Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

utgard14 Monogram Charlie Chan film with a plot that is a mix of a generic espionage mystery with murder at a radio station. It seems like maybe they took the plots to a couple of previous B murder mysteries (not even Charlie Chan ones) and combined them. Once again, Charlie gets help from comic relief sidekicks Benson Fong and Mantan Moreland. Fong plays Tommy Chan and he's as boring as ever. Charlie's a jerk to him throughout the movie and I honestly couldn't blame him. Tommy was clearly Charlie's least favorite son.Mantan Moreland plays Birmingham Brown, who is a little more restrained here than his earlier Chan films. Also appearing a couple of times is Moreland's old vaudeville partner Ben Carter. The two do an amusing bit that was probably from their vaudeville days. It's basically a conversation between the two where neither ever finishes a sentence because the other seems to know automatically what he's going to say. It's funnier on screen than it reads here. In a lot of ways, it reminds me of Abbott & Costello's vaudeville routines. I have not been a fan of Mantan Moreland's character in the Charlie Chan series. However, if he had been more like he is in his scenes with Carter, I think I would have liked him more. Instead, he's usually just doing his bug-eyed "I'm afraid of spooks" garbage, complete with lots of double takes and talking to himself.I also liked seeing pretty Janet Shaw. Something about her I always found appealing. There's an actor character called Horace Karlos, played by Leonard Mudie, who is supposed to be a parody of Boris Karloff. That's fun for fans. Altogether, it's not the greatest Charlie Chan or even a particularly strong one. But it's watchable with some enjoyable parts. Considering this was made during the dreadful Monogram years we should be thankful it isn't worse.

tavm This is my tenth review of a Charlie Chan movie in series chronological order on these consecutive days. In this one, he's investigating some murders at a radio station. Along with him are his "No. 3 Son" Tommy (Benson Fong) and chauffeur Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland)...This was another Monogram series entry of the Chan franchise that I highly enjoyed despite a not-always-believable structure. Still, there's plenty of good comedy from Fong and Moreland. There's also a special treat when the latter meets an old friend named Ben Carter who plays himself as they exchange some words where they keep interrupting each other but understanding what each is saying just the same! This was an act that both did successfully on stage and what a wonderful thing to see this preserved on film. Anyway, besides those I've mentioned as well as Sidney Toler as the lead character giving good performances, there's also some supporting players from previous Chan features that are also fine here. Among those players-and I'm only going to mention those Chan pictures I've actually seen and reviewed here-are Robert Homans-Capt. Flynn here-who was also in The Black Camel as Chief of Police, I. Stanford Jolley-Ralph Brett here-who was also in The Chinese Cat as Gennet, Charles Jordan-Radio Actor Nelson here-who was also in Black Magic (a.k.a Meeting at Midnight) as Tom Starkey, Emmett Vogan-Mr. Hamilton here-who was also in Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum as the prosecuting attorney, and Charles Wagenheim-Rausch here-another one also in C. C. at the Wax Museum as Willie Fern. With all that I've mentioned, I highly recommend The Scarlett Clue. P.S. Charles Sherlock-Sgt. McGraw here-is another player in these series entries that's a native of my birthtown of Chicago, Ill. And Milton Kibbee-Herbert Sinclair here, brother of familiar character actor Guy Kibbee, was another player from my favorite movie, It's a Wonderful Life. He was a photographer at George Bailey's house when George came back from experiencing the never-been-born sequence.

ccthemovieman-1 This was my first look at Charlie Chan's, or should I say Sidney Toler's assistant "Birmingham Brown" (Mantan Moreland.) He certainly changed the face of these movies, and I don't mean that as some sort of racial pun. What I mean is Moreland added silliness to these films, although he's such a likable guy I didn't mind. Many times he even made me laugh out loud.Also new to me at the time of my first viewing of this (sometime in the 1990s) was Number Three Son "Tommy," played by Benson Fong. I liked him a lot, but then I have liked all of Charlie's kids.Anyway, with the addition of Moreland - who was strictly added for comedy - with Chan's witty proverbs, the repartee between father and son, and so on.....these Mongram Charlie Chan movies turned out to be almost more comedy than mystery.....but they still entertained.The most memorable scene in this movie had to be something shocking and violent, the opposite of how I've been describing these latter-day Chan films. In that scene, a trap door in an elevator suddenly sends a man plummeting to his death. Most of the film is talk but it's okay. This whodunit had a surprise ending. I guessed wrong, but that's nothing new.

Elswet I LOVE a good "who-dun-it!" I also love a well-stylized character. Give him quirks to personalize him, and make the audience sympathetic with his cause (whatever they are, it almost doesn't matter), and let the audience identify with him, and you've got a hit on your hands. Especially if the detective persona can be respected for his intellect.I love Sherlock Holmes, but always considered him too arrogant to be likable. I loved Kojak, but always considered him to be too gritty. I loved Steve McGarrett, but always compared him to Captain Kirk for some reason. I loved Caanon, but oof! that weight would have killed ANYone! I loved Columbo, but considered him too aloof to be personable.Chan is stoically affectionate, and teaches by example the adage that if the mouth is moving, the ears can't hear. He's adopted his children, which demonstrates the desire to be a parent; and he is a professional, which denotes stability and a higher learning.This particular chapter of the "Chanthology" is not among my favorites of ANY Chan movie, however, as he (Chan) is working for the governments against the Germans of WWII. Not my cup of tea. I'm a baby-boomer last generation hippie, not a depression-era beatnik.The clues which Chan picks up on are laid out so blatantly that a child could have guessed it. It was all too easy. This installment was nothing like some of the better Chan mysteries which require a degree of intelligence to decipher.Also, there is far too much wasted screen time. This was more like, "The Birmingham Show," than a Chan movie. Birmingham and Chan's Number Three Son got far too much time on the screen for my satisfaction.All in all, this one is somewhat of a disappointment.It rates a 3.8/10 from...the Fiend :.