Two different cases — a missing person inquiry and an unsolved murder — intertwine in this later Sidney Toler Charlie Chan film. The detective, assisted by son Jimmy (Victor Sen Yung, making a welcome return to the series) and chauffeur Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland, entertaining as ever), cheats death as he pursues his investigation. Part …
Read the full post →“Monogram Monday: <em>Shadows over Chinatown</em> (1946)”
Strange happenings from the world of medicine: A tonsillectomy gives Sach (Huntz Hall) the velvety voice of a crooner, so Slip (Leo Gorcey) and the boys, together with Louie (Bernard Gorcey), try to find a way to capitalize on this fortunate change. Sach is soon the toast of New York, drawing big crowds to nightclubs. …
Read the full post →“Monogram Monday: <em>Blues Busters</em> (1950)”
Undercover lawman Johnny Mack Brown investigates a series of well-planned bank robberies. Working with a bank owner and the local sheriff, he stages a fake robbery, during which he even seems to kill a bank clerk as well, in order to set himself up as a bad man. He hopes thus to be able to …
Read the full post →“Monogram Monday: <em>Oklahoma Justice</em> (1951)”
Secretary Kitty O’Day (Jean Parker) investigates the murder of her businessman boss, hoping to clear herself and her boyfriend from suspicion. Parker is somewhat appealing in the lead role, but sadly the writing was pedestrian, the pacing was plodding, the humor weak, and the mystery insufficiently mysterious. There was a single sequel, but it’s no …
Read the full post →“Monogram Monday: <em>Detective Kitty O’Day</em> (1944)”
Thieves who have just robbed a stage hold up ex-Ranger Johnny Mack Brown and steal his horse, too. Once he makes it to town, he learns that such attacks have been plaguing the region; the local banker also is facing ruin as a result of the robberies. Though the town is unsafe for strangers, as …
Read the full post →“Monogram Monday: <em>Man from Sonora</em> (1951)”
Young women traveling alone are disappearing along an isolated stretch of road, but the authorities have been unable to discover what has happened to them. The viewer soon learns, however, that a sinister gas station owner (George Zucco) has something to do with it. The plotters’ plans meet with difficulties, however, after a motorist (Tod …
Read the full post →“Monogram Monday: <em>Voodoo Man</em> (1944)”
A building housing an experimental radio-television station and a nearby research laboratory is the central location for this Charlie Chan mystery. As the detective (Sidney Toler) investigates a murder tied in with the station’s staff and performers, he suspects that someone may be targeting the improved radar being developed in the lab. There are a …
Read the full post →“Monogram Monday: <em>The Scarlet Clue</em> (1945)”
An evocative atmosphere blending mystery with horror is a highlight of this entry in the Charlie Chan series, as the sleuth (Warner Oland) travels to Egypt to investigate illicit sales of artifacts found in an excavation but encounters a disappearance and murder as well. Strong support is provided by Frank Conroy (as a professor connected …
