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Simply Perfect

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Monogram Studios took on the Charlie Chan Series after Fox. Some are Not Too Bad like this one that has a Bit of a Bounce to it. The Radio/Television Station is Neat to see from 1945 and there is a Science Laboratory with Cool Looking Instruments that Buzz and Emit Squiggly White Lines.There is some Irony that Monogram like other B-Movie Studios were put Out of Business by Television, but that was a Few Years Off and in '45 the Impact of the Boob Tube was Unforeseeable. This Movie is also Highlighted by Mantan Moreland's Verbal Sparring with Partner Ben Carter and His Bug Eyes and Spooky Shenanigans are at a Minimum. Number 3 Son, Tommy is on hand to Pal with Moreland from Scene to Scene and take Charlie's (Sidney Toler looking a bit tired) Verbal Lashings. A Couple of Interesting Side-Suspects and a bit of Cleverness makes this One of the Better of the Monogram Chan Cheapies.

Being a genuine murder mystery, this movie starts - with a murder: Rausch, a dangerous enemy agent, is stabbed by his own accomplices. Charlie Chan, on the case already (the gang is trying to steal a new radar that hunts down enemy planes), discovers the body, and a stolen car and a bloody shoe print (the 'scarlet clue') lead him and his assistants Tommy and Birmingham to the Cosmo Radio Center, where, as Charlie finds out very soon, the head of the ring must be found: on the floor there's an identical shoe print, and the car was reported stolen by radio actress Diane Hall...And WE soon find out that Brett, the manager, is a member of the gang: he makes strange conversations over the phone, getting his answers and orders only over a teletype device... Meanwhile, Diane's friend Gloria finds out that it was Brett who stole the car and blackmails him - which doesn't do her good at all: during the next broadcast, she suddenly feels dizzy, then asks for a cigarette, and after the first puff she drops dead. Then Charlie finds Brett's shoe, which is the one that left the 'scarlet clue', Brett panics and asks his unknown boss for protection - but he gets something entirely different instead...This is a REALLY classic 'whodunit', immensely suspenseful, but also entertaining: we get a glimpse into the 40s' world of radio broadcasting and also into the technological innovations of the time - and especially 'Birmingham' Mantan Moreland is at his BEST again providing us comical relief amid all the thrills and scares; the scenes where he 'communicates' with a friend of his in half-finished sentences are absolutely wonderful! But BEWARE: screenwriter Callahan invented a VERY unusual and creepy elevator trick for this thriller that'll make people who suffer from elevator phobia take the stairs for weeks...!

THE SCARLET CLUE is a fairly interesting Charlie Chan film from the '40s, depending on its humor for the performances of BENSON FONG as #3 son, MANTAN MORELAND as Birmingham Brown and BEN CARTER as Ben Carter. The mysterious deaths of people associated with a radio program that is a front for some sort of radar secrets espionage, is at the heart of the crimes Chan must solve.SIDNEY TOLER was beginning to show signs of fatigue (he died two years later) and the sets and production values are noticeably reduced from what they were when the Chan films were being made by Fox. During the TCM showing of the film, Robert Osborne mentioned that it was Toler himself who brought the idea of furthering the Chan adventures to another studio after shopping the idea around.VIRGINIA BRISSAC, JACK NORTON, JANET SHAW and HELEN DEVERELL are among the chief suspects. I recognized Miss Brissac from her performance as the hard of hearing Miss Seiffert from THE SNAKE PIT. She has quite a different role here.Enjoyable fluff, not one of the best in the Chan series but a respectable enough entry from Monogram.Favorite line: When son #3 tells his dad that he has an idea but then immediately forgets what he wanted to say, Chan replies: "It's now in solitary confinement."

Once again, I have watched a Charlie Chan movie and then noticed that a significant number of people have rated this movie as a 10!!! While the early and well-made Chan movies from Fox were pretty good, none of them came close to meriting a 10. And this later product, from "poverty row" studio, MONOGRAM, is far from one of the better Charlie Chan films--especially since these films were well-known for their cheap production values, poor writing and short turnover (being made in just a few days in most cases). In fact, it's poorer than average for a Chan film and anyone giving it a 10 must be joking!! After all, do you really believe that this film is as good or better than MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON or BEN HUR or THE SOUND OF MUSIC? These movies might merit a 10, but not a routine series film that has a pretty shallow script. The antics of Mantan Moreland as Chan's stupid Black servant (sadly, this was a role typical of many Black stars in white films of the 30s and 40s) were often offensive and stereotypical, but at least in this film Moreland had a few good moments as well. The Moreland and Ben Carter scenes are hilarious but irrelevant to the movie. In fact, the funny little vaudeville routine that Carter and Moreland do together does make the movie worth watching--you just have to see and hear it for yourself. The banter between them is just strange and infectiously funny. The only other GOOD thing about the film are some of Chan's one-liners (that are MUCH meaner than usual and refer to his #3 son as an idiot). But, as for the story itself, it's pretty limp and forgettable. Like most of the wartime Chan films it has to do with espionage and murder and as such it's awfully predictable.