Castle in the Desert (1942)

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The movie was definitely a mystery throughout the production, as people died but did not actually pass, but one person was brutally stabbed well into the film. Red-herrings abounded when Chan arrives to greet the cast of guilty parties, some innocents and some eccentric, and there was Jimmy, caught up in the plot as usual. Greed, once again, was a factor, coupled with prejudice, racism, and references to a Shakespearean work. This was a well written story, played out professionally by the entire cast, and it kept the viewer guessing until the end. First there was the plan to discredit the host and hostess which was a hinderance to the actual killer, the really greedy individual, having to extinguish the original perpetrator in order to gain the ultimate goal of taking over a vast estate. The plot is definitely complicated by the remote castle without a phone or electricity, and soon there was to be no method of transportation. There is a murderer in a castle without communication, transportation of electricity, all with loads of red-herrings. Charlie does an excellent job solving multiple crimes, i.e. fraud and felony going hand-in-hand. Charlie has no additional police assistance while he is conquering the many obstacles in the pursuit of a happy ending. You have to watch for characters appearing, counted as deceased, then reappearing in disguise to actually aid in capturing the killer. For Twentieth Century Fox to close out the eleventh of eleven films as WW II was underway, this was one above par for the Saturday afternoon crowd. Kudos to Toler and cast for bringing the film along at a well-paced effort and keeping everyone in suspense. Recommend a watch for the intrigue set namely in a familiar interior setting.

A confused and totally muddled screenplay fittingly closes the Fox series of Charlie Chan entries, which is number 30 in the official 47-picture compendium which excludes the 1981 "Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen".Actually, the equally preposterous script of this one is so full of holes, red herrings, misleading alliances, spooky hallucinations and other bizarre elements, it would make an equally amusing parody; but unfortunately the players and the director have all chosen to play it straight as a die. A shame, because a fair amount of money has been thrown at the movie which is beautifully produced and often quite stylishly directed.Although it's disconcerting to see such wonderful sets and glistening cinematography squandered on this ridiculous mish-mash of impossible plotting and over-the-top characters, within these limits, Castle in the Desert is quite fascinating. The players are particularly engrossing. Toler is in top form as he tosses off the usual quota of quixotic aphorisms, including: "Man has enemies like dog has fleas"; "Caution sometimes mother of suspicion"; "The man who walks always has both feet on ground"; "Elaborate excuses seldom true"; and "A timid man never win lottery prize!"

An ornate medieval castle in the Mojave desert is the location for this intriguing Charlie Chan mystery. A semi-recluse author is married to a beautiful descendant of the infamous Borgia family of poisoners, and the wife is suspected of doing away with her guests in the same fashion, with poisoned wine at the dinner table. Chan is called in to investigate the strange goings-on, with uninvited help from Number Two Son Jimmy Chan and an eccentric astrologer.Some small town desert settings are cleverly used, in contrast with the imposing castle. The town of Mojave Wells looks like a leftover from the Old West days, with flat fronted buildings and prospectors with donkeys. Comedy is provided by the cantankerous hotel proprietor and his opportunistic brother in law. The grumpy hotel owner gets mad every time anything to do with Manderley Castle is mentioned, and assumes every Chinese man he sees must be a chop suey salesman. When Jimmy Chan arrives on the Twenties vintage bus, he is accosted by Madame Saturnia, amusingly played by the great Ethel Griffies. She and Jimmy travel the last few miles to the castle on foot, where Jimmy promptly falls into the dungeon, to be greeted with something less than enthusiasm by his father.A cast of suspicious characters including a reserved butler, a sleazy lawyer, a slightly corrupt doctor and guests who keep dropping dead, all make for an entertaining old mystery, with plenty of atmosphere. Such stalwarts of old movies as sinister Henry Daniell and cadaverous Milton Parsons add color to a delightful cast. This movie is lots of fun for Charlie Chan enthusiasts; highly recommended.

This is the only Charlie Chan I threw in the waste basket, but that's because I was disgusted with all the pro-astrology message in this film. For those who could care less about that, this will be another entertaining Chan mystery. For the rest of us, this was disappointing.Normally, Chan debunks these "stargazer" figures in his films but, for some reason, in this movie the astrologer is given total validity. Everything she predicts comes true so Chan gives her respect. It was amazing how many times the occult was presented in classic-era movies. Since the Code restricted profanity, nudity, anti-clergy bias, etc., one of the ways these could still get anti-Biblical messages across was through all the occult nonsense. This is just one more example.This was Sidney Toler's last Charlie Chan before switching studios, adding Mantan Moreland to the cast and making the last of the films a lot more humorous (or stupid, depending on what you prefer). Moreland was funny as "Birmingham Brown" but he also was demeaning to the black race with his role. Regardless of the stories or the cast, Charlie Chan always remained smart, funny and a good family man, and his films (including this one) are always entertaining.