Shadows Over Chinatown (1946)

Very well executed

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Murky and forgettable, "Shadows Over Chinatown" gives the impression that the people involved in it weren't really putting in their hardest effort to make this into a good Charlie Chan movie. The cast and the mystery are fourth-rate; Mantan Moreland puts on a funny disguise at one point, and if Moreland's comic relief is the best thing about a Charlie Chan mystery, something has gone wrong. *1/2 out of 4.

Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) investigates insurance fraud and a series of murders. Another Monogram Chan film that is helped by the return of "Number Two Son" Jimmy Chan (Victor Sen Yung), last seen in the 1942 Fox film Castle in the Desert. Up until this point at Monogram, Charlie had been saddled with dull-as-dirt Tommy Chan, played by bland Benson Fong. Victor Sen Yung is a breath of fresh air for this stale series. That being said, he can only do so much. It's still Monogram so it's still cheap. Also, there's still obtrusive comic relief Birmingham Brown, played by bug-eyed Mantan Moreland. The good news is that Moreland doesn't overpower Sen Yung like he did Fong. So it's a watchable effort but nothing special. But when it comes to the Monogram series, watchable is about as much as you can hope for.

This movie is a total train wreck. I've never seen such a badly constructed movie in all my life. The story is virtually impossible to follow. Characters aren't properly introduced and we're supposed to know who they are and what they're doing!?! You literally need a scorecard to keep track of all the names that come flying at you in rapid fire succession. Plus, there are aliases we have to remember, too. One guy has at least 4 aliases. I can't see how anybody could know what's going on in this film without watching it at least 5 times. Maybe Monogram did that on purpose so that people would come back and pay to see it again.Here are a few of the problems. The PI is not properly introduced. We don't know who he is. At he beginning of the movie, the bus breaks down and all the passengers wait in a room while the bus is being repaired. Some guy takes over and starts telling people what to do. He wants to frisk the Marine that walks in, and we don't know who this guy is (Is he a gay man that wants to "cop a feel"?). We don't know his name, and we don't know why he feels he has the authority to tell people what to do. When the bus finally gets to San Francisco, we find out that he is a PI, but we still don't know who he is. Why is he in San Francisco? Is it work or pleasure? There's no conversation with Charlie to introduce him, so we have no idea what this guy is all about. The big problem is that this PI plays an integral role in the film, plus he pops up every 5-10 minutes like the human whack-a-mole. Why-oh-why-oh-why is Kate found dead in Mary Conover's apartment!?! This one really bothers me. We are barely introduced to Kate, but after multiple viewings I figured out that she is the woman traveling with Mary's grandmother. She is there to help Grandma find Mary because they DON'T KNOW where Mary is. If they don't know where Mary is, how could Kate be in her apartment? Is she keeping secrets from Grandma? One simple scene with Kate telling Grandma she was going to investigate a tip would've helped to clear up this major plot-hole, but the inept losers that made this mess didn't feel it was necessary. Which leads me to…Bumbleham Brown and Jimmy are total dead wood in this flick. They have absolutely NO rapport with each other. Every scene they are in could've been eliminated and the time used to explain some of the HUGE plot-holes.The name of the film is "Shadows over Chinatown". Why? Does any of the action take place in Chinatown? How do we know they are in Chinatown? I only found out that many of the scenes took place in Chinatown after reading a review of this flick. There's NOTHING in this film that looks Chinese, except Charlie and Jimmy. Jimmy and Bumbleham go into a Chinese restaurant that looked like a Jewish deli from the outside, but we don't see the Chinese interior, we don't see Chinese architecture, we don't even see any Chinese people. There is absolutely nothing Chinese about the Chinatown in this film. It could be Anywhere, USA.

Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) is on two cases at once in "Shadows Over Chinatown", one is business, the other personal. The trail of the two investigations converge when it's learned that the missing person he is trying to locate once worked with the murder victim. Overshadowing the entire plot is an insurance fraud scheme involving the principals of an escort service. In typical Monogram fashion, the story reveals a few interesting leads that go nowhere, such as the unlucky number thirteen, the number of people on a bus headed to San Francisco with Chan's party aboard. Charlie also exposes a pickpocket without revealing his identity to the rest of those on board, a ruse that works to his advantage later in the film. We haven't seen Victor Sen Yung since the 20th Century Fox Series of Charlie Chan films, but he's back in this one as Number #2 Son Jimmy, along with chauffeur Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland). Moreland's screen time and comfort level progressed through the first few Monogram films, but here it seems like he's back to square one with a reduced role and not much to do except keep Jimmy company. He does get a good line in at one point when an unconscious Jimmy falls out of a closet - "Every time I open a door a dead body drops out".The pieces of the puzzle eventually come together when a phony private detective is revealed to be in on the insurance scam with the head of the escort service. Chan enlists the aid of his missing person target, Mary Conover (Tanis Chandler), who agrees to seek her former job back at the agency. It's wrapped up pretty quickly, with Mary successfully reuniting with her boyfriend and grandmother.