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Friday, May 17, 2024

DEAD MEN TELL (1941)

20th /FOX was winding down their long-running/still profitable CHARLIE CHAN series when they made this standard issue, if noticeably short, late entry, now with Number Two Son (Victor Sen Yung) and Number Two Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler), suitable replacements for 'Number Ones' Key Luke & Warner Oland.  (After two more films, MONOGRAM Pictures would pick up the rights, keep Toler, degrade production values.)  A Buried Treasure mystery, there’s a motley gang of treasure hunters gathering for a ‘pirate ship’ cruise after piecing together four sections of said treasure map.  But when the quarters go missing, and map guardians start to turn up dead, #2 Son,  already on the trail, needs Pop to rescue him and solve the case.  A neat set up with journeyman director Harry Lachman* getting handsome chiaroscuro lensing from Charles Clarke, only a bit too much comic relief from Yung, and more deductive reasoning than aphorisms out of Toler’s Chan.  Three things hold it back: a plot that moves forward solely on overheard secret conversations; a no-name supporting cast (though future Superman George Reeves brings a bit of zest); and a ship that frustratingly never leaves the dock.  It makes the whole film feel stuck in port.

DOUBE-BILL/LINK:  *Lachman would leave the movies next year and return to first love painting, where he was highly rated.  Check out his painterly touch in his most ambitious film, DANTE’S INFERNO/’35.    https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2019/10/dantes-inferno-1935.html

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