THE RED DRAGON (1946) / DARK ALIBI (1946)

THE RED DRAGON, the seventh Charlie Chan film in the Monogram series, begins in Mexico City where attempts are made to steal some secret papers of scientist Alfred Wyans relating to the existence of new elements discovered during atomic bomb research. Wyans' secretary Dorn asks police chief Carvero to contact Charlie Chan, now working for the government in Washington, but Dorn is shot dead at his desk during a lunch party, typing out a cryptic 7-character message on his typewriter as he dies. One gun shot is heard but two bullets are found, and tests reveal that neither bullet was fired from a gun. Suspects at the luncheon include a Countess who sings in nightclubs, a Nazi propagandist, and a smuggler. Of course, most of these people aren't quite who they seem, even Wyans, and Chan (Sidney Toler) arrives in Mexico City to sort things out, along with his son Tommy (Benson Fong), and valet Chattanooga Brown (Willie Best). A crucial clue is a bottle of a rare Chinese ink called Red Drago found on Dorn's desk, which had been sold to Wyans by Iris Ling, a Chinese artist. A remote control method of shooting a gun (which almost claims Chan's life) is uncovered before a dragged-out gunfight and chase wrap up the mystery. Despite some good gimmick ideas, this film largely becomes a dreary parade of unconnected scenes, enlivened by some comic relief scenes with Tommy and Chattanooga (though one feels Mantan Moreland's absence as Birmingham) and a cute scene of Charlie on a dance floor, doing an "elderly rhumba" with Iris Ling. Highlights in the so-so supporting cast include Fortunio Bonanova (as Carvero), George Meeker, and Carol Hughes. I reviewed this several years ago here.

DARK ALIBI, the eighth of the Monogram Chans, begins with a bank robbery during which a guard is killed—the explosion of the vault is one of the better Monogram special effects scenes. Attention shifts to the boarding house of the bad-tempered Mrs. Foss who makes a point of taking in ex-convicts. Harley, who lives at the house with his adult daughter June, is arrested for the murder of the guards because his fingerprints were found at the scene. He insists that he spent the last four hours locked up in a theatrical supply warehouse where he was summoned by a note from his former cellmate who it turns out has been dead for years. Harley had kept his past as a convict a secret from his daughter, but she is determined to clear his name. However, he is found guilty and sentenced to death. With only nine days to his execution, June, her boyfriend Hugh who is a prison guard, and Tony, a public defender, seek help from Charlie Chan, accompanied by son Tommy and valet Birmingham Brown. Luckily, most of the suspects still live in the boarding house. Overall, this is a bit better than The Red Dragon, partly because Mantan Moreland is back to banter with Benson Fong, and he gets to do his unfinished sentences comedy bit with his vaudeville partner Ben Carter, as they did in THE SCARLET CLUE, though Moreland has to do one too many scaredy-cat routines. Chan calls his son and valet his "sitting assistants," a gag which continues into the next movie. Toler is still effective as Chan, and there is OK support from John Eldredge, George Holmes, Tim Ryan and Milton Parsons. By this point, it is definitely getting harder to tell one film from another, which I suppose happens to most detective movie series that run long enough—even the A-film Thin Man series runs into this problem. A little more energetic than the previous entry. Pictured above are Carter, Fong, Toler and Moreland. [DVD]