Torchy Blane in Chinatown

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.

Fifth in the series of reporter-criminologist Torchy Blane who assists Detective Lieutenant Steve McBride in solving crimes. In this entry, Torchy figures out the solution to the deaths of three prominent men but allows Steve to get the credit at the end and make the collar. If this subservience is not enough, we are subjected to rampant racial stereotyping of Chinese and blacks. Detective Sergeant Gahagan provides comic relief that includes in this film his breaking into poetry from time to time. The film does involve Chinese burial tablets and has a few superficial shots that might have been take on the street of a major city "Chinatown" but the plot does not have anyone going there and doing anything. This version mostly takes place in police stations, at The Adventurers Club, homes, and at sea where a contribution is made by the US Navy. The plot is a remake of the 1920 "The Purple Cipher" and the1930 "Murder Will Out." It involves a combination of revenge murder and blackmail. There are notes to victims passed on Chinese laundry tickets and via additional means. Death comes via a multitude of means and bodies have a habit of disappearing. Fair.

One of the later chapters in the "Torchy Blane" series, this has the usual cast of Glenda Farrell (Torchy), along with Barton MacLane and Tom Kennedy. Torchy is out to solve murder crimes, while MacLane and Kennedy are officers who can never put the facts together without her. The coppers can't seem to figure out who's knocking off the guys who took the ancient tablets out of Chiner; it's a good thing Torchy is hanging around trying to see and hear anything she can use at the newspaper. The slapstick gags by Gahagan are really over the top in this one. almost annoying. As usual, don't look too closely at the story or it starts to come apart. It's pretty good. Directed by William Beaudine, who directed about half the films in the 1930s and 1940s.

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.

Poor Torchy! Her boyfriend, Lieutenant Steve McBride, breaks their date to go protect an art smuggler from a sinister gang. Steve sure doesn't seem too sorry—he hardly even apologizes to Torchy. Of course, she sneaks after him that night, hoping to catch a scoop for her newspaper….

Barton McLane gets a big role this time around—his Lieutenant McBride is right at the center of the action. Unfortunately, the lieutenant has never been dumber. He tells the smuggler not to worry, that the police will protect him—and the smuggler is promptly murdered. He tells the next threatened victim the same thing—and that guy is murdered just as quickly. He's not protecting anybody!

Glenda Farrell is fine as always in her sixth appearance as adventurous reporter Torchy Blane. The cops do their best to keep her in the dark, but Torchy gets her leads and reports them without resisting a dig or two: the first murder, she writes, has left "investigating officers, headed by Detective Lt. Steve McBride, running around in circles so fast they're apt to meet themselves coming back."

The plot concerns some stolen jade "burial tablets" and a supposed Chinese gang out to retrieve them. Unfortunately, there's not enough humor or snappy by-play between characters—the really appealing elements of the series' better entries—to keep this one moving. Tom Kennedy, back again as faithful but dim police chauffeur Gahagan, isn't given nearly enough to do, either.

It's a cast of pros and the production is competent, so the picture is certainly watchable. Farrell, especially, is never boring. However, the rather dreadful plot and an overall lack of zip place this one at the bottom of the list of Torchy Blane mysteries.