Product Description

Number Three Son Tommy comes to the aid of a damsel in distress - by offering Charlie Chan's services - in this "top-notch whodunnit fare" (Variety) starring Sidney Toler and Benson Fong. LeahManning (Joan Woodbury) has never stopped searching for her father's murderer, although the police and the DA gave up long ago. And now, to add insult to injury, an "expert criminologist" has writtena "novel" accusing her mother of the crime! Charlie's investigation leads him to a cutthroat gang of gem thieves out to steal a wealth of diamonds hidden in a porcelain Chinese cat!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21225 in DVD
• Brand: TOLER,SIDNEY
• Released on: 2004-07-06
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .24 pounds
• Running time: 65 minutes

Customer Reviews

Good entry from the Monogram series
Monogram Pictures, one of the smaller Hollywood studios, really tried to make its Charlie Chan mysteries competitive with major-studio product, and this time it worked. "The Chinese Cat" (1944) has everything audiences had come to expect from the series: a capable cast of familiar character actors (Cy kendall, Ian Keith, Joan Woodbury, and at least four favorite serial performers), good direction (by the normally uninspired Phil Rosen), and striking photography (by veteran cameraman Ira Morgan). The story concerns an unsolved murder, and a muck-raking novelist whose latest book hits too close to home. Sidney Toler and Mantan Moreland are always enjoyable, and number-three son Benson Fong has more to do than usual (he defies the criminal mastermind in a memorable scene). Charlie Chan fans will enjoy this; followers of the Monogram corpus will applaud this fine companion piece to "The Shanghai Cobra" and "The Scarlet Clue." This is one "B" that gets a solid "A" for effort.

After a slow start, this 2nd Monogram has action ending.
For some reason, the second Monogram Chan movie is a bit slow moving during the first half of the film. Mantan Moreland's comedy material is not very good this time, but would improve in The Scarlet Clue and The Shanghai Cobra. Chan and Number 3 son Tommy get captured and roughed up this time, unusual in a Chan film. I would call this a middling effort from Monogram. Classic Chan line is "Expert is merely man who make quick decision--and is sometimes right."

A Chauffeur For Charlie
THE CHINESE CAT is a surprisingly good war-time film by Monogram. Sidney Toler is back as Charlie and Benson Fong has the role of Tommy Chan. Tommy is Charlie's number three son. Manton Moreland as Birmingham Brown begins the movie as a cab driver and ends up as Charlie's chauffeur. Some of the best scenes take place in a fun house.