DVD

Average customer rating:

Excellent
Interesting
Among the Best of the Monogram Chan Films
Monogram Studios best effort
Introducing Edwin Luke

Charlie Chan in The Jade Mask
Starring: Sidney Toler , Mantan Moreland , Edwin Luke , Hardie Albright , and Frank Reicher
Director: Phil Rosen
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00020X86G
Release Date: 2004-07-06

Description

Some families have reunionsthis one has alibis! In this thrilling 1945 endeavor, Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) finds himself at odds with an entire family, any one of whom could be a killer! "Helped" by his pseudo-intellectual Number Four Son (Edwin Luke) and his panicky assistant Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland), Charlie investigates the recent murder of a brilliant but much-loathed scientist (Frank Reicher) who invented a gas that makes wood as strong as steel. But the investigation is anything but elementary, as Charlie sleuths his way through suspicious scientists, sultry sisters, a silent cousin and a butler with a very stiff upper lip!

Customer Reviews:

Excellent.......2007-01-19

We got this movie on time it was delightful and well made. Digitally remastered. Great quality video

Interesting.......2006-11-10

I have never been disappointed with Charlie Chan movies as long as it stars Sidney Tolerand Mantan Moreland. The Jade Mask kept me waiting for the next unexpected event.

Among the Best of the Monogram Chan Films.......2006-11-01

Loosely based on novels by Earl Derr Biggers, 20th Century Fox's Charlie Chan series proved an audience favorite--but when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor the studio feared audiences would turn against its Asian hero. This was a miscalculation: actor Sidney Toler took the role to "poverty row" Monogram Studios, where he continued to portray the character in eleven more films made between 1944 and his death in 1947.

20th Century Fox had regarded the Chan films as inexpensive "B" movies, but even so the studio took considerable care with them: the plots were often silly, but the pace was sharp, the dialogue witty, and the casts (which featured the likes of Bela Lugosi and Ray Milland) always expert. The result was a kindly charm which has stood the test of time. Monogram was a different matter: Chan films were "B" movies plain and simple. Little care was taken with scripts or cast and resulting films were flat, usually mediocre at best, virtually unwatchable at worst.

Released in 1945, THE JADE MASK is one of the very few Monograms that approaches the quality level of the 20th Century Fox series. This largely due to the expert cast and witty script, both of which are a bit unusual for Monogram. In this particular tale, Chan--who now works for the government during World War II--is called upon to investigate the murder of a scientist working with potentially beneficial but distinctly deadly gasses. Sidney Toler's Chan is always enjoyable, and he is aided in this by the local sheriff (Alan Bridge, who has the best lines in the film) and the inevitable Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland.)

Fans of the 20th Century Fox series are likely to find Monogram's Chan a significant disappointment and newcomers who like the Monogram films will probably consider them third-rate after encountering the Fox films. Even so, THE JADE MASK is unexpectly good, and I think most Chan fans will find it enjoyable.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Monogram Studios best effort.......2006-07-06

This movie has a great " who dun it " story line. The action on the grounds and the grounds themselves add a neat aura of mysteriousness to it all. Mantan Morelands presence always lends a hand to lighten things up. And we see the only appearence of " bookworm " son Eddie Chan.

You will give this film effort high marks if: you are a mystery movie fan, a Charlie Chan fan, or a young parent looking for a good, old classic to feel comfortable having the young ones watch. You can't go wrong.

Introducing Edwin Luke.......2006-06-26

THE JADE MASK is a fairly good Chan film with a plot about a diabolical genius who is trying to interrupt the Amarican war effort through a series of murders, including that of a key scientist.Chan is played by Sidney Toler and he is joined by Edwin Luke as Eddie Chan, the number three son.The cast also includes the talented comic Manton Moreland as well as Janet Warren and Edith Evanson.

The movie was produced by James S. Burkett and directed by Phil Rosen. George Callahan wrote the screenplay.

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