This Charlie Chan film starts off rather poorly--with one-dimensional supporting characters abounding. First, there is the housekeeper who talks like Water Boy's mother. She just meets people and immediately begins expounding on things she thinks are evil (and does so throughout the movie)! Does ANYONE do this?! Couldn't she at least have said hello before going off on her rants?! Then, you are introduced to Marcia--who is 100% evil and nasty--so much so that you can't believe she's real and you know she MUST become a murder victim! Then you see a French character who sounds a bit like a female version of Inspector Clousseau--but less believable. Then, at the 14 minute mark, you see a hysterical woman who defies explanation. Suffice to say she needs a good rap in the mouth! And, then she keeps yelling "it's murder!" as well as screaming throughout the film. This Clemintine character might just be the most annoying in history--and that's a tough thing considering how many other bad actors/characters doing hysterical performances were in this film!! At this point I was hoping Charlie wouldn't be investigating a single murder but the killing of this entire annoying cast!!
As for Charlie, his #3 Son and Birmingham, they are just fine and none of this being such a disappointing film can be blamed on them. It's simply the case of a very bad script but even more a problem with terrible direction. A semi-competent person could have gotten believable performances out of the ridiculously one-note extras. Instead, the amount of money Monogram Studios (a bargain-basement studio) put into this one really shows! Some have commented on Sidney Toler's poor performance (after all, he died of colon cancer shortly after finishing this movie), but his lack of energy cannot be blamed only on his physical condition. Despite his illness, he looks pretty good and you can't blame him that the writers gave him nothing to do nor any of his usual snappy lines of dialog.
While some have called this the worst Chan film, I am not sure I'd go that far. I have yet to see about four or five of them (which are not on DVD or available in any other manner) nor the much later Peter Ustinov Chan film (which I heard is pretty bad). But, among the ones I have seen, I think I could say it was the worst....which surprises me, as I thought the Roland Winters ones might have qualified....before I saw this sad outing. As far as your watching it goes, I'd try to see the good ones first--otherwise, you'd probably never bother with the rest.
Why, by the way couldn't any of the characters pronounce Marcia's name correctly?! Don't you think a competent director would have corrected this?! It's also interesting the film has not one but two secret wives! And finally, during the 'high speed chase' at the end (when Birmingham said they were doing 'between 75 and 80'), they appeared to be doing only about 20 mph!!
As for Charlie, his #3 Son and Birmingham, they are just fine and none of this being such a disappointing film can be blamed on them. It's simply the case of a very bad script but even more a problem with terrible direction. A semi-competent person could have gotten believable performances out of the ridiculously one-note extras. Instead, the amount of money Monogram Studios (a bargain-basement studio) put into this one really shows! Some have commented on Sidney Toler's poor performance (after all, he died of colon cancer shortly after finishing this movie), but his lack of energy cannot be blamed only on his physical condition. Despite his illness, he looks pretty good and you can't blame him that the writers gave him nothing to do nor any of his usual snappy lines of dialog.
While some have called this the worst Chan film, I am not sure I'd go that far. I have yet to see about four or five of them (which are not on DVD or available in any other manner) nor the much later Peter Ustinov Chan film (which I heard is pretty bad). But, among the ones I have seen, I think I could say it was the worst....which surprises me, as I thought the Roland Winters ones might have qualified....before I saw this sad outing. As far as your watching it goes, I'd try to see the good ones first--otherwise, you'd probably never bother with the rest.
Why, by the way couldn't any of the characters pronounce Marcia's name correctly?! Don't you think a competent director would have corrected this?! It's also interesting the film has not one but two secret wives! And finally, during the 'high speed chase' at the end (when Birmingham said they were doing 'between 75 and 80'), they appeared to be doing only about 20 mph!!