Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

csteidler "Most interesting case," Charlie Chan says. "In four months, three persons are murdered by bite of cobra fang." The mysteriously murdered victims are all employees of a bank whose vault holds a valuable cache of radium. Crooks are after said radium and Charlie Chan is assigned to protect it. And the murders are not done by an actual cobra, it turns out, but by one of those dastardly sharp-tipped poison-dispensing devices hidden in a clever place.... This suspenseful series entry includes less comic relief than usual but moves fast and builds to an exciting climax that feels more like an action-adventure picture than the usual gather-the-suspects Chan resolution. Number Three Son Benson Fong is on hand to help, as is chauffeur Mantan Moreland—so there are a few decent laughs. (Charlie Chan, fed up with his assistants: "You remain here until I find doghouse big enough to hold both of you.") Sidney Toler moves with confidence and even a bit of a swagger as the great detective. Much of the action takes place in a diner that contains a unique jukebox: A coin is dropped and a song selected—but then instead of a record playing automatically, the request goes to a person sitting in a little room who then puts on the record manually. A video camera allows this disc jockey to view the interior of the diner and even communicate by microphone when desired. –I've never seen such a setup in real life but I have to say that the next time I see a jukebox I will be looking at it more closely. While no one would mistake this Monogram effort for anything bigger, imaginative touches and familiar characters make it well worthwhile for Chan fans.

bkoganbing Back in the days before the American entry into World War II, Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan had occasion to arrest a man accused of a nasty string of killings involving use of cobra venom. That individual escaped. But when in America just post World War II, the same modus operandi turns up in a string of homicides in the same urban vicinity, Toler knows its The Shanghai Cobra at work again.Toler's hunt for The Shanghai Cobra now involves him in a case where the Feds have a serious interest. The Cobra plans to steal some radium stored in a bank vault for the usual nefarious purposes. With the questionable help of Number 3 son Benson Fong and chauffeur Mantan Moreland, Charlie of course solves the mystery. Not without a few twists in it, like a jukebox with a television camera inside it. Television development was put on hold during the war years and it was still an object of wonder to the public. Also of course the ways The Shanghai Cobra does deliver death is interesting.One thing though did bother me. You would think that such a man might seek an alternative type poison, lest his work attract the attention of people like Charlie Chan. Cobra venom poison is kind of unique in America, even today.In any event though, The Shanghai Cobra is not a bad mystery and it is that because you will be crossed up in the end if you think you've identified The Shanghai Cobra.

Michael O'Keefe Director Phil Karlson gives this Charlie Chan mystery the Film Noir treatment. Otherwise, business as usual with Sidney Toler playing America's favorite Hawaaian detective. Chan is summoned to investigate several murders concerning wartime radium. A group of bank employees where deposits of radium is held for safe keeping mysteriously die. It appears each has been injected with deadly cobra venom. Chan remembers a similar case that happened earlier and the only clue he has is a man with a white streak down the middle of his otherwise jet-black hair. You can always depend on Tommy Chan(Benson Fong)and Chauffeur Birmingham (Mantan Moreland)to provide comic relief. You can't go too wrong with a Chan movie. Other players: James Cardwell, Joan Barclay, Walter Fenner and Addison Richards.

dbborroughs I've just finished watching this movie and I'd be hard pressed to tell you anything about it. Its a good looking movie with some clever witty sayings but beyond that it simply blurs into the mix of every other Charlie Chan film.I suppose the fact that this film doesn't ring a bell either way could be considered a good thing, I mean, you won't groan when someone mentions it. On the other hand its so middle of the pack that with every other movie ever made out there you may wonder why you should bothering watching it. Why should you watch it? Because its forgettable, but doesn't suck. If that doesn't work try the fact you've seen every other Charlie Chan film.Nothing special5 out of 10