Judge Dee and the Monastery Murders (TV 1974)

China, 7th century. On their way to a provincial centre Judge Dee and his three wives spend the night at a taoist monastery. Soon the judge discovers that the secluded place holds a secret ... See full summary »

Director:

Jeremy Kagan

Writers:

Nicholas Meyer (teleplay), Robert van Gulik (novel)

Stars:

Khigh Dhiegh, Mako, Soon-Tek Oh

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Khigh Dhiegh	...	Dee Jen-djieh (Judge Dee)
Mako	...	Tao Gan
Soon-Tek Oh	...	Kang I-Te
Miiko Taka	...	Jade Mirror
Irene Tsu	...	Celestial Image
Keye Luke	...	Lord Sun Ming
Susie Elene	...	Miss Ting
James Hong	...	Prior
Beverly Kushida	...	Bright Flower
Ching Hocson	...	White Rose
Yuki Shimoda	...	Pure Faith
Robert Sadang	...	Tsung Lee
Frances Fong	...	Mrs. Pao
Tommy Lee	...	True Wisdom
Richard Lee-Sung	...	First Driver

Storyline

China, 7th century. On their way to a provincial centre Judge Dee and his three wives spend the night at a taoist monastery. Soon the judge discovers that the secluded place holds a secret - the former abbot died of unnatural causes. After a number of mysterious events and more cases of murder Dee tracks down the true villain.

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Plot Keywords:

judge | monastery | 7th century | china | judge dee | 

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Genres:

Mystery

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 December 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Haunted Monastery

Company Credits

Production Co:

ABC Circle Films, American Broadcasting Company (ABC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the novel "The Haunted Monastery", on which this movie is based, Jade Mirror is the name of the dead, embalmed former abbot. In the movie, this name is given as that of Judge Dee's first wife. In the 16 Judge Dee books written by Robert van Gulik, Dee's first and second wives' names are never mentioned. His third wife is only mentioned by her family name, (Miss) Tsao, prior to her marriage to the magistrate. Her personal name is never given.

User Reviews

Wonderful to relive Van Gulik's creation in reel life

Watching this movie with my family was pure enjoyment. The movie does full justice to van Gulik's masterful creation: fidelity to the original story, good casting, perfect dialog, taut pacing, authentic atmosphere, etc.

Lord Sun Ming was particularly interesting: flawless acting and an arrogance to match his reputed past power. Judge Dee has a voice so like David Jason of Inspector Frost fame that at times, I thought I was listening to Jason!

It was sheer enjoyment by immersion into another world. Urbane, entertaining, cerebral, and riveting.