GamerTab That was an excellent one.

GurlyIamBeach Instant Favorite.

Rexanne It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

gftbiloxi 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

ccthemovieman-1 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.

bensonmum2 A man is shot in a locked room. The police are completely stumped and cannot solve the case. When a book is written that insinuates the wife was the murderer, the man's stepdaughter enlists the help of Charlie Chan to find the real killer. Chan is only in town for 48 hours, so he's got to be quick if he's to solve a six-month old murder.The Chinese Cat is one of the better of the Monogram Chan films. Sure, it's far from perfect, but I enjoy it each time I get the opportunity to watch. It's always fun to watch Chan investigate a crime scene while spitting out a few of the Chan style proverbs. Mantan Moreland is back as Birminham Brown and he has more than a few moments that bring at least a smile to my face. A few other things The Chinese Cat has in its favor include: a well paced plot, some trickery involving twins, and the fact that Number 3 son isn't as annoying as he is in some of the other Chan films. While I doubt the average movie fan would enjoy The Chinese Cat very much, fans of Chan will find something to enjoy.But, as with the other Monogram films, there are problems in The Chinese Cat that are hard to overlook. Monogram made these films with very little in the way of a budget and it shows. The sets look cheap, some of the acting is stilted, and action scenes have taken the place of Chan questioning suspects. The Fun House scenes are the perfect example of the budgetary limitations as characters walk past the same three sets over and over and over...

Spondonman The Monogram Chan's, apart from falling production values, were also marked by more and more action scenes with or without cliffhanger music and less on the explanatory dialogue so necessary with the Fox's. With the action came more non-sequiteurs or simply incongruous scenes - in this one take Tommy Chan being beaten to a pulp before his respected father's calm eyes! Great stuff for teenagers in 1944 but surely something of which the Charlie we know should have been thoroughly ashamed?!Rich amateur chess player murdered six months previously, at the time to the utter bafflement of the police - Charlie has less than two days to research the case and solve it. And does he bring the rather impotent detective and the daughter of the murdered man together, and give the detective a promotion for doing nothing? I ain't saying! The climax in the Fun Two Corridors Cupboard And Room brings a baddies Wild West hideout suspiciously to mind, but what the Heck!Well made (for Monogram) and enjoyable entry in the series.