Fluentiama Perfect cast and a good story

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Kinley This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

csteidler A gated estate on a foggy night....A mysterious figure creeps up to the door and rings the bell....A shot rings out! –This dramatic opening sets the mood for a decent Charlie Chan mystery involving a secret formula and murder in an old dark house. Sidney Toler is assisted this time around by Mantan Moreland, settling into the role of chauffeur Birmingham Brown, and Edwin Luke, who plays number four son Eddie and gets to spout some typically silly Chan-offspring dialog like "Ah, this looks like an excellent place for murder." Luke's performance is just fine but the most interesting thing about watching Edwin Luke is probably comparing him with his older brother Keye. The plot is hardly important but involves a nasty old scientist who has developed a secret formula that turns wood hard as metal. This curmudgeonly old inventor is roundly hated by one and all and so his disappearance is mainly worrisome because nobody knows where he hid his valuable formula. Was he murdered? Who was that fake policeman sneaking into the house? It gets kind of complicated….or maybe it just doesn't make a lot of sense. The movie's title refers to some life masks of people in the house— or rather the broken off ear of one mask that becomes a key clue. While slower-moving than the best Monogram Chans, this one is perfectly easy to watch. The comic relief is better than the actual mystery...in other words, thank goodness for Mantan Moreland!

JohnHowardReid One of the best of the Monogram Charlie Chans, this one was made on a top budget (reportedly $75,000) by Poverty Row standards with both enough mystery and enough Chan to satisfy the fans, plus a sterling support cast headed by Frank Reicher as the spooky scientist, Al Bridge as the wisecracking sheriff, Edwin Luke as Charlie's number four son, and Dorothy Granger as Stella Graham. And of course, Chan himself, played with a fair degree of his 20th Century Fox charisma by Sidney Toler. For me, a little of Mantan Moreland's bug-eyed act goes a long way, but in this one I'm happy to say, he is comparatively restrained and even allows good old Sidney Toler to capture and hold center stage once the Chans arrive at the murdered man's spooky mansion. True, Mantan does re-assert himself right at the conclusion, but after sitting through all the movie's daringly spooky atmospherics, a little of Moreland's heavily bug-eyed comic relief doesn't go too far astray. However, I still don't know where the jade mask fits into the story. I don't remember any mask (or any jade either), but I guess you can't expect jade as well as good imitation pearls on Poverty Row. Available on an excellent Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer DVD,

gazzo-2 I don't this one needs that much elaboration on the previous comments, but thought I would add my few for what it's worth, as a series of observations more than anything else.*Toler wasn't as good or convincing as Oland. Not close. The make-up was kinda bad too.*I find Mantan Moreland to be funny in these, but I do recognize the Spook character he portrayed was def. offensive to many. The catching up to the car gag at the end is a hoot.*Ed Luke is a block of wood.*Puppets as killers was a neat twist.*You couldn't keep the characters straight at times as they're brought in with a bare minimum of intro, and well-there you are.*The acting was pretty clunky for the most part.*Enjoyed the Scooby-Doo breakaway mask ending.*You couldn't really buy the gal in question was 'Strong as a man' but fine, Toler as Chinese is less valid.*Movie was only 67 minutes long, but so leaden paced it seems to go longer.*So that's what a Dictaphone/belt looked like.....

Michael O'Keefe This Charlie Chan feature is complicated as it is simple. Charlie(Sidney Toler)is summoned to a spooky mansion to solve the murder of a renowned scientist, who is working on a gas that can turn wood into a substance hard as steel. The government is interested in this project, thus Chan on the case. The mansion is full of family and help and all loathed the deceased scientist, that may have taken his secret formula to the grave with him. Everyone is a suspect, but Chan discovers that the murderer and his wife have hidden certain identities with human puppets and masks, making victims seem alive. This black & white film is crisp and well paced. Interesting banter between Chan and his number four son Eddie(Edwin Luke); and you can always count on chauffeur Birmingham(Mantan Moreland)to provide comic relief. Other players in this 66 minute caper: Hardie Albright, Frank Reicher, Cyril Delevanti, Janet Warren and Ralph Lewis.