IMDb > Castle in the Desert (1942)

Castle in the Desert (1942) More at IMDbPro »

Overview

User Rating:
7.6/10   545 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 2% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Harry Lachman
Writers:
Earl Derr Biggers (characters)
John Larkin (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for Castle in the Desert on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
27 February 1942 (USA) more
Genre:
Comedy | Crime | Mystery | Thriller more
Tagline:
...a poison arrow whizzes past... as Charlie Chan opens the gate to his most baffling adventure!
Plot:
Charlie Chan investigates apparent poisonings at a mystery mansion in the Mojave Desert. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
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User Comments:
Entertaining Murder Mystery more (17 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
Sidney Toler ... Charlie Chan
Arleen Whelan ... Brenda Hartford
Richard Derr ... Carl Detheridge
Douglass Dumbrille ... Paul Manderley
Henry Daniell ... Watson King
Edmund MacDonald ... Walter Hartford
Victor Sen Yung ... Jimmy Chan (as Sen Yung)
Lenita Lane ... Lucrezia 'Lucy' Manderley
Ethel Griffies ... Lily, Mme. Saturnia
Milton Parsons ... Arthur Fletcher
Steven Geray ... Dr. Retling (as Steve Geray)
Lucien Littlefield ... Prof. Gleason
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
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Runtime:
62 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Black and White
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)
Filming Locations:
Backlot, 20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA
Company:
Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The exterior of the hotel would later be dressed as the saloon for The Ox-Bow Incident (1943). more
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: The supposed statue of a Medieval executioner sways momentarily, revealing the statue as an actor. more
Quotes:
Charlie Chan: Offspring sound like chip off old chopstick. more
Movie Connections:
Followed by Dangerous Money (1946) more

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User Comments

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8 out of 12 people found the following comment useful.
Entertaining Murder Mystery, 21 September 2003
Author: Derrick Ferguson from Brooklyn, New York

I caught this movie on the FOX MOVIE CHANNEL which had pulled it's CHARLIE CHAN month long marathon due to protests from Asian Americans. FMC resumed showing the Chan movies in September, bookending the movies with discussions by prominent Asian-Americans inluding George (Mr. Sulu)Takei who explored the racial issues of the movies.

I respect the discomfort and resentment the CHARLIE CHAN movies cause Asian Americans and there are some blatantly racial comments in this movie. There's a part where Charlie enters a hotel to await a car and the hotel manager takes one look at him and says; "Chop Suey salesman, eh? I hate the stuff!" that frankly made me cringe. But these movies have a historical value beyond simple entertainment. They remind us of how we once acted and thought of other races and other people. Even though Charlie Chan is a respected and internationally famous detective, he is still based on his appearance and skin color. Maybe we haven't come so far since this movie was made.

Taken strictly as entertainment, though, CASTLE IN THE DESERT is a nifty murder mystery with an eccentric cast of characters trapped in a remote location with a murderer running around loose. One character is a descendant of Lucrezia Borgia. Another is a fortune teller whose predictions actually DO come true. Charlie Chan and Number 2 son do a great job of finding the true murderer and putting things aright. The plot is perhaps more complicated than it needs to be but that's the great thing about those 30's/40's murder mysteries: it wasn't that easy to guess who was the killer. Despite the unplesant racial remarks, CASTLE IN THE DESERT is a fine entry in the CHARLIE CHAN series. I enjoyed it a lot. Lots of humor and sharp, witty dialog and great atmospheric sets.

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