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Charlie Chan in The Shanghai Cobra

Charlie Chan in The Shanghai Cobra

List Price: $14.95
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: By Far The Best Monogram Chan movie
Review: "The Shanghai Cobra" is my favorite of the Monogram Charlie Chans. It is beautifully atmospheric in the opening scenes, and I think Phil Karlson, the director (his first of two Chan outings, the other being "Dark Alibi" [1946]which is also worth watching)adds alot of these great effects, making it an enjoyable mystery that will keep you guessing. The comedy in this entry is superb with a wordplay gag about "u-turns" running all through the film. The sets and the noticable shadows and darkness make it almost like a "film noir" movie. Some action takes place in the sewers below the bank that they are doing investigations in(more darkness.)I also enjoyed the "flashback" when they showed Charlie Chan in his visit to Shanghai in '36 and '37. A fun film, a good mystery, and atmospheric at the same time, I would recommend this film highly to any Charlie Chan fan. Excuse, Please...

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: By Far The Best Monogram Chan movie
Review: "The Shanghai Cobra" is my favorite of the Monogram Charlie Chans. It is beautifully atmospheric in the opening scenes, and I think Phil Karlson, the director (his first of two Chan outings, the other being "Dark Alibi" [1946]which is also worth watching)adds alot of these great effects, making it an enjoyable mystery that will keep you guessing. The comedy in this entry is superb with a wordplay gag about "u-turns" running all through the film. The sets and the noticable shadows and darkness make it almost like a "film noir" movie. Some action takes place in the sewers below the bank that they are doing investigations in(more darkness.)I also enjoyed the "flashback" when they showed Charlie Chan in his visit to Shanghai in '36 and '37. A fun film, a good mystery, and atmospheric at the same time, I would recommend this film highly to any Charlie Chan fan. Excuse, Please...

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: One of the best Chans, and miraculous for a Monogram
Review: Low-budget Monogram Pictures usually did a serviceable job with its Charlie Chan mysteries, but this one is exceptional. Thoughtful direction and excellent camerawork give the film far more atmosphere and production polish than usual, aided by a good cast of familiar character actors. If you've never seen a Monogram Chan, try this.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Cobra Venom Is The Weapon
Review: The killer uses venom from a cobra to eliminate his victims in this film. Sidney Toler plays Chan and the cast includes Benson Fong as Tommie Chan and Manton Moreland in the role of Birmingham Brown. Fong and Moreland are really quite good as a comic team. George Callahan and George Wallace Sayre handle the screen play. THE SHANGHAI COBRA is one of the better entries in the Chan series.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: This is one of the better Monogram Chans.
Review: This mystery concerns the murder of several victims by cobra bites. It has Mantan Moreland and Benson Fong again getting into trouble as usual. The criminals' objective is to rob a bank vault of a valuable government depository of radium. The viewer must follow the plot closely since the denouement when Chan finally corners the leader occurs rapidly. This film uses the new invention of television well as part of the criminals' devices. The running gag in this film concerns Birmingham getting an illegal U-turn ticket and saying "But you said 'No, you turn here! So I turned!'" At the end of the film, Chan himself gets an illegal U-turn ticket and uses the same excuse to the inspector. "But you say 'No, you turn here!' and everybody ends up laughing. Classic Chan line is "Cannot sell bear skin before shooting bear".

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: This is one of the better Monogram Chans.
Review: This mystery concerns the murder of several victims by cobra bites. It has Mantan Moreland and Benson Fong again getting into trouble as usual. The criminals' objective is to rob a bank vault of a valuable government depository of radium. The viewer must follow the plot closely since the denouement when Chan finally corners the leader occurs rapidly. This film uses the new invention of television well as part of the criminals' devices. The running gag in this film concerns Birmingham getting an illegal U-turn ticket and saying "But you said 'No, you turn here! So I turned!'" At the end of the film, Chan himself gets an illegal U-turn ticket and uses the same excuse to the inspector. "But you say 'No, you turn here!' and everybody ends up laughing. Classic Chan line is "Cannot sell bear skin before shooting bear".


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