The Shanghai Cobra (1945)

Someone is attempting to steal radium stored in a bank. Death by cobra venom connects a number of murders. Charlie investigates.

Director:

Phil Karlson

Writers:

George Callahan (screenplay), George Wallace Sayre (screenplay)

Stars:

Sidney Toler, Mantan Moreland, Benson Fong

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Sidney Toler	...	Charlie Chan
Mantan Moreland	...	Birmingham Brown
Benson Fong	...	Tommy Chan
James Cardwell	...	Ned Stewart
Joan Barclay	...	Paula Webb
Addison Richards	...	John Adams
Arthur Loft	...	Bradford Harris
Janet Warren	...	Record Machine Operator
Gene Roth	...	Morgan (as Gene Stutenroth)
Joe Devlin	...	Taylor
James Flavin	...	H.R. Jarvis
Roy Gordon	...	Walter Fletcher
Walter Fenner	...	Police Inspector Harry Davis

Storyline

When three employees of a bank are found murdered with cobra venom, Charlie Chan connects the homicides to a case he had worked in Shanghai in 1937. Even though he arrested the alleged murderer, whom later escaped from the police, Charlie wouldn't be able to recognize him because, at the time of his apprehension, his badly burned face and hands were swathed in bandages. Although Chan believes he is now involved with a gang that is stealing valuable radium from a bank vault, utilizing tunnels that connect to the area sewer system, his new identity remains a mystery. When a detective disguised as a bank guard is found dead in a tunnel by Birmingham, Charlie knows he's on the right track.

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Plot Keywords:

coffee shop manager | third degree burn | television camera | radium | murder | 

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Taglines:

Charlie Chan at his best in his most thrilling adventure!

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 September 1945 (USA)

Also Known As:

Charlie Chan in the Shanghai Cobra

Box Office

Budget:

$75,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Monogram Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

64 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was first telecast in New York City in 1948 (possibly 3 April 1948) on WCBS (Channel 2), in Los Angeles Monday 7 November 1949 on KTLA (Channel 5), in San Francisco Tuesday 20 December 1949 on KPIX (Channel 5), in Cincinnati Tuesday 27 December 1949 on WKRC (Channel 11), and in Boston Sunday 30 April 1950 on WNAC (Channel 7).

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Goofs

A building supposedly located in Washington, D.C. has the California state flag flying from its flagpole.

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Quotes

Charlie Chan: Mice will never play so long as cat is in house.

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Connections

Follows The House Without a Key (1926)

User Reviews

Better Than Most Monogram Chan Films--But That's Not Saying Much

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, mediocre at best, virtually unwatchable at worst.

Thanks to an adequate cast and a few interesting plot devices, THE SHANGHAI COBRA is among the best of the Monogram-made Chan films--but even so it barely manages to achieve a consistent mediocrity. In this particularly entry, Chan (Sidney Toler) is called upon to investigate a murderer who kills with what appears to be a cobra-like bite; at the same time, he decides to make certain that a government supply of radium tucked away in a bank vault, of all places, remains secure. Do these two seemingly unrelated plot lines come together? Well... could be! Sidney Toler is always enjoyable as Chan, but most of his Monogram performances seemed "phoned in"--and that is as true of COBRA as it is of any Monogram Chan film. As usual, the really enjoyable performer is Mantan Mooreland. Changing times have led us to look upon Moreland's brand of comedy as demeaning to African-Americans, but he was an expert actor and comic, and taken within the context of what was possible for a black actor in the 1940s his work has tremendous charm and innocence.

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. Like other Monogram Chan films, THE SHANGHAI COBRA is best left to determined collectors. Four stars, and that's being generous.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer