mark.waltz
By the end of the 1940's, the 20 year series of "Charlie Chan" was beginning to look its age, even if Chan had plastic surgery twice with the replacement of two actors from its originator, Warner Oland. Roland Winters, the weakest of the three actors to play Charlie during this time, was mighty bland, and most of the scripts followed convoluted plots which at times needed a map to figure out, clues thrown in at the last minute to throw the viewer off. Here, the plot line follows a poisoned gas invented by Harry Hayden who makes threats against the men who purchased the invention for use against America's enemies. After Hayden makes threats, murder occurs, and of course Hayden is the top suspect. Chan happens to be in New Orleans when this happens and gets involved in the case, number two son Victor Sen Young tagging along and putting his foot not only in the case but in his mouth too with his interference.This is probably the most straight forward of the plots of the last few years of the series, taken over from Monogram in the mid 1940's with reduced budgets and sometimes outrageous plot devices. There's a few of those developments here, but for the most part, it is on the level and overall more interesting than the remainder of the Monogram years. Still, there's a feeling that the series was long out of steam, and a sense of desperation being felt. Mantan Moreland is aboard as usual with his string of malapropisms and offers some amusement as he teams with Sen Young in getting the two into constant trouble.
bkoganbing
Not that Monogram invested too much of anything in their product under the tight fisted and Philistine like regime of Sam Katzman, but they do out do themselves with Docks Of New Orleans. Roland Winters, the third and last big screen Charlie Chan had taken over and this is the second of two Mr. Wong plots that I've discovered recycled for the Chan series.Docks Of New Orleans is remade from Mr. Wong Detective and when I wrote my review of that film I remarked that it was a truly unique and clever way that the culprit had of murdering the victims. Here the gimmick is told from the outset Taking the most important element of the previous film away.One of the partners of a chemical firm says that he feels betrayed by his two other partners and later on winds up dead in a proverbial locked room. Having consulted Roland Winters, Charlie Chan is brought in as a consultant to the New Orleans PD in the person here of John Gallaudet.There's both a smuggling racket and a murder plot and Winters has to solve both in order to solve either. If you saw the Mr. Wong film than you know how this ends and who was doing what.
tedg
This could be considered yet another manufactured episode in a tired series.But the Chan things had some pretty clever writers, so far as plot devices.One thing that made them dull was that you were introduced to the crooks early in the game; the battle of wits was boring. Here, the crooks you are introduced to are not the only ones and are being manipulated themselves. Sure, there is the pretty woman who is part of the gang and who gets cheated...But I would like to point out a rather remarkable plot point. The plot requires that a glass container of poison gas be released. This container can be planted ahead of time and triggered remotely. As it happens, the trigger involves a radio.Now common sense in the real world would have this glass vial be secreted in some convenient place, easy to place and remain hidden. But the story here has this vial in the form of a radio tube placed in the radio. The reason is that viewers would make the radio- gas connection better. In other words, it is a concession to cinematic storytelling even though it makes no sense, no sense at all if you think about it. But it makes absolute sense when presented. Smart writing.Those Chinese!Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
admjtk1701
This is a Roland Winters' Monogram made Chan flick. It is a remake of their earlier "Mr. Wong, Detective". Neither version is very exciting. Winters is a very weak Chan, at best. Only Victor Sen Young and Mantan Moreland brighten the film. This is one of the films that has Young playing "No. 2 Son Tommy"! He used to be "No. 2 Son Jimmy". Tommy was Benson Fong and No. 3 Son. It is sort of an ongoing blooper in the later Monograms.
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