The Trap

Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) investigates showgirl murders with the help of "Number Two Son" Jimmy (Victor Sen Yung) and chauffeur Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland). There's a decent supporting cast for Monogram that includes Minerva Urecal, future Superman Kirk Alyn, and beauties Rita Quigley and Anne Nagel. Victor Sen Yung is, as usual since returning to the series, the best part of the movie. For some reason, the name Marcia is pronounced several different ways, depending on who is saying it. This is pretty annoying.

The last Sidney Toler Chan film and many would say the last real Chan film. The series would continue on with Roland Winters but all of those movies were terrible. This one's nothing to write home about, either. As others have discussed, Sidney Toler was sick with cancer during the filming of this and sleepwalks through the movie. It's a sad thing to watch, particularly for fans of the series and the actor. Worst, or maybe second worst, of the Toler series.

This was Sidney Toler's last film as detective Charlie Chan, the last in a series of twenty-two, produced between 1938 and 1946.

The physical fragility of the actor is visible, as he appears in fewer scenes, moves slowly and even demonstrates a relative verbal economy that is not characteristic of the character. There is, for example, not a single "correction please" in Toler's farewell to the character. A film where we have more "number 2 Son" and Birmingham than Chan.

The plot is what you would expect from a banal television police series and the value of this work is above all historical and sentimental, for fans of the character.

"The Trap" has an OK mystery plot and an unusual Chan locale- the beach, literally on the beach itself. And there is some fine photography of the California coast.

Toler is noticeably tired in this, his last film. In fact at least one scene is performed by Mr. Toler while sitting down, most likely due to fatigue and illness; otherwise he is almost entirely stationary and standing. However, he somehow manages to carry his acting weight in his scenes.

I believe that this is one of the best of Sen Yung's efforts in Chan films, most likely because he is allowed to just act for the most part except for one extended (but plot enhancing) sequence of buffoonery. Tanis Chandler is very French and very attractive, and her performance is competent. Barbara Jean Wong is cute and gives a good performance. But Rita Quigley's performance is...well...the best word to describe it is "terrible". Ms. Quigley gives a career-destroying bad performance that hurts the film, but you could regard it as laughable and maybe find it endurable on that basis.

Since we get a little gem of a Minerva Urecal performance, fine seacoast photography and a decent mystery plot I will give this a "6" rating but you certainly should not expect a classic, traditional Chan film.

Apparently, Sidney Toler was in the latter stages of cancer. So he didn't seem to have much spark, even when he abuses his son. This particular episode is about a troupe of showgirls, taking some time off at a beach house. There is hostility from the start from within the group and from the housekeeper. The men running the show have agendas themselves. There apparently are some secrets being kept. A quiet young woman is murdered as she tried to cater to the wishes of a powerful actress (who ends up dead herself). Charlie is almost like a shepherd, trying to round up the suspects and keep them in order while he investigates. Of course, we have Jimmy and Birmingham getting in the way and ignoring orders. Birmingham seems cursed to be afraid of all animate and inanimate objects. When asked to be quiet, he creates incredible chaos. Jimmy pushes the envelope at every turn. I think the biggest failing of this is that there is no suspense because we really don't have any idea what the dramatic forces are.

When one of the showgirls in a troupe staying at a beach house is killed, novice showgirl Barbara Jean Wong, calls on that famous detective, Jimmy Chan. Fortunately, his father, Charlie Chan, shows up in the person of Sidney Toler.

Under the direction of Howard Bretherton, this is the strongest of of the Monogram Charlie Chans, due a good mystery script and Bretherton's superior ability to direct the comedy sequences on which the series now relied. Mantan Moreland, as Oland's other assistant, gets a lot more and better comedy in his role, and Victor Sen Yung flourishes. The ladies in the troupe include Rita Quigley and Anne Nagel, and Kirk Nagel, Minerva Urecal, and Larry Blake perform their more serious roles well.

Alas, it was the end for Toler. He had been playing the role for almost a decade by this point, but he was dying of cancer. He would died on February 12, 1947 at the age of 72, after sixty-five years in show business.