THE SKY DRAGON (1948)

The last entry in the long Charlie Chan series, featuring the sixth and final appearance of Roland Winters as the Chinese detective, is a disappointment. Things begin promisingly as Chan and his son Lee (Keye Luke) get on a small commercial plane heading to San Francisco. We meet some of the passengers, including a follies showgirl and an insurance company courier who is carrying a satchel full of cash, and crew members, including the pilot, co-pilot, stewardess (who is the pilot's main squeeze) and a stewardess in training. We soon realize that some folks on board have secrets that will come to the surface (for example, the new stewardess is using a false name and is the showgirl's sister). Someone drugs the onboard coffee, everyone falls asleep, and the courier is stabbed to death, his money gone, presumably thrown out of the plane by parachute. While the action is confined to the plane, the movie achieves the kind of pleasurable tension that train movies often have, but unfortunately, once the plane lands and the cops, including series regular Lieutenant Mike (Tim Ryan), arrive, things slow down. More secrets and hidden connections are revealed and, as in so many episodes of Midsomer Murders, events of the past are key to unraveling the mystery. The cast is not to blame for the blandness of this movie. Winters, Luke, Ryan, and eventually, Mantan Moreland as Chan's chauffeur, are as entertaining as usual, and there is good support from Milburn Stone (the competent pilot), Joel Marston (the cleancut co-pilot), Noel Neill (the pilot's gal), Iris Adrian (the showgirl), Lyle Talbot (Adrian's husband, maybe), Elena Verdugo (the showgirl's sister), and John Eldredge (the insurance company boss). The writing is weak; I lost track of the mystery in the last 15 minutes and didn't really care. Direction and sets are barely adequate, and the pace slackens a good deal once we get off the plane. The climax has Chan bringing all the living passengers and crew back on the plane for a suspect roundup that does bring some energy back, but too little too late. With the character of Tommy not present, Lee reverts from being mature and responsible in the previous film to being mostly comic relief, although his training to become a commercial pilot comes in handy for a few minutes. B-movie watchable, but not one of the better Winters-as-Chan films. Winters went on to a lengthy career in supporting roles in movies and TV; his biggest role might be as Elvis Presley's dad in Blue Hawaii. I'm planning on going back and rewatching some of the previous 40-something Chan films over the summer so there will be a few more reviews. Pictured are Stone, Neill and Luke. [DVD]