|
|
Charlie Chan - The Chinese Cat |
 |
Charlie Chan - The Chinese Cat
|
by MGM (Video & DVD)
Sales Rank: 13585
Price: $12.98
|
|
|
A man is working on a chess game. Someone enters and fires two shots; Thomas Manning is found dead in a locked room. There are no clues, and the case is dropped. Miss Manning visits to ask Charlie Chan for help. A novel was written that accuses her mother of the crime. [There are jokes sprinkled in the dialogue for amusement. The prices date this picture.] A telephone call summons Chan to give him information about the murder. But a stranger makes sure he will tell no tales. Detective Dennis shows up, he was trailing Chan. They discover statues hidden away in loaves of bread. Chan talks to Dr. Paul Rechnick about his book Mrs. Manning was alone in the house at the time of the murder. Next they visit the murder room; there is a secret panel and door to another room. Somebody places a bomb in Chan's taxi, but Chan escapes this attempt. <br /> <br />Chan visits Wu San, the artist who created those hidden statues. There are gems hidden inside! When Chan visits Manning's partner they discover new facts. When this man is found dead there are no clues. Somebody uses a poison gas in their hotel room, but it is discovered in time. Three murders by three different methods seems puzzling. But Chan figures out a solution based on the wrong pieces for a jigsaw puzzle. Chan returns to the closed "Fun House" and is found by the criminal gang. After some adventures and threats (more comic than serious) the murders are solved. The last minutes explain the murders. One of the gang tried a double-cross, and this started the reaction. <br /> <br />The first pictures in this series were murder mysteries with some comic or witty remarks. This film has too much comedy to be a murder mystery, and too many murders to be a comedy. Yet the success of this series says they met the needs of the audiences. <br />
Viewer Reviews
1944's "The Chinese Cat" pits famous detective Charlie Chan, here played by Sidney Toler, against a murderous diamond smuggling gang. The famous Honolulu detective, seconded to the U.S. Government for the war effort, is assisted by series regulars Number Three Son Tommy (Benson Fong) and nervous cab driver Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland).
Chan is asked to investigate a cold case involving the locked room murder of the husband of a wealthy socialite, who has now been acccused of the murder by a muck-raking novelist. Chan and his son follow a rather improbable string of clues that point to a bigger conspiracy and high stakes in the form of stolen diamonds. As witnesses keep showing up dead, and one dead witness keeps showing up alive, Chan, Tommy, and Brown close in on the smuggling gang's hideout in a old amusement park funhouse. The climax of the movie is a deadly cat and mouse chase through secret rooms.
Dialogue in this particular episode is unusually woooden. Charlie's normal chastisement of his errant son seems almost like hectoring. Tommy and Birmingham Brown are played mostly for laughs, although both will get a chance to be a hero in the end. The plot is just obscure enough to keep the audience guessing for awhile, but the wrap-up seems artificially convenient. This movie will be of interest primarily to dedicated fans of the Charlie Chan series.
Back To Top
|
Charlie Chan - The Chinese Cat
Available from Amazon
|
|
NOTICE: All product prices, availability, and specifications
are subject to verification by their respective retailers.
Copyright © 2009, Dominant Systems Corporation
info@HowlingVideo.com
Privacy Policy
Last Modified : 1-8-2009
|
