Torchy Blane in Chinatown

This entry in the series has a pretty good supporting cast and an interesting script although, as is par for the course for Warner Brothers in the 30s and 40s, it is actually a remake of an earlier 1930s film. Three men who were involved in extracting a rare jade artifact from a Chinese tomb are threatened with death by the descendants of the person whose tomb was robbed via anonymous notes written in Mandarin. The three men come to the police for protection, but Lt. McBride (Barton McLane) seems to be running in circles when it comes to the vengeful descendants. McBride consults a Chinese American friend who tells him there are approximately four thousand Chinese Americans who are descended from the man whose grave was robbed, including himself!

Meanwhile, McBride is trying to keep Torchy away from what is going on, because he thinks any publicity in the newspapers will keep him from catching the criminals. She uses her usual wily ways to get around any impediments. I think I like this series better when Torchy and McBride are at least somewhat allied. Here they are both on their own trying to solve the mystery as almost adversaries.

I'd give this a 7 if it were not for some obvious things that the criminals are doing that would be picked up immediately by the investigating police and thwart their plan. But it is still good fast moving B fun from Warner Brothers.

Torchy Blane in Chinatown (1939)

** (out of 4)

The seventh film in the series finds Torchy (Glena Farrell) once again getting in the way as Detective McBride (Barton MacLane) tries to figure out who killing off a group of people with a connection to some valuable Chinese treasures. TORCHY BLANE IN CHINATOWN seems like it would fit the Mr. Moto or Charlie Chan series better but there's no question that this features an interesting story but sadly director William Beaudine can't add any life, energy or excitement to anything we're seeing. The story itself is pretty good and in fact it was interesting enough to make one upset that more wasn't being done with it. This story from Murray Leinster was originally filmed in 1920 and then again in 1930 but I've yet to see either version. The material here actually makes for a good mystery and I especially liked how one never fully understood why the murders were taking place. A great example of this is handled with various cards being left behind at crime scenes telling the cops who will die next. Another benefit this film has is that we're given a pretty strong cast. Farrell is once again highly entertaining and charming in her role. MacLane appears to be tired of his career and bored playing it because he pretty much sleepwalks through the film. The supporting cast is actually good with Tom Kennedy returning for comic relief and we also get Henry O'Neill, Patric Knowles and James Stephenson. What really kills the movie is the bad pacing, poor cinematography and the lack of any real energy. Director Beaudine probably kept the film under budget but he just wasn't able to add anything extra to the story. No matter how good the story is you still still someone to bring it to life and that just never happened.

Barton MacLane tries to keep Glenda Farrell out of his hair while he investigates a case involving stolen Chinese artifacts and blackmail. Good luck with that in the seventh of Warner's 'Torchy Blane' series. It's always fun to watch these two go at it, and Tom Kennedy is always welcome as Gahagan, who actually gets to do something useful in this episode.

It's based on Will Jenkins' story "The Purple Hieroglyph", written under his pseudonym of Murray Leinster, and made into an earlier movie called MURDER WILL OUT.

Glenda Farrell really shows up the police department in Torchy Blane In Chinatown. She's got the whole thing figured out long before the cops get wise. Of course interestingly enough the apprehension of the villains themselves is a really good idea cooked up by Barton MacLane.

Henry O'Neill plays a US Senator who is a collector of Chinese jade and when he purchases some jade death masks he gets threats, the unsigned note threats and in Chinese. Fortunately Patric Knowles is around to translate the threats.

Their ancestors graves have been defamed, but a little American hard cash will sooth the ancestor's feelings and be good for their descendants as well. It all smells pretty bad, but it's Torchy Blane who catches the right whiff.

Tom Kennedy as Geohagen once again steals the show. Seeing Kennedy in New York harbor rowing that boat to the final rendezvous was quite a sight.

If Torchy could figure it out you can too. Even with that the film is still kind of fun. And MacLane comes in handy in the apprehension. You have to see what he uses.

This entertaining entry in the Torchy Blane series also happens to be one of the least PC movies of all time, and that's saying quite a bit. Every Asian stereotype you can imagine is dredged up by screenwriter George Bricker and there's even a minstrel show joke for good measure. When Barton Maclane exclaims, "Chinese!", Gloria Farrell responds, "oodles of them!". The story is the usual stuff about stolen jade, ancient curses, family honour, and murder. The twist is telegraphed early on but the film remains briskly entertaining, especially when that brassiest of brassy dames, Ms. Farrell, is on screen--which is most of the film's 58 minutes running time.