MYSTERY OF MARIE ROGET

Maria Montez as Marie Roget

MYSTERY OF MARIE ROGET (1942). Director: Phil Rosen.

Notorious actress Marie Roget (Maria Montez of Arabian Knights) goes missing in Paris, and Inspector Gobelin (Lloyd Corrigan) and the famous Dr. Dupin (Patric Knowles of Five Came Back), who solved the case of the Murders in the Rue Morgue, are called in to investigate. After a few days Marie turns up alive, and her grandmother, Cecile (Maria Ouspenkaya of Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman) suspects that Marie's stepsister, Camille (Nell O'Day) may be the subject of a devious murder plot. There is also a faceless corpse of a woman in the river. Dupin accompanies Camille to a party, but when another dead body turns up in the river it may be a surprise to everyone whose it is. Dupin, with the help/interference of the Inspector, uncovers the murderer and his motive. 

Knowles and Corrigan

Mystery of Marie Roget is very loosely based on the famous short story by Edgar Allan Poe, which in turn was inspired by a real murder case -- the first mystery story to do this -- although the murder occurred in New York and not in Paris. One problem with this film adaptation is that there aren't enough suspects, which include John Litel as the family lawyer, and Edward Norris as Camille's shady fiance, and even the old grandmother herself. Although the film still has some suspense in spite of this, the solution doesn't come as much of a surprise. As for the cast, Corrigan is as fun as ever, Knowles makes a credible Dupin, Ouspenkaya is suitably peppery (and borderline bitchy with the Inspector), Montez looks classy and actually gives a perfectly good performance, and Litel and Norris are on-target throughout the proceedings. The film is well-paced under Phil Rosen's direction and well-produced. Rosen directed several Charlie Chan movies and many others. 

Verdict: Not Poe perhaps, but entertaining, atmospheric, and well-made. ***.  

THE SHADOW RETURNS

Cyril Delevanti as the butler Adams threatened by the Shadow's shadow

  THE SHADOW RETURNS (1946). Director: Phil Rosen.

By 1946 pulp stories had been pretty much replaced by comic book heroes, but somebody at Monogram studios apparently figured there was still life in the character, and hired Kane Richmond of Spy Smasher serial fame to play Lamont Cranston in what would be the first of three features. While nowhere nears as dynamic a figure as the Shadow of the serial with Victor Jory, at least the Monogram series actually put Cranston in a costume and made him more than an amateur criminologist. By and large The Shadow Returns, while no world-beater, was an improvement over the two Shadow films with a completely miscast Rod La Rocque. 

Kane Richmond as the Shadow

The Shadow Returns has our hero, along with Margo Lane (Barbara Read of Three Smart Girls) and comedy relief driver Shrevvie (Tom Dugan), having an adventure that mostly takes place in the mansion of gem dealer Michael Hasdon (Frank Reicher of Son of Kong), who apparently commits suicide. There are other murders as Cranston and his pals investigate from one end, while dyspeptic Inspector Cardona (Joseph Crehan) and Commissioner Weston (Pierre Watkin) -- who in this is Cranston's uncle -- investigate from another, and it's no secret who will come up with the solution first. There's a formula for plastic that's worth millions, and a series of men falling off of balconies to their deaths. There are a number of colorless suspects, but there isn't much fun in finding out who the killer is. 

Kane Richmond and Barbara Read

Like the La Rocque movies, there's way too much supposedly comical banter and the whole approach is lightweight and mediocre. Instead of a cape, the Shadow wears a long coat with a belt. Richmond is okay as the flippant hero but he lacks distinction, which is also true of the comparatively plain Barbara Read as Margo. The inevitable Pierre Watkin is as mediocre as ever as the commissioner. Followed by Behind the Mask. 

Verdict: The Shadow Lite. **. 

THE PRESIDENT'S MYSTERY

THE PRESIDENT'S MYSTERY (1936). Director: Phil Rosen.

Lawyer James Blake (Henry Wilcoxon) goes fishing in a small town and runs into a young lady named Charlotte (Betty Furness of Magnificent Obsession). Charlotte is one of many who are trying to reopen the Springvale Cannery, so the townspeople can have jobs. Blake, who had never had much feeling for the common people or for labor, is ashamed of his feelings and returns home determined to do something about it. He cooks up a ridiculous scheme which amounts to him faking his own death, changing his name, and running back to Charlotte and Springvale. Poor Franklin D. Roosevelt got the blame for this terrible picture because he asked writers if they could come up with a way that a man could disappear yet retain his personal fortune. The result appeared in Liberty magazine, which Blake actually consults before he disappears. Meanwhile his wife, Ilka (Evelyn Brent) is accidentally killed and Blake is blamed for her murder. At one point we see him conveniently acquiring a corpse from a man in a basement for money (it does not appear to be a morgue or a hospital) so he can use it as his own dead body, but this aspect (not to mention its sheer criminality) is completely glossed over. The President's Mystery is so overwhelmingly preposterous, improbable, and stupid that it's sheer libel to blame this mess on FDR! The first half of the picture has some interest, but then it simply falls apart, a lousy mystery posing as a "message film." Sidney Blackmer is fine, as usual, as George Sartos, who is out to stop the cannery from reopening, and Wilcoxon is okay even if his British accent keeps coming and going. At one point Charlotte asks Blake if he's around fifty -- which is what he looks -- and he tells her that he's barely forty. In actuality, Wilcoxon  [Cleopatra] was only thirty-one (according to official bios) but looks considerably older even without the mustache he wears earlier in the picture. The prolific Phil Rosen directed a number of Charlie Chan features, of which The Scarlet Clue is one of the best. Wilcoxon was married to that "big-faced" gal Joan Woodbury for 31 years but the marriage ended in divorce.

Verdict: There are so many holes in this it's like a Swiss cheese! *.

CHARLIE CHAN IN THE SECRET SERVICE

Benson Fong, Mantan Moreland and Marianne Quon

CHARLIE CHAN IN THE SECRET SERVICE (1944). Director: Phil Rosen.

In Washington D.C. the inventor of a new weapon holds a cocktail party but stupidly refuses body guards. Naturally, said scientist winds up dead, the torpedo plans stolen. Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) arrives to find those plans and arrest the guilty party. But is it gruff Luis Vega (Gene Roth of Earth vs. the Spider); wheelchair-bound Paul Arranto (George J. Lewis of Ghost of Zorro); David Blake (Barry Bernard), of the Department of Political Economy; the housekeeper Mrs. Hargue (Sarah Edwards); or the dithery Mrs. Winters (Lelah Tyler); among others. Surely it can't be Inspector Jones (Arthur Loft) or Sergeant Billings (Davison Clark)? This is the first Charlie Chan picture for Monogram studios, and it's a typically cheap production, but it has its moments. Nobody ever seems to give a damn about the dead man, even though he was an important scientist and everyone's host! Jimmy Chan (Victor Sen Yung) is gone, replaced by his less interesting brother, Tommy (Benson Fong), as well as his sister, number two daughter, Iris (Marianne Quon), who is cute if little else. This movie introduces the popular character of Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland, whose name leads the list of supporting players in bigger letters), who appeared in the later Chan films. Phil Rosen directed many Charlie Chan pictures as well as such stuff as Spooks Run Wild.

Verdict: Serviceable Chan film with some clever moments. **1/2.

CHARLIE CHAN IN THE CHINESE CAT

Sidney Toler and Benson Fong

CHARLIE CHAN IN THE CHINESE CAT (aka The Chinese Cat/1944). Director: Phil Rosen.

"One Chan at a time is enough! No more murders for me!' -- Birmingham Brown.

Six months after the police are stumped by a "locked room" murder in which Thomas Manning is found shot, a work of fiction, "Murder by Madame," comes out which puts the blame on the widow, Mrs. Manning (Betty Blythe of A Fig Leaf for Eve). It appears that the woman's first husband died mysteriously as well, but this sub-plot is dropped early on. Mrs. Manning's daughter, Leah Manning (Joan Woodbury), who apparently took her stepfather's name, importunes Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) to finally solve the case and remove the cloud of suspicion over her mother. Charlie also makes a bet with the novelist, Recknik (Ian Keith of Cleopatra) as to whether or not the detective will come up with a new solution. There's a hidden staircase (which makes you wonder why anyone considered it a "locked room" puzzle); gems secreted inside cat statues with hidden compartments; and a climax inside a fun house on a pier. Alas, the one thing this movie doesn't have is any real suspense. While different and not as lovable as Victor Sen Yung, Benson Fong is quite good as Tommy Chan. Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland), now a Yellow cab man in New York, gets in on the action whether he wants to or not. Detective Harvey Dennis (Walden Heyburn) happens to be Leah Manning's boyfriend, and the ever-mediocre Cy Kendall is the late Manning's business partner, Webster Deacon. John Davidson [The Perils of Pauline] plays creepy-looking twins.

Verdict: Fairly standard Chan picture is not one of the better ones. **.

MEETING AT MIDNIGHT/BLACK MAGIC

Sidney Toler and Helen Beverly

MEETING AT MIDNIGHT (aka Black Magic/1944). Director: Phil Rosen.

"Mr. Chan, I've been leavin' ever since I got here." -- Birmingham Brown.

During a seance, the lights go out and the medium is found shot to death. The strange thing is that an autopsy reveals there's a gunshot wound in the body but no bullet! [The explanation for this is clever even if today's forensics people might scoff.] The suspects include the widow, Mrs. Bonner (Jacqueline deWit of The Damned Don't Cry); Norma Duncan (Helen Beverly), who bore the man a grudge; assistants Tom and Vera Starky (Charles Jordan and Claudia Dell); mousy fan manufacturer, Edwards (Harry Depp); and two victims of blackmail, Hamlin (Frank Jaquet) and Harriet Green (Geraldine Wall), who had a brief fling with the murdered man. The cops are Rafferty (Ralph Peters) and Matthews (Joseph Crehan of The Case of the Black Parrot). A suspenseful scene has another victim hypnotized into throwing herself off of a roof, something which nearly happens to Charlie in the film's best sequence and climax. Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland of On the Spot) is along for the ride but Tommy Chan has been replaced by his sister Frances (coincidentally played by a not-very-talented actress named, believe it or not, Francis Chan. A decade earlier she also played a Chan daughter in the lost film Charlie Chan's Greatest Case with Warner Oland.). This is another rather mediocre Monogram cheapie but it does pick up a bit towards the end. NOTE: Actress Jacquline deWit spelled it "DeWit," "de Wit" and probably others.

Verdict: Neither Charlie's best nor worst. **1/2.

THE RED DRAGON (1945)

Sidney Toler,  Fortunio Bonanova, Benson Fong, Willie Best 

THE RED DRAGON (1945). Director: Phil Rosen.

Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) and son Tommy (Benson Fong) are in Mexico City when Charlie is called in to investigate what turns out to be a series of strange murders. People are being shot to death in front of witnesses but nobody (but Chan, of course) can figure out how come there is no assailant in the room or even exactly what kind of weapon has been used. The first victim is a man who discovered a 95th element whose destructive powers in an atomic bomb could wipe out the entire country! The suspects include Marguerite Fontan (Carol Hughes of Meet the Boyfriend), whom Inspector Carvero (Fortunio Bonanova) has special feelings for; Countess Irena (Marjorie Hoshelle), an entertainer with a shady background; Alfred Wyans (Robert Emmett Keane), who is all excited over the loss of a certain typewriter; Joseph Bradish (Barton Yarborough), an oil salesman or possible smuggler; and others. With Mantan Moreland working elsewhere at the time, Birmingham Brown is replaced by his cousin Chattanooga (Willie Best of Dangerous Money). The title refers to a type of Chinese ink. The members of the supporting cast in this are mostly colorless, but the story has clever elements and the leads are, as ever, swell. And we mustn't forget the scene when Charlie does the rumba to the shock of son Tommy!

Verdict: Chan capably treading water. **1/2.

THE SCARLET CLUE

Charlie confronts the suspects

THE SCARLET CLUE (1945). Director: Phil Rosen.

Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) is pursuing a  certain criminal with Captain Flynn (Robert Homans) when the man is found dead, the only clue being a shoe print found at the scene of the crime. Charlie's investigation takes him to a building where there is a radio station on one floor and a radar research facility on another. Among the many suspects in the first and subsequent murders are Brett (I. Stanford Jolley), the radio manager; actresses Gloria Bayne (Janet Shaw) and Diane Hall (Helen Deverell); old-time Shakespearean and horror actor Horace Karlos (Leonard Mudie); impersonator Willie Rand (Jack Norton); Mrs. Marsh (Virginia Brissac), a termagant whose products are advertised on the radio soap operas she's forever criticizing; and others. The movie comes off like a homage to cliffhanger serials in that the generally unseen saboteur behind the scenes communicates with underlings via teletype, wears gloves and a mask, and at one point sends a fellow hurtling to his death by opening a trapdoor in the floor of a very high elevator car! The Scarlet Clue has an excellent script by George Callahan, enough sinister suspects to keep you guessing, a fast pace, a generous amount of suspense and humor, and even Mantan Moreland as the lovable Birmingham Brown. [Benson Fong is also on hand as # 3 son, Tommy.] Toler is terrific as Chan, and Brissac is certainly vivid as the nasty hag Mrs. Marsh [she played the warden in Lady Gangster]. A thoroughly satisfying Chan adventure, even if it is from Monogram.

Verdict: Snappy and clever. ***.

SPOOKS RUN WILD

SPOOKS RUN WILD (1941). Director: Phil Rosen.

"A white spider! That must be the ghost of the black widdah!"

The Eastside Kids/Bowery Boys/whoever-the-hell-they-are go off to a summer camp near where a maniac killer is supposed to be on the loose. On an outing, one of them, Pee Wee (David Gorcey), is injured, and his pals take him to a gothic mansion inhabited by Bela Lugosi and his assistant, who happens to be a dwarf. But if Bela is the bad guy, then who is that bearded stranger who's walking off with the nominal heroine, Linda (Dorothy Short)? Skeletons and chains of armor walk about in the ghostly estate.

This isn't as much fun as it sounds; in fact, it isn't any fun at all. There are only two good things about it: Bela Lugosi has as much presence as ever, gives a good performance that the film doesn't deserve, and is even convincing when he plays at being scared at one point. Also, African-American Ernest Morrison seems to have been given more to do than usual, and does it well, even if it's the usual thing given to black actors in comedies of the period, especially those with "haunted" houses in them. I suppose the film should also be given points for showing that one can't always judge by appearances. Otherwise, this hasn't got a single laugh, except for the "gay" twist at the end when Muggs (Leo Gorcey) goes into a magician's cabinet after a sexy blond and winds up practically necking with one of the fellas!

Muggs is as irritating as ever, while Huntz Hall does his usual simpering routine. Bobby Jordan, David Gorcey (Leo's better-looking brother), and Morrison have much more appealing personalities. Dave O'Brien plays Jeff, Linda's boyfriend.

Verdict: Low-brow, low-class, and for the most part, low entertainment. *.

PHANTOM OF CHINATOWN

PHANTOM OF CHINATOWN (1940). Director: Phil Rosen.

While giving a lecture accompanying slides of a recent trip he'd undertaken with colleagues, Dr. Benton (Charles Miller) collapses and dies. Jimmy Wong (Keye Luke) investigates and along the way discovers the existence of a scroll that leads to a shrine of eternal flame that is over a valuable oil deposit. Captain Street (Grant Withers) pokes his nose in the plot, and so does Benton's secretary, Win Lee (Lotus Long), who may or may not be on the side of the angels. Keye Luke isn't bad as Wong, and he's authentically Chinese-American, but he's a bit colorless compared to Karloff, who originated the role. Of course, he plays a sort of alternate Wong. Lee Tung Foo makes an impression as Jimmy's excitable cook, Foo. Mason is played by John Holland, probably most famous for his role as Alice's handsome employer, who thinks Ralph is her brother, in a classic episode of The Honeymooners. (He also played Henry Higgins' butler years later in My Fair Lady.)

Verdict: Acceptable if very minor mystery. **.

THE JADE MASK

THE JADE MASK (1945). Director: Phil Rosen.

In an old mansion surrounded by the unloving members of his family and others, a scientist named Harper (Frank Reicher) is murdered. Since Harper was working on a government project, Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) is called in on the case. You would think the first question Chan would ask everyone is why everyone hated the dead man so much -- was he a control freak, perhaps? -- but this is never satisfactorily answered, giving everything a more unintentionally comical cast than usual. Before long there are more corpses found in the house, and Chan's helpmate (or whatever he is) Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland) is having conniption fits. The movie holds the attention, and while it's confusing at times, it's effective enough as a decidedly minor mystery. Toler is fine as Chan, and Moreland is as lovable as ever (figuring in the funny finale). Cyril Delevanti is the butler, Roth, and Harper's sister, Louise, is played by Edith Evanson, who was the innkeeper in Journey to the Center of the Earth. Edwin Luke is Chan's number four son, Eddie.

Verdict: A not bad Chan adventure from lowly Monogram. ***.