THE CHINESE RING

US, 1947, 68 minutes, Black-and-white.
Roland Winters, Warren Douglas, Mantan Moreland, Louise Curry, Victor Sen Young, Philip Ahn, Byron Foulger, Thayer Roberts, Jean Wong.
Directed by William Beaudine.

There had been many Charlie Chan thrillers from the early 1930s, Warner Oland making his mark in the series during the 1930s. The role was then taken on by Sydney Toler for the best part of 10 years.
The films were entertaining, brief, mysteries, introducing Charlie Chan from Hawaii, his ability to solve cases, the entanglements with his eager sons.

This is the first Charlie Chan film with Roland Winters. He made four. This film keeps the tradition, quite a complicated plot, a Chinese Princess being murdered in Charlie Chan’s office and leaving a mysterious note, the revelation that she was in San Francisco to buy planes for her father (the film came out two years before Mao), but is murdered by a dart. There is the captain of the ship on which she came, the head of the aviation firm, the banker in charge of the money deposited.

There is a focus on a bumptious detective, not the most sympathetic character, in love with a newspaper reporter who is always on the ball, standing up for women’s rights… Then there is number two son, Tommy, and the chauffeur, Birmingham, played in so many of the film is by Mantan Moreland, some of the humour with the black comedian seeming rather dated, especially in the expectations of the performance by an African American actor.

Lots of complications – conspiracies, double dealings, and the murder of being, perhaps, the least expected. Direction is by William Beaudine, director of many small budget films and the next films with Roland Winters, following in the style of his predecessors, as Charlie Chan.