I couldn't wait for "Shadows Over Chinatown" (1946) to be over! Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan. Victor Sen Yung as his number two son. Mantan Moreland as his black lackey in a rôle difficult to watch today. Yes, he's definitely funny - in fact, he's the very, very best thing in the entire show!! - but the lines are an embarrassment in context or out. Then there's John Gallaudet; and there's Tanis Chandler (I know - WHO???); but thankfully, there are Mary Gordon (best actress in the entire piece) and John Hamilton and some others who needed cash so very much - obviously... It IS a Monogram Picture.
Absolutely awful! And I don't mean awe-inspiring, either! Line readings by some of the people in this would never pass muster in a high school play. No, quite literally. Toler is just awful!! I always liked Warner Oland as Chan. He had a sense of realism, though he was about as real as a statue is alive. Still, very palatable. Toler sounds as if he's a robot with broken springs in his gitalong, and he walks as if his gitalong fell off of a robot.
Just plain bad.
Absolutely awful! And I don't mean awe-inspiring, either! Line readings by some of the people in this would never pass muster in a high school play. No, quite literally. Toler is just awful!! I always liked Warner Oland as Chan. He had a sense of realism, though he was about as real as a statue is alive. Still, very palatable. Toler sounds as if he's a robot with broken springs in his gitalong, and he walks as if his gitalong fell off of a robot.
Just plain bad.