Customer Reviews

Charlie Chan in the Secret Service

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Charlie Chan in The Secret Service" was my first Chan movie. I was impressed with it. My only complaint was the scene in which Chan is riding to the mansion that the inventor was killed in, and is walking up to the mansion. Loud, blaring, music is played during this scene as if there was a fight scene going on or something. But it is apparent that Toler is trying to create interest in this new first Monogram outing, and it pays off. The low budget is futile to complain about, because the budget for the Monogram pictures never increases at any point in time. Critics should judge the Monogram Chans and state their opinion according to if they did the best job they could with the lower budget. Simply complaining about the low budget doesn't cut it, because the Monogram Chans ALL have a low budget. But if their resources are used in the best way, it can still be a good movie, low budget or not.I thought it was a good mystery that was not muddled or confusing. I would give them a thumbs up for doing their best to have a good movie. The Fox Chans were a hard act to follow, but quite a few times, Monogram did very well, lower budget and all. Of course, Benson Fong did not have the effect that the other two previous sons had, but he did well, I thought. Marianne Quon as Iris Chan works well off Benson Fong, but is only seen in this one movie. And of course, Mantan Moreland as Birmingham makes his first appearance as well, and continued throughout the series(with the exception of "The Red Dragon" and "Dangerous Money".)Of course, this movie is not "Citizen Kane", but is worth viewing.

The first of low-budget Monogram Pictures' Charlie Chan mysteries has some flaws, but was successful enough to give the series a new lease on life. Chan investigates the murder of a scientist and the disappearance of secret plans. The film is too stagey; most of the mystery is talked out in ensemble scenes, with a minimum of action. Mantan Moreland (billed second) is a plus, Marianne Quon (as Chan's daughter) is a minus, because she doesn't deliver dialogue convincingly. The underscoring is laughable, with much-too-dramatic music blaring when nothing exciting is happening. The tape's picture and sound are excellent. Okay for Chan fans and B-movie buffs, but if you don't know the Monogram Chans, try "The Shanghai Cobra" or "The Scarlet Clue" instead.

Sidney Toler returns as detective Charlie Chan in this Monogram picture after being dropped from 20th Century Fox in 1942. Monogram was known as the king of the "B" movies. This film introduces Benson Fong as Number 3 son, Tommy, and Marianne Quon as Number 2 daughter, Iris. It also introduces the comedian Mantan Moreland who would continue to play the role of Birmingham Brown in most of the Monogram Chan films. Some politically correct types might criticize Moreland as being a black stereotype, but, to me, he adds a refreshing touch of humor to these films. His material in this film is rather weak, but would get better in later films. In one scene, Tommy and Iris start talking to Chan in jive talk. Chan says "Could please speak English?" Tommy replies "Yeah Pop! We're hep cats of the younger generation! You're Confucius. I'm Confucius Jr.!" The classic Chan line in this film is "Detective without curiosity like glass eye at keyhole---no good!"

Of course, I'm awarding this film five stars specifically to benefit Chan-Nazis like myself in deciding where this one fits in, rating-wise, alongside all the others.

I enjoy Sidney Toler (which this one is) and Warner Oland Chan films equally and I place this particular entry in the top 30 percent of them all. "Castle in the Desert" stands far and above ALL the rest, in my opinion, and then you have "Charlie Chan in The Jade Mask," which rates just above this entry, "Charlie Chan in the Secret Service". I see this one as about evenly equal to "Charlie Chan in Reno," or to "Charlie Chan and The Wax Museum".

In "Charlie Chan in the Secret Service," a renowned scientist is under full-time guard by G-men who foolishly allow the old man to go off by himself downstairs in his large home to greet guests for a cocktail party. Of course, he meets his demise in a closet near the bottom of the stairs and his valuable plan is stolen from his person; however, the G-men are quickly downstairs and on the guests before anyone can flee the scene. Charlie is called in to find both the murderer and the stolen plan.

The guests represent a strange and eccentric aggregation of humanity, (a brilliant cast), and the viewer is pointed first toward one, then towards another of them as the possible culprit. Mantan Moreland yields his usual great performance, providing his obligatory comic relief.

This is a Charlie Chan film worth watching by anyone who enjoys the older black-and-white whodunnits, (such as the old Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes films), but it's a special treat for Charlie's many fans.

I like CHARLIE CHAN IN THE SECRET SERVICE although I agree with some of the other reviewers that this low budget movie has many obvious shortcomings.For the Chan fan it is still an entertaining entry about a scientist who dies mysteriously in his home which is full of house guests.His plans for a new torpedo are missing and the guests are the leading suspects in both the theft of the plans and the possible murder of the scientist.Charlie Chan is called in as an agent of the Secret Service to assist in the case.

Sidney Toler plays the part of Charlie Chan and he is joined by Benson Fong as Tommie Chan and Marianne Quon as Iris Chan. The cast also includes the excellent comic Mantan Moreland.

The producers were Philip N. Krasne and James S. Burkett. The director was Phil Rosen and the screenplay was written by George Callahan.

This movie has some of the best film noir photography I have seen in all the Charlie Chan entries. It's great is has finally been issued on DVD, so I can enjoy those visuals eve more.

Storywise, it's a decent story with an interesting cast of suspects. My complaint is fairly minor: it is a little below-average in the amount of humorous Charlie Chan proverbs that we Chan fans love so much. Otherwise, I enjoyed the movie.

Although not Charlie's official chauffeur-assistant in here as he was in most of these Monogram Chan films, Mantan Moreland ("Birmingham Brown") plays his usual role as a guy helping out and adding humor. He's a likable guy as are all of Charlie's kids, two of them joining in this mystery. We get Number Three Son "Tommie" (Benson Fong) and daughter "Iris" (Marianne Quon. Chan's kids are always nosy, goodhearted and, in the latter-day films, not that helpful.

A few quick action scenes help keep things rolling and, as usual, we get Charlie's summary of the case at the end in which our hero exposes the crook. Overall, is this a great Charlie Chan film? No, it's average....but just average is still good to me.

I'm a hugh Sidney Toler fan. I've got almost all the Charlie Chan videos he has made,and enjoy watching them when I am in a nostalgic mood. I highly recommend these videos to mystery fans!

1944's "Charlie Chan in the Secret Service" features Sidney Toler as the famous Honolulu detective, now seconded to the Secret Service for the war. He is assisted in this episode by Number Three Son Tommy (Benson Fong), Number Two Daughter Iris (Marianne Quon), and Driver Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland). Together, they must solve the mystery of how a top scientist dropped dead in a house full of guests while the plan for a secret weapon went missing.

Chan, in conjunction with his Secret Service colleagues, confines the rather eccentric collection of guests to the house while he conducts his investigation. The investigation seems to consist of Charlie leading the guests from room to room for questioning while he slowly unpeels a rather ingenious series of murder traps. None of the guests are quite who they claim to be, and through a series of experiments, Charlie weeds the crop down to an unlikely suspect.

This is a rather awkward episode. The plot and dialogue are clunky, while the direction rarely missed an opportunity for stagey melodrama whether through a rising music score or shots of an unidentified eye peering from cracked doors. Tommy, Iris, and Birmingham are only rarely able to provide the comic relief that would become standard later in the series. This is not the best entry in the Charlie Chan collection, and will appeal primarily to diehard fans of the series.

George Melton (John Elliott) is a scientist who has made a new secret torpedo to blow up U-boats. He has 2 Secret Service men, Jones (Arthur Loft) and Lewis (Eddy Chandler), with him at all times. But today, Melton is expecting company over for cocktails and doesn't want the Secret Service guys hanging around his guests to make them uncomfortable. Melton believes the plans will be safe with him in his pocket. As he goes down stairs, a mysterious eye watches him. Suddenly as Melton turns on a light bulb in the closet, he drops dead. The secret torpedo plans in his billfold are missing.
Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) arrives to solve the crime. Chan's #3 son, Tommy (Benson Fong) and his daughter, Iris (Marianne Quon) help him. The mysterious eye is still watching.

Running time: 64 minutes.

The 12th movie with Sidney Toler and the first from Monogram Pictures after Toler left 20th Century Fox.

Benson Fong's first appearance as "Tommy Chan". He appeared 5 more times. His first appearance in a Chan movie was as an extra at the opera in, Charlie Chan At The Opera (1936).

This is the only appearance of Marianne Quon as "Iris Chan".

Mantan Moreland's first appearance as "Birmingham Brown" who became a regular.

Also in the cast: Gwen Kenyon, Sarah Edwards, George J. Lewis, Muni Seroff, Barry Bernard, Gene Roth, Lelah Tyler, Davison Clark, George Lessey, Gene Oliver.

This was my first Charlie Chan film and with Sidney Toler in the role. I thought he was a cross between Elvis Presley and Col. Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken.
In my confusion, I thought Peter Lorre was "Chan", but that is not true. I saw Peter Lorre in the "Mr. Moto" film series.

Next mystery: Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat (1944).

Charlie Chan in the Secret Service (1944) Two years after Twentieth Century Fox decided to end the Charlie Chan movie series, poverty row Monogram Studios picked up the franchise and pressed an aging Sidney Toler back into service as the inscrutable detective.
This was the first of their Chan adventures, which has Charlie working for the secret service/Treasury department, with no explanation of how he got there from the Honolulu police department.
The mystery to be solved here is the death of an inventor under government protection. At first it seems to have been natural causes, but Charlie quickly ascertains it was murder and seals up the inventor's home, detaining several people inside. Soon, with the help of #3 son and #2 daughter, Chan solves the murder.
Although not terrible by any means, Monogram's low budget fingerprints are all over this. Eighty-five percent of the movie takes place in one set (though the house is elaborately laid out) and Toler is the only recognizable actor. The funniest penny pinching comes when Chan leaves headquarters in a very long sequence that shows him striding sedately down some steps to a waiting car which then slowly drives out to the estate. He then moseys around outside for a minute or so before going in. What makes this hilarious (other than the silly amount of the film's running time it eats up) is that there is some bombastic action sequence music playing the whole time!
While this entry does remain watchable, the contrivances and coincidences needed to make the story work do signal the series' final slide. Also with the series debut of Mantan Moreland as chauffeur Birmingham Jones, the most incongruous sidekick pairing this side of James Bond and Sheriff J.W. Pepper.