Watch Chinatown After Dark For Free

Captivating movie !

Beautiful, moving film.

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Chinatown After Dark (1931)* 1/2 (out of 4)Jim Bonner (Rex Lease) is in possession of a priceless Asian dagger, which gets him into some hot water and especially when the evil Madame Ying Su (Carmel Myers) wants it.CHINATOWN AFTER DARK is yet another low-budget crime movie that features evil Asian characters working the dark streets of Chinatown. These types of movies were quite popular since they were constantly being made. Obviously the success of the early Fu Manchu movies played into this and it should be noted that this was released a year before Boris Karloff's marvelous turn in THE MASK OF FU MANCHU.With that said, this film is in no way, shape or form close to that classic and for the most part there's really nothing here worth recommending the film for. If you're a die-hard fan of these crime films then you might want to check it out if you've seen everything else but the action is pretty light and there's really no drama or mystery. The bad performances really stand out including Myers who isn't all that believable playing an Asian character.

I watched "Chinatown After Dark" (1931) with Carmel Myers, Barbara Kent, Rex Lease, Edmund Breese, Frank Mayo, and Billy Gilbert. Wow!! Utterly unbelievable! Gilbert as a sneezing cop - in a half-way serious role, although it's a light part - is simply over-the-top for modern audiences. Would possibly have played better 90 years ago. But it's up against a group of Chinese in America (all played by American Caucasians!) who are bad, bad, bad. Except for Lotus, played by beautiful Barbara Kent, who turns out to be white (her father died and only a Chinese man played by Edmund Breese would take her in and raise her - yeah, right...)... Story concerns a dagger that happens to contain a very large and beautiful - and extremely valuable - stone...hidden inside the dagger, of course...Rex Lease not playing a cowboy is something of a wonder in and of itself. His brother, played by Frank Mayo, has about as much energy as molasses dried on a plate. Carmel Myers, as a Chinese gang leader, is about as realistic as me being Chinese. Edmund Breese played Chinese several times - I've got him in several of these performances - and he's actually fairly good, although his part doesn't last very long.This not only was shot on the cheap, but it screams the fact to the viewer. In fact, the scream is so loud it may remind someone of insanity where a scream inside the head won't go away!! Some of the acting is so bad as to be laughable. The film, I must admit, however, is still fun to watch. I'm not sure why. But I could actually recommend this to early film lovers of the transition period from silent to sound. This one has most of the technical faults, and it's a good study piece for that reason. Otherwise, be warned. I'll leave it at that.

CHINATOWN AFTER DARK is only one of the many short thrillers with supposedly Chinese atmosphere; the title is much better than the movie itself. Yet the very movie is acceptable, if you enjoy these between—the—wars standard thrillers.A guy is asked to deliver a Chinese dagger to a Chinese oldster; meantime, a gang is trying to get the dagger, a valuable one because inside it it's hidden a precious stone. The guy has a helpful brother.Otherwise, there's no skill, and only a moderately good—looking lady as a Chinese gang boss. The story is very clumsily told.Yet such movies have charm. They are made for a playful disposition.For me all this slapdash is more enchanting that most new TV cop series/ or blockbusters, for that matter.

Detective Dooley (Billy Gilbert) explaining police procedure to Lotus (Barbra Kent): Dooley: When I get enough evidence on him I'll send him to the pen.Lotus: What pen?Dooley: Well it ain't the fountain pen!That's an example of the comedy relief in this movie and we could have gotten along very well if they had just stuck to the mystery and forgotten the . . . um . . . humour.Chinatown had been a source of mystery and imagination from silent movie days. To hear filmmakers tell it there was danger in every restaurant and a murderer lurking in every dark alley. This thriller from 1931 is no exception. The hero Jim Barton (Rex Lease, taking a break from westerns) is trying to locate his missing brother Ralph. Said brother was supposed to deliver an antique dagger which has a priceless jewel in the hilt to a certain Mr. Lee Fong. Just before delivering the dagger a mysterious hand fires a shot in the dark and when the lights come on Lee Fong is dead and Ralph and the dagger have vanished! Now Jim must find his brother and the dagger, not necessarily in that order. Detective Dooley, who is very tough but so dumb he could not find a bucket of sand at the beach, is certain Jim is the killer so Jim must dodge both the police and Madame Ying Su (Carmel Myers) to solve the mystery.Despite the low budget and the fact that "Chinatown" is an obvious backlot this is a well constructed picture. Jules Cronjager is a competent cameraman who makes very good use of the shadows. Director Stuart Paton does his job very well also. The lead Chinese characters are played by Caucasian actors in makeup but the "background" roles are handled by actual Chinese actors. If you like this film, and I suspect you will, you might also want to check out CAPTURED IN CHINATOWN (1933) and CHINATOWN NIGHTS (1929).