hwg1957-102-265704
Another Monogram production of a Charlie Chan mystery concerning nuclear material kept in a bank (!) and an attempt to steal it and a killer who uses cobra venom to kill his victims who work at the said bank. The story is a bit confusing as I couldn't work out why the first three victims were murdered. Charlie Chan is on hand to thwart the robbery and solve the homicides. Phil Karlson direction has its moments but not enough to make it other than routine.Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan does well enough but Mantan Moreland as Birmingham Brown and Benson Fong as Tommy Chan are rather tiresome. Most of the supporting cast are ordinary. It does have the always watchable Gene Roth and Joe Devlin as heavies however but they unfortunately didn't have enough screen time. The method of murder was ingenious but only if you don't think too hard about it.
Hitchcoc
The Shanghai Cobra is a human who has been injecting people with cobra venom. He can be traced back to a man that Chan captured years before, but who escaped from a ship that was taking him to prison. Now there are more killings centered around a coffee shop and the Sixth National Bank building. Tommy and Birmingham are in the way as usual. Charlie's kids never listen to him. They feel protective of the old guy and try to solve things themselves, putting people and themselves in danger. This is pretty good, holding the solution to the very end. Chan and the gang end up in the sewers below the streets that I previously mentioned and that leads to some pretty good stuff. I enjoyed this offering a much as any in the series.
tavm
This is my eleventh review of a Charlie Chan movie in series chronological order on these consecutive days. In this one, Charlie is investigating three murders of employees from a city bank which happens to have some radium in its vault...Directed by cult director Phil Karlson (who is a native of my birthtown of Chicago, Ill.), this Chan entry has a great beginning taking place in rain soaked streets before going to a diner whose owner Joe (George Chandler) is a bit upset that the three customers-two men, one woman-want coffee and not his special soup. Chandler is quite amusing and a bit suitably edgy in this sequence. After that, we get the usual tale of Chan rounding up the suspects and having troubles with "No. 3 Son" Tommy (Benson Fong) and his chauffeur Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland). Actually, Fong and Moreland provide the second great sequence when they are underground in the sewers and an explosion almost threatens to kill them while the bad guys are shooting at each other. While these sequences provide excitement, some of the explanations of certain events were confusing to me. Still, I highly enjoyed this Monogram Chan entry especially with the comic relief of Fong and Moreland still good for laughs. And I love hearing the latter laugh during many of his scenes! So on that note, I'm recommending The Shanghai Cobra.
tedg
The Chan series gives few pleasures. But you can find them if you want.This has two features to recommend it. One is a rather incredible opening scene, with much more mystery and puzzle than usual for any detective movie of the type. It includes something that I have never seen before. I have no idea if such a thing actually existed. Its a jukebox with a sort of tunnel TeeVee camera in it with a girl at the other end in an office. Sort of a video switchboard operator and DeeJay. She can literally see through the front of the jukebox. Its a truly strange notion. See it for that.The second interesting feature is that the victims are killed in an elaborate way, using cobra venom and hidden needles that are a marvel of technology.All else is typical Chan, workmanlike and ordinary.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
AD
