Charlie explain it all at the end! I guess some folks just like predictable films and turn up their noses at anything that doesn't follow the herd.

Charlie Chan, Jimmy and Birmingham are on a bus trip to San Francisco, where he's about to investigate for an insurance company the strange and gruesome deaths of a couple of newly wed young women - all 'torso killings', where the head's been cut off from the body; and now another victim has been found, and the lady who sits next to him on the bus explains to him that she makes the trip in order to find out if it's her missing granddaughter. Meanwhile, the bus has got motor trouble, and the passengers are forced to spend some time in a little shack - where a shot is fired at Charlie from outside, and it's only the watch Jimmy had given him for his birthday that saves him from the bullet! Then, a young man shows up who declares he's on leave from the Marine Corps to see his girl in San Francisco; but it's obvious that he left WITHOUT a leave... Then, when they arrive and Charlie goes to the morgue to see the body (whatever's left of it), he can reassure Mrs. Conover that the dead woman is NOT her granddaughter, because of a scar from an appendectomy which 'little' Mary has never undergone. And the same day, in the hotel restaurant, Charlie recognizes in the pretty young waitress the missing granddaughter, who's dyed her hair blond - and is obviously hiding from something or someone...

As it turns out, Mary is also the girl Joe, the young Marine corporal, is searching for: he'd fallen in love with her, but she'd turned him down because she was afraid - and at last, when Charlie gets hold of her, we learn the reason for her fear: she'd been working for an escort bureau, and she'd become suspicious when her boss had suggested to her to marry Joe whose father is rich, and if she'd get him to take out a high life insurance policy, they'd soon make her a rich widow! And now, it's up to brave little Mary to play the decoy in order to find the boss of the 'torso murder gang'...

A very unusual and suspenseful entry in the 'Charlie Chan' series, with an excellent cast (what a shame that most of their names are almost forgotten by now...), and as always some wonderful jokes and mishaps from Jimmy and Birmingham; a great piece of good, clean crime entertainment!

Charlie Chan takes a bus trip with number two son Jimmy Chan and chauffeur Birmingham Brown. They stop at a bus station where a passenger notices he's been robbed. The station door is slightly ajar and a mysterious hand pokes a revolver through and shoots Charlie Chan. Luckily, the bullet hits his watch and he is uninjured. Could the robbery and shooting be connected?

It doesn't always make perfect sense but there's plenty going on in this lightweight Charlie Chan entry. As the picture starts, Chan is already expressing interest in a gruesome murder case ("Torso Victim Unidentified," says the newspaper headline) and is soon also investigating a phony bus driver, a Marine straggler, and a pickpocket, as well as promising little old lady Mary Gordon to help find her missing granddaughter.

Mantan Moreland is consistently funny as Birmingham Brown, and Victor Sen Yung returns to the series as Jimmy Chan (replacing number three son Benson Fong). Yung is brash and earnest as always; Jimmy and Birmingham provide Pop Chan with approximately equal amounts of assistance on the case and comic relief.

The plot's a little convoluted but I suppose there's a chance it would all add up correctly if one set out to understand it....however, if anything holds the picture together it's not the great plot but rather Sidney Toler's usual steady presence as the great detective.

Favorite scene: Father and son sit in a restaurant and Jimmy Chan orders chop suey. Charlie Chan: "I shudder to think what Confucius say to that." Jimmy Chan: "Aw, it's good stuff, Pop. You oughta try it sometime."

Sidney toler is charlie chan, and as usual, victor sun yung is his son, with mantan moreland as birmingham, the faithful but easily scared butler. Listen for a similar bit to who's on first about fourteen minutes in. When widows disappear after collecting the insurance payouts, chan and the local coppers try to find suspect(s). Chan's son and butler play large roles in this one... pretty much stealing the show from chan himself. It's okay. Another chapter with sidney toler as chan. In the later chapters, it was roland winters as chan. Directed by terry morse. He directed a bunch of monster and other miscellaneous films in the 1940s and 1950s... godzilla, fog island, jungle hunter.