Nonureva Really Surprised!

Lightdeossk Captivating movie !

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Kimball Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

csteidler The doorbell rings. A woman wants to see Mr. Chan. She gives no name but hands an ornate ring to the butler and says, "Take this to him." While waiting for Chan in his study, she is shot through the window with a poison dart. Who was she and why was she killed? Charlie Chan investigates. The plot of this late series entry is about as original as that opening scene. Clues include an inscription on the ring and an unfinished note scrawled by the dying woman. Mr. Chan is assisted by handsome young police sergeant Warren Douglas, who chews gum all the time. Also on the case is perky newspaper reporter Louise Curry, who climbs in Chan's study window looking for clues. Douglas spends most of his time trying to keep Curry out of his way...and of course they have one of those love-hate romances that is totally nauseating. Roland Winters makes his debut as Charlie Chan and he is not bad, though he takes some getting used to. He moves more quickly than poor Sidney Toler did in his last few pictures; this Chan is more vigorous, less grandfatherly, and ultimately less interesting, too, since unfortunately his stock of wise old sayings in this picture is practically nil. Mantan Moreland is fine as Birmingham Brown. The one-time chauffeur seems to have taken on butler duties as well. Sen Yung helps out as number two son Tommy Chan--he's energetic as always but for some reason he is absent (and missed) during a long middle section. The story moves at a decent pace but it's really just too predictable, and generally weak dialog probably makes the familiar plot seem worse. Interesting for Chan fans but not one of the series' highlights.

bkoganbing During all the time I was watching The Chinese Ring I kept thinking I saw it before and then I learn that this was indeed the plot of an old Mr. Wong film also put out by Monogram. As the Wong series was before World War II started in Europe only the politics were changed and they got a little vague in this one.Barbara Jean Wong, a Chinese princess who is in America to purchase war airplanes for what I presume is the Kuomintang air force against the Communists is shot and killed by a dart fired from an air rifle almost immediately after entering Charlie Chan's home. With a murder right in his own home Roland Winters in his first film as Charlie Chan is kind of forced to help the authorities who in this case are represented by homicide detective Warren Douglas. Tagging along is Louise Currie who is a reporter looking to scoop her rivals on who killed the princess.The Occidentals who the princess had to deal with are one scurvy lot who saw a cash cow and were milking it for all it was worth. But one of them is scurvier than the rest that one murders the princes, her maid and a small mute Chinese boy who's only crime was that he was a witness.The story did not translate that good to a post World War II political situation. Still the players do their best with it and Roland Winters slips nicely into the tradition of Warner Oland and Sidney Toler as our fortune cookie aphorism speaking Charlie Chan.

JohnHowardReid A mysterious princess arrives at the Chan home, where she is shot. Collapsing, she manages to write, "Captain K," on the desk pad. "Are you sure she's dead, Pop?" Tommy asks. "Death, my son, is the reckoning of heaven. In this case, most complicated reckoning," states philosophical Charlie, lifting a line from Biggers' Behind That Curtain.This one, Number 42 in the series and the first with Roland Winters in the title role, does not augur well for the remainder of the Monogram efforts in this inept re-make of Mr Wong in Chinatown. Mr Winters is a poor substitute for Sidney Toler (not to mention Boris Karloff). He moves stiffly, and his accent is poor stuff indeed. A less inspired actor to play the part of Chan could not possibly be imagined, although I should mention that Winters was to improve considerably in his later Chan characterizations.Scott Darling has done very little to update his Wong script and changing the dwarf to a small boy is just about the last straw. Also, Beaudine's direction does not compare well with Nigh's. Admittedly, this entry has obviously been made on an extremely tight budget.

classicsoncall "The Chinese Ring" is a passable entry in the Monogram series of Charlie Chan films, notable for Roland Winters' first time portrayal of the Oriental Detective. In a strange departure from the usual strong continuity between films, Victor Sen Yung is presented as Number #2 Son named Tommy; he was Jimmy in all of his prior Chan films with Sidney Toler. Number #3 son Tommy was portrayed in earlier movies by Benson Fong. Mantan Moreland is on hand as Birmingham Brown. The intrigue involves the murder of Chinese Princess Mei Ling (Barbara Jean Wong) and her servant; the ring she uses to introduce herself to Charlie Chan is inscribed in Chinese - "Long life and happiness". Stunned by a poisonous dart, she manages to write the name of "Capt K" on a scrap of paper in Chan's study. The clue leads Chan and Sergeant Bill Davidson (Warren Douglas) of the San Francisco PD in two directions. Captain Kong of the S.S. Shanghai Maid brought the princess to this country, while Captain James Kelso is the owner of the Kelso Aviation Company. Both are in league with banker Armstrong, eventually revealed as the mastermind of a plot to sell, but not deliver airplanes to Mei Ling's brother, a field marshal for the Chinese Army. This is a reasonably paced entry in the Chan series, particularly for Winters' first turn as the Oriental Detective. Louise Currie provides great support as reporter Peggy Cartwright, although she's embarrassingly pushed around by romantic interest Sergeant Davidson. The mystery is a lot easier to follow than prior Chan films, many of which had up to dozen characters to keep track of; here it's all wrapped up pretty neatly by film's end.***Added on 11/12/08 - Monogram Pictures originally made this film in 1939 as "Mr. Wong in Chinatown", with Boris Karloff in the role of the title detective. In that story, the 'Captain K' clue differed by one letter - 'Captain J'. Otherwise, it's pretty much the same story, even including a variation of my summary line above, citing a 'murder in the house of Mr. Wong'!