Charlie Chan in the Chinese Cat

I saw this when I was quite young. I hadn't heard of Charlie and his cast of characters --#2 son and Birmingham. They were quite enjoyable. The plot moved at a good pace. I particularly enjoyed the sequence where the bad guys were tracking Tommie and Birmingham in a deserted fun-house. After all these years, I still enjoy it.

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 popular 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.

Released in 1944, THE Chinese CAT finds Chan beset by son Tommy, who has promised the step-daughter of a murdered man assistance; they are joined in the investigation by cab driver Birmigham, who is not overeager to be reunited with the Chans given that murder tends to follow in their wake. Indeed, there will be three murders, stolen jewels, and a carnival fun house before the killers are captured. Like all the Monogram Chan films, the plot is trivial and the script even more so; unlike the worst of the Monogram Chan films, however, it does have the occasional touch of atmosphere and moves at a respectable pace.

Sidney Toler gives a nice reprise of Charlie Chan in this film, but as usual in the Monogram Chan films Mantan Moreland (Birmingham) is the real scene stealer. 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, MEETING AT MIDNIGHT is best left to determined collectors. Three stars, and that's being generous.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Sidney Toler is Charlie Chan in "Charlie Chan in the Chinese Cat," a 1944 film, part of the Monogram Chinese Chan series. These films were made for twenty cents and probably took a day to film. Nevertheless, they can be fun.

Charlie here is trying to solve a locked-door murder that the police gave up on; however, a book has been published all but accusing the victim's wife of killing him, and his stepdaughter (Leah Manning) begs Charlie to investigate before he moves on to his next case.

With the help (sort of) of taxi driver Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland) and Charlie's son #3 (Benson Fong), he sets out to find what really happened.

The Monogram Chan series is not as fun or as good as the Fox series, but when Fox dropped Charlie Chan, Sidney Toler took him to Monogram. Toler had gotten the rights from Earl Derr Biggers' widow. After Toler died, the role went to Roland Winters.

Some of the dialogue here is quite fun as Charlie berates his son's presence and ability, though #3 son ends up acquitting himself quite well. Mantan Moreland is good as Birmingham, in fact, he was one of the best things about the series, but he doesn't have much to do here.

His usual character was that of the Chan chauffeur. Now he's a taxi driver who worked with Chan previously and comes back into the fold.

Just to show how quickly these were filmed, in one scene, Charlie breaks a numbered light series which shows what maze in a fun house is being used. One of the light bulbs remains intact, but they didn't re-film it.

Anyway, the mystery here is pretty good, and the fun house maze is entertaining. Recommended for Charlie Chan fans.

These Sidney Toler "Monogram" Chan films, the last in the series, don't measure up to Warner Oland's earlier efforts but they are still very entertaining to me. Even with Mantan Moreland, who probably offends the sensibilities of a lot of people with his scared black-man routine. I can see where that's offensive, but if you just take him as a comedian and let it go, you can enjoy and even laugh with him.

The only thing I did NOT find funny in here, but I normally do, is Charlie's insults to his kid. In this film, Tolder insults "Number Three Son" (Benson Fong) so many times that it borders on downright mean-spiritedness.

Anyway, it was still a "decent" combination of mystery and comedy and the ending was cool, with Chan and his assistants chasing the bad guys around a "fun house." All the Charlie Chan movies are entertaining.

Monogram's Charlie Chan films tended to suffer towards the end by lack of caring. The plots ended up confused and messy aimed more at Birmingham Brown and the Chan son of the film being silly while Charlie said wise things. Here, thankfully, the film is blessed with a decent mystery, different sets than most of the others, and several good supporting performances, in particular by the always wonderful, and sadly not well known John Davidson.

Here we have the death of a chess expert and assorted other goings on that make this one of the better later Chan films. I don't want to say too much since the joy here is in the watching, and this film is certainly worth watching.

7 out of 10