Before there was Sherlock Holmes movies (the new ones) or Scooby-Doo (all of them) there was one famous detective people could always count on to solve a tough case… Charlie Chan. Warner Home Video released a nice Charlie Chan Collection on DVD today featuring four Charlie Chans films; three shot in 1948 and one shot in 1946.
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The Charlie Chan collection is quite neat to see, as you get two different fellows playing the famed detective, which adds a bit of variety when it comes to how the character is portrayed. Roland Winters and Sidney Toler played the Chinese detective (although they weren’t Chinese) and pulled it off smashingly. Both men brought their own flavor to the role, though as a whole the roles were incredibly similar. They played Chan both calm and collective, and both methodically worked out each mystery when their supporting characters didn’t know what the heck was going on. In other words, they were perfect for their role as lead detective.
As for the movies themselves, they were all similar in heart, but different in execution and interest. Here’s what’s in the collection:
Shadow Over Chinatown (1946) — This is the lone film in the collection starring Sidney Toler. The film starts out with an innocent bus ride to San Francisco, which ends up turning deadly. Soon, Chan (and company) is pulled into a mystery involving a decapitated woman, a missing girl with a shady past and the hunt for a murderer. Quite honestly, this is the darkest film out of the Charlie Chan collection, and one of the more entertaining and intriguing movies released in the bunch. It starts strong, keeps the momentum going with the second act and ends strong. Toler, a Missouri native, did a fantastic job as the Chinese detective.
Docks of New Orleans (1948) — When poisonous chemicals are in the mix with a dead body, you know it’s going to be a fascinating movie. Charlie Chan is pulled into an investigation to find out who murdered the owner of a chemical company in New Orleans (conveniently he was there). As you can imagine, there is a lot of misdirection and a lot of guilty parties in the process. While definitely one of the more interesting films in the collection, this one starts off sort of messy and slow, but picks up organization and interest as it comes together for the ultimate conclusion. Definitely a good film to pick in the bunch, and Roland Winters plays an excellent Chan.
Shanghai Chest (1948) — Love the concept of this one. Back in San Francisco, Charlie Chan has to solve a mystery involving three bodies: a judge, attorney and juror. The culprit? A man who has been dead for six months. Charlie Chan must use his incredibly large brain to work out ‘who done it’ for this case. Much like the Docks of New Orleans, the story starts just a bit fuzzy, but the premise and plot points are intriguing enough to keep you glued to the set. Definitely a unique storyline for a 1948 film. Definitely sinister in nature.
The Golden Eye (1948) — When a dry gold mine suddenly turns up very profitable in Arizona, you know someone is going to die. Charlie Chan is called out to investigate some shady dealings at an Arizona gold mine, which turns out to be much more than he bargained for. The ending of this one is the best part, especially when the fourth wall is broken. Enjoy it, as there is plenty of danger to be had in this one.
Charlie Chan films, while definitely suited for the time period, still are interesting to watch. This is one character that has been brought up through pretty much the entire 1900s. Starting with a 1926 movie and spanning that century before ending in 1981, the character has lived on for quite some time. Warner Home Video’s choice to bring these four specific Chan films back in one collection certainly helps remind people that some of the best detective work in film was made in the simplest ways. The Charlie Chan Collection is a strong release that is well written, acted and filmed. I can now see why this was a popular character.
With that said, the digitally remastered copies of the four Charlie Chan films are pretty darn clean. While certainly not HD quality (and why would you want to do HD?), you have very cleaned up pictures that don’t contain artifacts or aged film popping at all. One great example of high quality video in the bunch is The Golden Eye movie. The opening scene is at the pool side of some country club, and the picture quality has no imperfections whatsoever in it. You get to see some strong details in the environments and in the people themselves. Hell, if you added Ted Turner’s colorization to the bunch then you probably could swear it was shot this decade. Yep, it’s that visually clean.
The sad part of this collection is that there aren’t any features on the DVDs. You get no commentary, no retrospect, and not even trailers. I would have loved to see some extra value, though I sort of understand that it was probably tough to come by anything from a set of 40s films.
Get the Charlie Chan Collection on DVD today!
