The Shanghai Cobra (1945) Online

Sidney Toler is Charlie Chan in "The Shanghai Cobra," a 1945 film. The Chan series by now is in the hands of one of the "poverty row" studios, Monogram.

In this story, Charlie is called by an old colleague to help identify a man named Jan Van Horn,. Charlie arrested this man in Shanghai during the war; van Horn's modus operandi was killing with cobra venom. Van Horn at the time insisted that he was being framed. The man's face had been badly burned, and he escaped during deportation. Now he's probably had extensive plastic surgery. Now four people have been killed with cobra venom, and all of them are involved with a bank that has radium in one of its vaults - radium that will be stolen if Charlie doesn't nab the criminal.

I admit I've always liked Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan, probably because I am most familiar with him in the role. And I admit that I've always loved Chan's relationship with Birmingham and find Mantan Moreland very funny. I know that kind of humor is out today, but as Birmingham the chauffeur, the talented Moreland has wonderful comic timing. He also is treated on the same level as Charlie's son, in this case the number 3 son (Benson Fong). It's obvious that Birmingham has a close relationship with the Chan family.

These films have a certain formula - Charlie always solves the crime, of course, and whichever son accompanies him usually not only gets into trouble but drags Birmingham along with him.

However, no matter the studio, the Charlie Chan series is entertaining and enjoyable.

I particularly like this Chan as the first in which Tommy and Birmingham become partners in crime (pun intended). Notice Tommy reaching around and holding Birmingham's hand - there's real affection and togetherness there, although Birmingham doesn't necessarily want to follow Tommy. Are the plot twists nutty? Of course, it's a B movie, not Citizen Freakin' Kane, folks. They were making four of these a year - what do you want? Toler's Chan is more assertive than Oland - Toler orders the bank president around more than once. There's far less of Birmingham popping his eyes out in this one, and fewer 'feets don't fail me now' talk. Tommy seems destined for trouble, but otherwise this episode plays it straighter than some, more humorous Chans.

IF more people took these films for what they are - and not compare them to The Third Man - they might find themselves having a little more fun in life.

Back in the days before the American entry into World War II, Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan had occasion to arrest a man accused of a nasty string of killings involving use of cobra venom. That individual escaped. But when in America just post World War II, the same modus operandi turns up in a string of homicides in the same urban vicinity, Toler knows its The Shanghai Cobra at work again.

Toler's hunt for The Shanghai Cobra now involves him in a case where the Feds have a serious interest. The Cobra plans to steal some radium stored in a bank vault for the usual nefarious purposes. With the questionable help of Number 3 son Benson Fong and chauffeur Mantan Moreland, Charlie of course solves the mystery. Not without a few twists in it, like a jukebox with a television camera inside it. Television development was put on hold during the war years and it was still an object of wonder to the public. Also of course the ways The Shanghai Cobra does deliver death is interesting.

One thing though did bother me. You would think that such a man might seek an alternative type poison, lest his work attract the attention of people like Charlie Chan. Cobra venom poison is kind of unique in America, even today.

In any event though, The Shanghai Cobra is not a bad mystery and it is that because you will be crossed up in the end if you think you've identified The Shanghai Cobra.

If you're volunteering to watch a Charlie Chan movie, you already have some idea of what's in store, and as this is one of the late ones done at the Poverty Row Studio, Monogram, you may also know it's not heavy on either production values or a complex script.

That said, director Phil Karlson sets up the first five minutes as if this were a dynamic, lurking-in-the-shadows film noir, and immediately slips from dark, shadowy streets into a brightly-lit diner where the juke-box is also a one-way television which connects to a secret room somewhere else in the city; what's not to like? Sounds like the start of a fascinating mystery! Unfortunately, the remainder of the film doesn't develop many more startling innovations or follow up much with the television, getting lost somewhere as the script pages went missing, perhaps

There are, however, character treats along with way, such familiar folks as George Chandler as a cynical soda jerk and familiar-face Addison Richards as a suspicious bank guard; the 64 minutes are well-spent for the average "B" movie fan--but this ain't The Maltese Falcon although almost any hour spent with Charlie Chan can be unadulterated escapism.

Charlie's still working for the Federal Govt., and along with no. 3 son Tommy and the rather subdued Birmingham are trying to prevent a gang of crooks stealing some radium from an impenetrable bank vault. Who are also being tailed by a watchful someone who they framed 8 years before in Shanghai.

They all seem to spend a lot of time in that old friend, the gas chamber from the Jade Mask, this time masquerading as the sewers under the bank. But the key to this movie's implausible Monogram-plot is the very advanced jukebox in the diner which is manned via television by baddies 2 blocks away in the depths of the Monogram bank. Unsurprisingly Charlie solves everything.

All of the above probably makes it sounds utter tripe, but I've always liked this outing from the team, with a nice and dark nitrate atmosphere pervading throughout to compensate for the plot's definite shortcomings. Not so many smart ass one-liners as in other efforts, but none the worse for that! Sure, it's the usual cheap Monogram affair, but if you sat through it knowing that and didn't like it kiss that hour goodbye forever!

This Charlie Chan entry was more mystery-oriented than most of the Monogram Pictures versions, which tended to rely more on humor. The earlier Warner Oland-Chan films were like this one with the emphasis more on serious issues. I liked both Oland and Sidney Toler in the role of Charlie Chan, so I have no complaints either way.

As usual, it's Charlie's assistants: "Birmingham Brown" (Mantan Moreland) and "Number Three Son Tommy" (Benson Fong) who need to be rescued. They also try to help but usually wind up in trouble. Charlie has to solve the murder and help his buddies. It's a good thing because "Tommy" and "Brimingham" are the ones who add spice to this story, which was flat until the halfway mark.

This is kind of strange story and nothing was stranger than this jukebox that was rigged as a camera, with somebody behind it. It's hard to describe but it very cool, and something - technology-wise, that seemed to be way ahead of its time.

None of the Monogram Chan movies in the 1940s were "classics" but they all were entertaining and offered something different. This movie is typical: boring for some viewers, fascinating for others, lulls that shouldn't be there, but a good mix of humor, suspense and mystery.

In a nutshell, Charlie is called to Washington to help a Federal guy with a baffling case. Charlie owed him a favor so he is cashing in. It seems three people have been killed with cobra venom and the prime suspect is a guy that got caught in Shanghai eight years ago but now is not recognized. Only Charlie would know who the guys is, hence, they need him. (The suspect, "Jan Van Horn" was badly burned when the Japanese bombed the city, as the time of his arrest.)

Anyway, all three recent victims of the cobra bite worked for Sixth National Bank but the police have no clue. No wonder they always need Chan's assistance. Most of the officers shown in these movies are clueless about anything.

The story, even at a little over one hour in length, is slow in the first half hour and could use some punching up, but once Charlie's kid and "Birmingham Brown" go down to the sewers to investigate, the film is fun. Anyway, it's not like you waste half the day watching it. Charlie Chan movies are usually a fun way to spend a little over an hour.

This is an excellent Monogram Charlie Chan that sets a mood and plays it to the hilt. Although the Monogram films never had a budget anywhere near those of the Twentieth Century Fox Chan's, this one comes close to creating the same sense of style that imbued the earlier films. From the film-noir rain slicked opening segment to the fades between scenes, this has a bold feel that overcomes its budget considerations. Sidney Toler is in fine form and appears to appreciate the enthusiasm of director Phil Karlson and the script, as he gives his all in every scene he is in. Benson Fong is good as Number 3 Son Tommy and Mantan Moreland sparkles in his comedic moments which are well timed and effortlessly diverting and not distracting to the central mystery. And it's a very good mystery too, that reminded me a bit of Castle In The Desert, inasmuch as you really have to keep a sharp eye on EVERY major character and try to remember names and relationships to keep on top of the proceedings! Your always double guessing yourself and that is the sign of a mystery doing its job! Everyone is having a great time on this one and it shows--credit too must go to the production team who "opened up" the feel of this one and didn't simply use two sets. Check this out with an open mind and you will realize that classic Chan didn't end when Fox gave up their lease.

When the strange death of three employees of the same bank from cobra venom startles the police, they start remembering a similar case that had occurred in Shanghai eight years before - and they think that the only one who can identify the killer named Jan Van Horn that had escaped before the trial back then is Charlie Chan, because it was him who'd caught him. But Charlie, once called in for help, explains that the convict had been burnt badly in an accident and his face has probably changed completely; and besides that, he'd always insisted that he'd been framed...

But one thing becomes clear pretty soon: there IS something going on in connection with the bank, where a large and immensely valuable amount of radium is stored; and, strange as it sounds, there also seems to be something wrong with the laundry next door, and the coffee shop across the street - and its jukebox...! And when Charlie, Tommy and Birmingham finally find out that there's a secret passage to the bank leading through the underground sewers, they get into a REALLY tight spot there...

This 'Charlie Chan' movie definitely has got a BIG 'touch' of Noir, from dark, rainy streets to a ruthless gang of killers to a genuine 'tough guy' private eye (well, he finally turns out not to be so tough after all...) - only the gags that Tommy and Birmingham, and even Charlie himself, deliver, lighten up the otherwise really 'black' and pretty suspenseful atmosphere. But after all the perils are overcome, and the RIGHT guys have been convicted, we get to see an ending that CERTAINLY is one of the funniest of ALL 'Charlie Chan' films!

Loosely based on novels by Earl Derr Biggers, 20th Century Fox's Charlie Chan series proved an audience favorite--but when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor the studio feared audiences would turn against its Asian hero. This was a miscalculation: actor Sidney Toler took the role to "poverty row" Monogram Studios, where he continued to portray the character in eleven more films made between 1944 and his death in 1947.

20th Century Fox had regarded the Chan films as inexpensive "B" movies, but even so the studio took considerable care with them: the plots were often silly, but the pace was sharp, the dialogue witty, and the casts (which featured the likes of Bela Lugosi and Ray Milland) always expert. The result was a kindly charm which has stood the test of time. Monogram was a different matter: Chan films were "B" movies plain and simple. Little care was taken with scripts or cast and resulting films were flat, mediocre at best, virtually unwatchable at worst.

Thanks to an adequate cast and a few interesting plot devices, THE SHANGHAI COBRA is among the best of the Monogram-made Chan films--but even so it barely manages to achieve a consistent mediocrity. In this particularly entry, Chan (Sidney Toler) is called upon to investigate a murderer who kills with what appears to be a cobra-like bite; at the same time, he decides to make certain that a government supply of radium tucked away in a bank vault, of all places, remains secure. Do these two seemingly unrelated plot lines come together? Well... could be! Sidney Toler is always enjoyable as Chan, but most of his Monogram performances seemed "phoned in"--and that is as true of COBRA as it is of any Monogram Chan film. As usual, the really enjoyable performer is Mantan Mooreland. Changing times have led us to look upon Moreland's brand of comedy as demeaning to African-Americans, but he was an expert actor and comic, and taken within the context of what was possible for a black actor in the 1940s his work has tremendous charm and innocence.

Fans of the 20th Century Fox series are likely to find Monogram's Chan a significant disappointment and newcomers who like the Monogram films will probably consider them third-rate after encountering the Fox films. Like other Monogram Chan films, THE SHANGHAI COBRA is best left to determined collectors. Four stars, and that's being generous.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Yet another Charlie Chan B-Pic from Poverty row Monogram Pictures.

This time around Chan (Sidney Toler) is given the task of investigating the Murder of three Bank workers from Cobra venom, and in the same bank the Federal Government keeps valuable Radium in its Vaults worth several Millions of Dollars - The case has similarities to one Chan investigated in Shanghai 8 years earlier, although the main suspect vanished without a trace at the time.

Also along for the ride are No.3 son Tommy (Benson Fong) and Assistant Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland).

This 40's B-Pic by Low budget Studio Monogram Pictures is a pretty good Chan release, The Acting is above average and not as Wooden as in other episodes, There is more action and greater care in the Script and production this time and there are plenty of scenes in different locations rather than just a few rooms and despite the re-using of sets time and again (You'll notice rooms here that have been in other Monogram Chan Releases, even with the same pictures on the walls) all in all 'The Shanghai Cobra' is done with enough enthusiasm to make it pleasantly enjoyable.

*** out of *****

Director Phil Karlson gives this Charlie Chan mystery the Film Noir treatment. Otherwise, business as usual with Sidney Toler playing America's favorite Hawaaian detective. Chan is summoned to investigate several murders concerning wartime radium. A group of bank employees where deposits of radium is held for safe keeping mysteriously die. It appears each has been injected with deadly cobra venom. Chan remembers a similar case that happened earlier and the only clue he has is a man with a white streak down the middle of his otherwise jet-black hair. You can always depend on Tommy Chan(Benson Fong)and Chauffeur Birmingham (Mantan Moreland)to provide comic relief. You can't go too wrong with a Chan movie. Other players: James Cardwell, Joan Barclay, Walter Fenner and Addison Richards.

After Fox gave Chan away, Sidney Toler purchased the screen rights to the character and made a deal with Monogram, Hollywood's leading Poverty Row producer. The best entries in the Monogram series are the two directed by Phil Karlson, The Shanghai Cobra (1945) and Dark Alibi (1946). Although the second is by far the better of the two (in fact it is the only entry in the entire Monogram series that can stand comparison with any of the Fox features), it is not yet available on DVD.

Shanghai Cobra is distinguished by its really stand-out opening on a rain-swept city street, directed with such gripping virtuosity that the rest of the movie becomes something of a letdown.

Nonetheless, Toler is in fine mettle and is supplied with some delightful bon mots: "Man cannot sell bear skin unless shoot bear first!"

Mantan Moreland and Benson Fong contribute some zesty comic relief and production values (by Poverty Row standards) are remarkably high.

"Most interesting case," Charlie Chan says. "In four months, three persons are murdered by bite of cobra fang."

The mysteriously murdered victims are all employees of a bank whose vault holds a valuable cache of radium. Crooks are after said radium and Charlie Chan is assigned to protect it. And the murders are not done by an actual cobra, it turns out, but by one of those dastardly sharp-tipped poison-dispensing devices hidden in a clever place....

This suspenseful series entry includes less comic relief than usual but moves fast and builds to an exciting climax that feels more like an action-adventure picture than the usual gather-the-suspects Chan resolution.

Number Three Son Benson Fong is on hand to help, as is chauffeur Mantan Moreland—so there are a few decent laughs. (Charlie Chan, fed up with his assistants: "You remain here until I find doghouse big enough to hold both of you.") Sidney Toler moves with confidence and even a bit of a swagger as the great detective.

Much of the action takes place in a diner that contains a unique jukebox: A coin is dropped and a song selected—but then instead of a record playing automatically, the request goes to a person sitting in a little room who then puts on the record manually. A video camera allows this disc jockey to view the interior of the diner and even communicate by microphone when desired. –I've never seen such a setup in real life but I have to say that the next time I see a jukebox I will be looking at it more closely.

While no one would mistake this Monogram effort for anything bigger, imaginative touches and familiar characters make it well worthwhile for Chan fans.

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.

In 1937, Dan Van Horn was arrested in Shanghai for a murder in which the bite of a cobra was implicated. Van Horn escaped, never to be heard from again, although it's known that his face was badly burned in an accident.

It's now eight years later, and three employees of the Sixth National Bank have turned up dead, all identified as victims of the "Cobra Killer". The bank contains stores of radium for laboratory and hospital use, and is the center of all the skullduggery.

As we've seen before, Inspector Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) is alternately aided and confounded by his assistants, Number #3 Son Tommy (Benson Fong) and chauffeur Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland) - "You remain here until I find doghouse big enough to hold both of you". There are just enough characters and victims here to need a scorecard, and truthfully, that's about the only way one can follow the action. Add to that the device of moving a laundry storefront one door down from it's original location to further confuse the investigation.

Van Horn (alternately referred to as "Dan" and "Jan"), is eventually revealed to be bank guard John Adams, who with his undercover daughter Paula Webb, have trailed the real Cobra Killer to the United States in an attempt to clear his name. The cobra device turns out to be not one, but two different gimmicks - a poisoned needle on the knob of a coffee shop juke box, and a similar set of needles on a cigarette lighter used to dispatch a detective working the bank building. The real Cobra Killer is a chemical engineer with an office at the bank, but as usual, his identity is only revealed at the end of the film, with only his profession providing a clue to the mystery.

The Shanghai Cobra is a nifty entry into the Charlie Chan series at Monogram (this is the 6th film), but view it with some suspension of belief, as any number of the scenes and elements in the film rely on a stretch of the imagination.

Review - The Shanghai Cobra, Released 9-29-45 This Charlie Chan movie would considered one of the better efforts by Monogram, because the story holds the viewer interest throughout its hour plus run. There is intrigue from the start, coupled with crimes committed, mysterious methods involved in the deadly misdeeds, and a cast of characters keeping the observer constantly guessing. The action takes place primarily in and below a bank building, and some of the perpetrators are not obvious. There is little comic banter, more serious moves among the guest cast members, no wasteful scenes, gunfire, explosions, secret passageways, and a very interesting method of taking victims.

The premise is the mystery murders from a cobra bite, similar to a crime in Shanghai years before, in which Charlie arrested a man named Van Horn for bank robbery and murder by cobra bite. It was the first day Japanese bombers flew over Shanghai, Van Horn was a prisoner, badly injured in the bombing. Inspector Mainwaring rode with Charlie to the British Police Headquarters to meet Van Horn for the second time. Van Horn had bandages about his head, telling Charlie is being framed. While being transported to Singapore, Van Horn jumped out of the transfer boat, and that was the last time Charlie says he heard of Van Horn. Van Horn returns to Washington D.C. to prove his innocence, employed as a bank guard with his daughter helping his cause employed as a bank President's secretary.

Locally, three persons are murdered by the bite of cobra fangs, markings on the bodies indicate the bite. All three victims worked for the Sixth National Bank, the same bank as Van Horn and his daughter. There is an additional plot to steal the radium kept by the government in the bank vault. The bank is the distributing center for hospitals, laboratories and factories in this vicinity, utilizing the peaceful uses for the radioactive material. Chan, with the help from his old cohort in Honolulu, Inspector Davis, search for killers and thieves. The story weaves its way through characters, some obviously suspicious, others secretly active with the bank and others. Charlie Chan works the clues expertly, determining how the cobra bites were inflicted, in two ways, while apprehending the perpetrators.

This movie is definitely worth watching for all the characters intertwining. The best is last, as usual, but there is really few wasted minutes in the film. Highly recommended.

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.

The opening is promisingly atmospheric: rain, a shadowy street, a woman who looks like she might be a femme fatale, a man watching her from his car, another man whom SHE seems to be following, a coffee shop with a jukebox whose other end looks like a movie theater (!), and cryptic dialogue between the three. But after one of the men dies and Charlie Chan is brought into the case, "The Shanghai Cobra" becomes a deadly dull mystery. The "how" at least turns out to be somewhat creative, but the "who" doesn't seem to matter much! (the chief bad guy is barely in the film). The only bright spots are Chan's witticisms and putdowns of his Number Three Son ("Pop, I want to talk to you as man to man" - "I am ready, but you still have few years to go"!). Thankfully, Mantan Moreland is kept relatively in check this time around. ** out of 4.

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.

For some reason, the U.S. Government is storing radium in bank vaults. No, Charlie Chan is not investigating what moron thought that was a good idea. Instead, he's looking into a series of murders by cobra venom that has a connection to the radium and an old case of Charlie's. Weird but not uninteresting plot. This is a decent Monogram effort with an emphasis on mystery (as there should be) and not on pathetic comedy relief. Oh, don't get me wrong, Tommy (Benson Fong) and Birmingham (Mantan Moreland) are still there and still as unfunny as ever. But they're relegated to background status for this one so we don't have to put up with their hijinks as much. If I'm not mistaken, I believe Moreland actually made it through the entire movie without saying the word "spooks." Probably the first and only time.

There was a part of the plot that deals with an old case of Charlie's that took place in Shanghai. It would have been cool if they had tied it into the 1935 movie Charlie Chan in Shanghai. But, alas, that wasn't to be. Instead, it's about a man named Jan Van Horn that Charlie arrested in Shanghai in 1937 whose face was covered by bandages so Charlie never saw what he looked like. He did hear his voice and I immediately recognized it as a certain character actor. If you've seen enough of these types of films you will recognize it, as well. The man appeared in many B movies. Later, when the actor shows up in another role, we're expected to believe Charlie doesn't recognize that distinctive voice is Jan Van Horn. So that part of it was a dud but, to the movie's credit, it does manage to throw a twist in at the end to keep it from being too predictable. Overall, it's a watchable and somewhat entertaining movie. Slightly above par for Monogram but well below the superior Fox Chan movies.

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.

While I have watched a lot of Charlie Chan movies and I have enjoyed them, they are no doubt very formulaic and the Monogram series is definitely inferior to the original 20th Century-Fox ones. So, how is it that some people gave these B-movies a score of 10?! Sure, they might be entertaining, but aesthetically they are far from high art. Think about it--some people scored this as high (or higher) as many might score GONE WITH THE WIND, THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES or ORDINARY PEOPLE!!!! Come on,...this is just a B-movie,...and a very ordinary entry into the series at that. Plus, while I am not the most politically correct person out there, I can't believe a movie with Mantan Moreland's antics could ever merit a 10--or even an 8 or 9.

First, let's back up a bit. The original series was pretty entertaining, but like all the Chan films it featured a White guy playing a Chinese man--not unusual for its day, but certainly something that prevent the films from being better--especially with the silly use of the English language by Charlie. While Chinese in ethnic origin, he is supposedly from Hawaii and I assumed most Hawaiians of his day did not talk like morons. Plus, this makes little sense because he is so darn smart a detective. But, most fans are able to look past this and accept that this isn't "high art" but still is quite entertaining. Fine. This is where I see myself. After all, even though he talks silly and spouts a lot of so-called "Chinese Wisdom", he is a decent, brave and intelligent guy--not exactly a negative stereotype.

But, after the success of the initial films, Warner Oland (the first famous Chan) had the nerve to up and die and the series started to slip a bit when he was replaced by Sidney Toler. I don't really blame Toler, as he proved in other films he was a good actor. It's just that the original chemistry seemed "different" and Fox soon dropped the series. Enter Monogram Studios to continue the series (known as a "poverty row" studio due to its low production values). Now, the movies featured unknowns doing much of the supporting acting and Mantan Moreland was introduced to the series for new comic relief. Mantand's performances and the writing for his character was highly reminiscent of a smarter and less lazy version of Steppin Fetchit. As a kid, I laughed when he said lines like "feets don't fail me now" when he was scared (something he always seemed to be in the films). Now that I am older, I cringe a bit and know that there are Black people out there who are understandably furious about the stereotype he portrayed--especially because this type role was about the only one you'd see Black men portraying in mainstream films of the era.

Now on to this particular movie. The film is about a series of murders of people all working at one particular bank. All seem to have been bitten by a cobra, but this just doesn't make any sense given that the film is set in an American city. And, since the American government is keeping some secret radium in the banks' vault (this part of the movie, actually, makes no sense at all), Charlie comes to investigate. This film offers more suspense than usual and the whole idea of robbing the bank and how it would be accomplished is pretty interesting stuff. Not a great film (certainly NOT a 10), but entertaining and fun.

Admittedly, I am not a fan of the Monogram Chan films. . The plot, involving radium theft from a bank vault, is a bit far fetched and a long way from the atmospheric mysteries that Fox produced. Mantan Moreland and Benson Fong (as No. 3 Son Tommy) provide some laughs as usual. But otherwise there isn't much here. Great title that is wasted.

I've just finished watching this movie and I'd be hard pressed to tell you anything about it. Its a good looking movie with some clever witty sayings but beyond that it simply blurs into the mix of every other Charlie Chan film.

I suppose the fact that this film doesn't ring a bell either way could be considered a good thing, I mean, you won't groan when someone mentions it. On the other hand its so middle of the pack that with every other movie ever made out there you may wonder why you should bothering watching it.

Why should you watch it? Because its forgettable, but doesn't suck. If that doesn't work try the fact you've seen every other Charlie Chan film.

Nothing special

5 out of 10

The Shanghai Cobra starts out like gangbusters, with a rain soaked diner scene straight out of Shack Out on 101 or Gun Crazy (the first one). Unfortunately the film then proceeds to plod its weary way through a standard Chan formula that is only barely enlivened by the always wonderful Mantan Moreland. It's as if director Karlson blew half his budget in the first five minutes, just getting the set up the way he wanted it. Watch the beginning and think about The Phenix City Story.