Just got my hands on Sidney Toler's last five Fox Chans and his first five Monograms. Because I have a sprained right foot, I plan on staying in all day Saturday and watching these movies in succession. Chicken salad sandwiches and iced tea will be at the ready!
I hope that your lengthy day of viewing went well. A true Toler marathon, indeed! Had you seen all of the films before? If not, what did you think of the "first-viewings"?
I started "Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise" about 1:15 PM Saturday and "The Shanghai Cobra" ended around 1:05 AM Sunday (with two 20-minute breaks).
I had only seen "Cobra" and "The Chinese Cat" before, I think.
I was struck by the much higher production values and cast quality of the Fox movies. Henry Daniell, Lionel Atwill, Lynn Bari, Douglas Dumbrille, Ricardo Cortez and Leo G. Carroll as opposed to I. Stanford Jolley and Robert Homans of the Monograms.
I found "Wax Museum" too murky and slow for my taste, but greatly enjoyed "Murder Over New York," "Dead Men Tell" and "Castle in the Desert." I found them well-written, cinematic, with just the right touches of humor. They also kept me guessing.
"Charlie Chan in the Secret Service" ushers in the Monogram-Mantan Moreland era. The filmmakers obviously hadn't perfected the formula yet, because Toler and Moreland barely interacted. I really liked "Scarlet Clue" with the radio-TV station background and the running around. But the Monograms definitely have low-rent production values, even though the directors Phil Rosen and Phil Karlson manage to inject some nice touches.
All in all, I give this batch of movies a thumbs-up and I hope to get ahold of more Fox Chans.
