The Trap

Can we agree that Sidney Toler was ill at the time of this movie, and stop talking about it. This isn't' film class - you don't have to tell us all you know about the back-story of the series. Toler does a perfectly good job in this episode of the series - Charlie Chan wasn't exactly Shakespeare, and didn't require great acting. Having several female characters in a Chan mystery was rare, and it's a nice change to me. The son role isn't overplayed in this movie, and while it's not Mantan Moreland's best role, he gives just enough comic relief to the film. Based on the reviews here, you'd think that a prize was being given for nastiest review. Lighten up - the Chan series was meant as light entertainment - not film school criticism fodder. You get action, suspense, comedy, and even a bit of romance all in an hour. Over the years, I saw this 3-4 times before I knew anything about the making of the Chan films, and I always thought it was every bit as good as most of the others in the series. IF you can't just sit back and enjoy this Chan, that's a YOU problem, not a problem with the movie.

This was Sidney Toler's last film as detective Charlie Chan, the last in a series of twenty-two, produced between 1938 and 1946.

The physical fragility of the actor is visible, as he appears in fewer scenes, moves slowly and even demonstrates a relative verbal economy that is not characteristic of the character. There is, for example, not a single "correction please" in Toler's farewell to the character. A film where we have more "number 2 Son" and Birmingham than Chan.

The plot is what you would expect from a banal television police series and the value of this work is above all historical and sentimental, for fans of the character.

"The Trap" has an OK mystery plot and an unusual Chan locale- the beach, literally on the beach itself. And there is some fine photography of the California coast.

Toler is noticeably tired in this, his last film. In fact at least one scene is performed by Mr. Toler while sitting down, most likely due to fatigue and illness; otherwise he is almost entirely stationary and standing. However, he somehow manages to carry his acting weight in his scenes.

I believe that this is one of the best of Sen Yung's efforts in Chan films, most likely because he is allowed to just act for the most part except for one extended (but plot enhancing) sequence of buffoonery. Tanis Chandler is very French and very attractive, and her performance is competent. Barbara Jean Wong is cute and gives a good performance. But Rita Quigley's performance is...well...the best word to describe it is "terrible". Ms. Quigley gives a career-destroying bad performance that hurts the film, but you could regard it as laughable and maybe find it endurable on that basis.

Since we get a little gem of a Minerva Urecal performance, fine seacoast photography and a decent mystery plot I will give this a "6" rating but you certainly should not expect a classic, traditional Chan film.

Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) investigates showgirl murders with the help of "Number Two Son" Jimmy (Victor Sen Yung) and chauffeur Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland). There's a decent supporting cast for Monogram that includes Minerva Urecal, future Superman Kirk Alyn, and beauties Rita Quigley and Anne Nagel. Victor Sen Yung is, as usual since returning to the series, the best part of the movie. For some reason, the name Marcia is pronounced several different ways, depending on who is saying it. This is pretty annoying.

The last Sidney Toler Chan film and many would say the last real Chan film. The series would continue on with Roland Winters but all of those movies were terrible. This one's nothing to write home about, either. As others have discussed, Sidney Toler was sick with cancer during the filming of this and sleepwalks through the movie. It's a sad thing to watch, particularly for fans of the series and the actor. Worst, or maybe second worst, of the Toler series.

There is a nice setting to this one with a number of Malibu beach scenes. A theater maestro and his troupe of show girls settle into a motel and boarding room establishment. One of the girls Lois gets garroted when she snoops into a trunk to retrieve a small strong box for the troupe's leading girl called Marcia. Marcia goes missing and it is clear she's involved in a cat-fight blackmail squabble with another troupe girl called Adelaide.

Chan is called to Malibu in a bit of mix up with the case in which he mistakenly believes his son Jimmy has been killed. But Jimmy soon makes his usual intruder-style entrance through a window at the boarding house. There are some suspicious circumstances involving the men with the troupe including a press agent who wants to cover up the murders claiming it would be bad publicity. Maestro King becomes very nervous of the press agent and there is a Dr Brandt who is secretly married to one of the girls in the troupe. Then there is the grim housekeeper Mrs Weebles (Minerva Urecal) who disapproves of the troupe girls' immoral lifestyle as she sees it.

Charlie Chan is more serious in this as I think we only see his customary gleaming smile twice. And there are not a lot of his usual Chinese proverbs either. This is understandable as the film had to be worked around Sidney Toler's severe illness in his final screen appearance. As a consequence all the Chan trickery of earlier films is missing and Charlie has much less to do in the solving of the case. As a result of this I have to rate this one lower and avoid showing sentimentality rating-wise as a Chan fan and yet this is a must-see to say farewell to Sidney Toler who gave so much to the Charlie Chan character