User reviews

Not the best Charlie Chan, but sill enjoyable. The short running time of just 64 minutes is a plus. It doesn't take long (not more than 5 minutes) to be in the ambiance. A murder has been committed, nobody leaves the house. Charlie is on his way and his power of deduction will be on display. There's a sense of déjà-vu with the setting and the plot, but Charlie's funny remarks make for a good watch: "Dead man's actions still need explanation". In this one, we learn that Charlie has 14 kids! Son #3 and daughter #2 appear in this movie. Good comic relief from Mantan Moreland in his first appearance of the series. He's good but he'll be better in future films. A drawback: the actors sometimes look like they forgot their lines.

Seen at home, in Toronto, on February 25th, 2005.

71/100 (**)

I'm pretty sure there wasn't a Chan film made that I didn't like: I preferred Oland to Toler and Fox to Monogram but am more than happy (maybe even keen!) to watch a Toler Monogram effort. They all transported you to a world of more or less cultured baddies, each hiding a thousand secrets which Charlie (and us of course) has to work his way through. Usually, as in this case, to find the murderer from a roomful of shifty twitching eyes.

Electrical scientist murdered and the secret plans stolen, Charlie with a little ... help from offspring Tommie and Iris has to decide which of the house guests did it. The Monogram house's hanging drapes and thick carpets lend a nice atmosphere to the mystery. Only gripes: the incongruously brash and childish music track and the continual visual reference to a Watching Evil Eye from a Dark Place.

Watched from the Chanthology DVD and with the widescreen TV set to mild zoomview meant it was like the first time again for me seeing this, an experience I'd have to recommend and one I want to repeat with the other titles in the set.

Just watched this, the first of the Monogram Charlie Chan movies after Fox dropped the Honolulu detective two years before, on DVD. It has Chan as a government agent in Washington, D.C., investigating a murder of a scientist who's invented a weapon used to stop some enemy spy missions. I'll stop there and just say that at just a little over an hour, there isn't too much in the way of excitement especially since nearly the entire thing seems to take place on a mansion but there are some good atmospheric shots and a few good suspenseful moments and also some amusing comic relief courtesy of no. 3 son Jimmy (Benson Fong), no. 2 daughter Iris (Marianne Quon), and, in his first appearance, chauffeur Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland, who isn't as outrageous as his later appearances in the series). So in summary, Charlie Chan in the Secret Service is a pretty entertaining first entry for the series at its new studio. P.S. In once again identifying someone from my favorite movie, It's a Wonderful Life, Sarah Edwards-who was Mary's mother in that Frank Capra classic-plays Mrs. Hargue, a housekeeper here.

Good WWII concept for a mystery story and the script is not bad except for a bit of routine mystery-movie padding typical of the era. This film is crisply and professionally edited, better than most low-budget films. And there are a few surprisingly good cinematography highlights.

The discount supporting cast does a good job although you may not recognize some of them, and you will notice that Sarah Edwards develops a watchable odd character who has custody of all the keys to the house. Mantan Morland has some poorly written throw-away dialog but his comedy timing is perfection and his performance is very polished as he does a great job.

Sidney Toler gives us a first rate Charlie Chan. The remarkable 70-year old is vigorous, keeping the proceedings moving as he strides briskly and confidently through all the scenes.

Moves at a good pace and held my attention throughout. What more can you ask for in a murder mystery?

After a two year hiatus, the Charlie Chan series moved over to Monogram from 20th Century Fox and the production values dropped accordingly. Continuing as Charlie Chan was Sidney Toler who with one exception would confine his thespian activities to playing the shrewd Oriental detective who spoke in fortune cookie aphorisms. Assisting Charlie in a manner of speaking are two offspring Benson Fong as number 2 son Tommy and Marianne Quon as number 1 daughter.

Charlie Chan In The Secret Service, the title does say it all. Charlie is called in as a consultant on a murder case by the Secret Service which was guarding a scientist/socialite who worked at home upstairs and threw parties downstairs. At one of those parties he winds up quite dead with no outward appearance of homicide. He also would not allow any bodyguards inside the house. That was a bit much, the President of the United States can't override their presence much less a scientist.

Toler deduces first that it was a murder, second the method used, and lastly who did it. Then his culprit also is killed with a silent gunshot and Charlie then has to find the accomplice.

This was one of the only Chans at least in the Monogram films that had a wartime related plot to it. Amazing how many foreign nationals could get close to a scientist working on a government project with no kind of clearance.

The film has one very large red herring as the plot lets you in on a secret one of the suspects has. Because the secret is divulged early you know this can't be the culprit. The real culprit will surprise you though.

The character of Birmingham Brown is introduced who in two films later would wind up employed as the Chan family chauffeur. For now he's the chauffeur of one of the invited guests and apparently Toler deduced early on he wasn't the murderer because he gets in on the investigation, albeit reluctantly with the Chan kids.

A lot of plot holes, typical of a Monogram Picture are in this one. But I did like the ending.

This movie has some of the best film noir photography I have seen in all the Charlie Chan entries. This is one I am still waiting to have issued on DVD, so I can enjoy those visuals.

Storywise, it's a decent story with an interesting cast of suspects. My complaint is fairly minor: it is a little below-average in the amount of humorous Charlie Chan proverbs that we Chan fans love so much. Otherwise, I enjoyed the movie.

Although not Charlie's official chauffeur-assistant in here as he was in most of these Monogram Chan films, Mantan Moreland ("Birmingham Brown") plays his usual role as a guy helping out and adding humor. He's a likable guy as are all of Charlie's kids, two of them joining in this mystery. We get Number Three Son "Tommie" (Benson Fong) and daughter "Iris" (Marianne Quon. Chan's kids are always nosy, goodhearted and, in the latter-day films, not that helpful.

A few quick action scenes help keep things rolling and, as usual, we get Charlie's summary of the case at the end in which our hero exposes the crook. Overall, is this a great Charlie Chan film? No, it's average....but just average is still good to me. I love these films and hope all of them eventually are available on disc.

I'll say one thing for these Charlie Chan films. There's never a shortage of murder suspects and the clues are always readily apparent to the master sleuth but not to the audience. At least, that's the usual pattern, even when Sidney Toler joined forces with Monogram for several B-picture entries in the series.

CHARLIE CHAN IN THE SECRET SERVICE follows the pattern precisely, even giving us a final gathering of suspects from which to venture our own guess as to the identity of the murderer. As usual, it's at your own risk for it seldom turns out to be the most obvious.

Once again, Toler plays it close to the vest without giving the audience much of a hint as to which suspect he's onto. The story gets off to a fast start with the murder of an inventor of a torpedo plan murdered in his own home being guarded by secret service bodyguards.

Chan gets the call to solve the case and discovers that the inventor's plans are missing. "No one leaves until case ends satisfactorily," he tells the police. Chan is soon joined by two of his eldest children, who are no help at all in solving the crime. Nor is MANTAN MORELAND as Birmingham Brown, wild-eyed with fear as still another murder occurs.

The explanations are strictly a wild concoction by the screenwriter who has left no stone unturned to make sure that the old cliché about "the least obvious suspect" is once again a truism.

Summing up: Good for a few chuckles, but it doesn't play fair with the clues.

In 1942, 20th Century-Fox had dropped its long-running 'Charlie Chan' movie series (perhaps the studio bosses thought that in war times, murder mysteries would be inappropriate); but Sidney Toler himself bought the rights, and two years later he 'carried on' at Monogram Pictures. Monogram had already tried their hand at an 'imitation' of the series, the (not too impressive) 'Mr. Wong' films with Boris Karloff - but now they had the REAL thing in their hands! And even from this very first Monogram 'Charlie Chan', the quality of the movies (although made on a considerably lower budget!) was NOT inferior to that of the Fox films (with the exception of some REAL masterpieces like "The Black Camel", "Charlie Chan's Secret", or "Dead Men Tell") - they were just DIFFERENT in style. More humor was added, more members of Charlie's family were introduced as his assistants, and Monogram regular, the great black comedian Mantan Moreland, became an almost indispensable member of the troupe.

In Monogram's first entry in the 'Charlie Chan' series, our beloved detective has joined the Secret Service - doing his duty for his country hunting down not 'ordinary' murderers, but dangerous spies of enemy countries. And he's assigned to the case of scientist Melton, who'd been working on a very effective new torpedo, and had suddenly died right in the hall of his own house where he was about to hold a dinner party - and the torpedo plans he had on him are missing... Charlie immediately suspects the international spy who's known only as 'Manlic', hoping to be able to lie his hands on him at last - and starts his investigations with the dinner party guests, who all really look MORE than suspicious...

Meanwhile, number three son Tommy and number two daughter Iris are eager to help their Pop while Jimmy is away - and together with chauffeur Birmingham (who tries all the time in vain to get away from the scene of the crime), they make a marvelous trio of confusion that adds laughter rather than help for Charlie - and for us! A REALLY entertaining, and quite clever spy/murder mystery, a great start for a new 'era' of Charlie Chan movies at Monogram Pictures...

Aside from this being the first appearance of Mantan Moreland in a Charlie Chan movie, there's not a lot about this film to distinguish it from a long line of Monogram Pictures Charlie Chan movies. In other words, it's a pretty standard B-movie mystery. While it is a fun picture and I enjoy Charlie Chan pictures, I just can't understand the very biased group of individuals that give EVERY Charlie Chan movie a score of 10 on IMDb. Have these individuals no shame?! After all, the movies were always intended to be light entertainment--not films that would rival GONE WITH THE WIND or THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES.

In many ways this film is similar to THE JADE MASK--a Chan film that came out a year later. Both involve scientists working on War Department projects who are murdered and their top secret plans were stolen (why, by the way, these super-duper top secret projects are always carried out in their homes and not a secure facility is beyond me). And, like so many other Chan films, there are very fancy murders--with gadgets and gizmos instead of a hard blow to the head or a bullet in the chest! Believable?! Not in the least--but also highly entertaining. While this and most of the Monogram Chan movies are not as good as the earlier series by Fox, this is still pretty good and a lot of fun.

PS--Yes, I KNOW that the guy playing Chan is some white guy and Mantan Moreland plays a stereotypical "dumb, scared black guy". This was considered pretty acceptable in its day, though it will no doubt offend many today.

Charlie Chan arrives at Monogram. I was a huge fan of the Fox Charlie Chan series. Warner Oland was my favorite but Sidney Toler made good ones too. For whatever reason, Fox decided to stop making Charlie Chan movies in 1942. So Sidney Toler bought the rights and took the series to Poverty Row studio Monogram. This meant a lower budget, weaker scripts, and a generally less impressive cast. Opinions on the Monogram Chan films are mixed among fans. I don't like them much myself. The best ones are watchable and nearly all of them are forgettable. That this movie is considered one of the better Monogram Chans is proof of how weak the series was there.

Here, Charlie is less likable than before and more of a grouch. Sidney Toler looks noticeably older and frailer than just two years prior. This could be due to the difference in quality between Fox's hair, makeup, and wardrobe people and that of Monogram. I'd be surprised if Monogram even had such people. This movie sees the addition of bug-eyed comic relief Birmingham Brown, played by Mantan Moreland. The previous Chan films had some comic relief, usually from Charlie's sons Lee or Jimmy. But their comedy felt organic to the stories and brought something to the table beyond juvenile humor. Unfortunately, that's not the case with Moreland. His character exists just to be the stereotypical cowardly black man who runs at the sight of his own shadow. This also marks the debut of "Number Three Son" Tommy (Benson Fong). Fong is a poor substitute for either Keye Luke or Victor Sen Yung. He's very drab. We get to meet Charlie's daughter Iris (Marianne Quon). I like her and wish we could have had her as Charlie's sidekick in this series instead of boring Tommy or ridiculous Birmingham.

The writing and directing is uninspired. The unnecessary comedy is NEVER funny and just detracts from the film building any kind of mood or suspense. The music is terrible and misused. An early scene shows Charlie exiting a building, walking to a cab, and riding to the scene of the crime. There's nothing exciting or suspenseful about this, yet the music used would make you think he was fighting for his life with an alligator on the wing of an airplane. Oh, Monogram!

A house full of guests is the setting for this mystery story, wherein a scientist is murdered. Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) investigates, along with his two irksome kids. The wonderful Mantan Moreland plays a bug-eyed Birmingham Brown, a role inserted presumably to add comic relief.

This sixty-three minute film contains about fifty minutes of story. The rest is filler, mostly in the film's first half. The story, about a secret WWII torpedo plan, is simple and direct. It's the kind of film I can envision as being typical for a 1940's Saturday afternoon matinée. There's a stage play quality to it, in that most of the scenes take place in three or four rooms. As with other films in the Chan series, the production design here is minimal and cheap looking. The emphasis is on the whodunit puzzle, but that's what counts most for murder mystery fans.

And the script does provide a good puzzle. The killer is camouflaged amid well thought out red herrings, in a way that makes solving the puzzle not real easy.

For Charlie Chan fans, this is one of the better mysteries in the Monogram series. For everyone else, the film has little or nothing to offer.

As the Chans progressed the quality varied. They began a slide one they moved to Monogram studios. While not as good as the earlier big budget films they never the less remained entertaining.

This is I think the first of the Monograms and its one of the best of that later period. Certainly its memorable as the introduction of Birmingham Brown, a character played by Mantan Moreland to the end of the series. Generally his appearance denotes whether it one of the greater or lesser Chan films.(Although the reason the films are lesser is due to the patchwork style, reuse of sets and middling writing)

Here the plot concerns the death of an inventor for the war effort, a plot that was reused several times in a row. Its clever with out being obtuse and you'll probably guess the killer, which isn't always easy since Monogram often didn't play fair.

Definitely worth a look.

7 out of 10.

The always enjoyable Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) works to find out who murdered an inventor and stole his invention in "Charlie Chan in the Secret Service." This film, from 1944, introduces the character of Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland). In this, he plays the chauffeur of one of the party guests.

A scientist who is working on an invention to protect Allied ships from torpedoes is being protected by Secret Service. However, on the night he's having a party, he refuses to greet his guests surrounded by Secret Service, so he doesn't want them around. He is almost immediately killed and his invention stolen! Charlie, number three son Tommie (Benson Fong) and daughter Iris arrive to solve the case.

This plot was re-used with different McGuffins several times. I don't watch Charlie Chan for the plots, which is a good thing. I like the characters, Charlie's proverbs, and Charlie's relationship with whatever son is along and Birmingham.

This particular story is perhaps more incongruous than others in that the inventor is working in his home and has a dinner party filled with suspicious characters, and doesn't want the Secret Service. It has one of those scenes of everyone gathered in the living room for the big reveal - and it could be any one of them.

Fun, though I could have done without Iris Chan (Marianne Quon), not a particularly good actress.

This is definitely the best Chan movie from Monogram Studios. Those who don't like this entry aren't looking at it from the right perspective. Monogram showed their respect for the series and for Sidney Toler by giving him several minutes of solo film time for his first entrance. He is shown in a series of lenghty shots traveling by cab and then walking in a serious and purposeful manner to the crime scene, accompanied by music of a martial quality which builds up with operatic bombast to his first words. I'm very fond of this movie because Sidney wanted to keep the Charlie Chan films alive, and Monogram stepped in when FOX studios made the unfortunate decision to discontinue the series. It is a lesser but worthy companion to the group.

This is the first Charlie Chan film I've seen in a few years and although it wasn't the best, I certainly believe it was quite enjoyable. I don't believe it was boring and despite some discrepancies, I liked it. Who cares about the budget? I've seen many other big-budgeted films that fall flat in comparison with Charlie. Let's hope that TCM continues to show more CC films in the future to break the dry spell.

A true yawner and a bad film even for the Chan series. I like a good Charlie Chan film or even a reasonably good one, but this one falls way short of the mark. Charlie is enlisted to help figure out the murder of a scientist working for our government when someone in the house has stolen the plans for another power. The mystery is very pedestrian and the acting doesn't fare much better. The only saving grace for me in the film was the presence of Mantan Moreland as Birmingham Brown. He gives the film a little comedy and has some good scared faces, but after that the pickings are rather slim. Benson Fong is here as Tommy Chan and pairs up with Chan's daughter of all things. What about Sidney Toler? He is pretty decent but looks like he is straining to carry the film. What I noticed most was the way the film was shot. Chan director Phil Rosen, of whom I generally like most of his entries, uses lots of long shots with no action(like Charlie's initial walk into the house from outside). Why? The film is only 64 minutes long for crying out loud! Shots like that tell me the director had to fill time up because the script was even weaker than he was accustomed to. This probably isn't the worst Chan film ever made, but up to now it is the worst I have sat through unfortunately.

An inventor of a new weapon is being doggedly protected by government agents. He tells them to back off as they are an insult to his guests. He keeps the plans safe in his pocket. We see ominous eyes pear out of the shadows. We know that any minute our scientists will be shot or stabbed. He drops dead. Yep, they call in Inspector Jones (Arthur Loft) who in turn calls in Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler).

The props look like cardboard and toys. The background music is atrocious as they try to build up suspense and only make you wish this were a silent movie. They must have dug Sidney up from the grave; he is falling apart, and his sneer looks more like a grimace. The characters are not, and you spot the obvious perpetrator.

The only mystery is how the inventor died. No fair guessing.

Charlie Chan (Sydney Toler) is an agent of the United States government assigned to investigate the mysterious death of an inventor.

I have to wonder, how did they make dozens of these films without being called out as racist? I mean, there is nothing downright anti-Chinese in the picture, but having a white man play Chan... Why?

This was the first film made by Monogram Pictures after the series was dropped by 20th Century Fox, and it marked the introduction of Number Three Son (Benson Fong) and taxi driver Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland). Moreland is incredible, from "King of the Zombies" up through "Spider Baby". I wish he had been more than a background character in most of his films.

This is a below average "whodunit" with the cliche everyone in the living room routine. Charlie Chan is a Secret Service Agent doing government work, and he must find who killed a scientist working on a bomb to defeat German U-boats in World War Two. There is little to recommend with this movie, since the neither the bomb nor the scientist nor the war have much to do with the plot. Charlie Chan fans will most likely find this movie disappointing. Who dunit? Who cares?