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Castle in the Desert
USA 1942
produced by Ralph Dietrich for 20th Century Fox
directed by Harry Lachman
starring Sidney Toler, Arleen Whelan, Richard Derr, Douglass Dumbrille, Henry Daniell, Edmund MacDonald, Victor Sen Yung, Lenita Lane, Ethel Griffies, Milton Parsons, Steven Geray, Lucien Littlefield, Oliver Blake, George Chandler, Paul Kruger, Eric Wilton
written by John Larkin, based on characters created by Earl Derr Biggers, music by David Buttolph, Cyril J.Mockridge
Charlie Chan, Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler), Charlie Chan at Fox
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
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Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) investigates a murder case in a castle in
the desert, a castle owned by Lucy Manderley (Lenitza Lane), last
offspring of the Borgias, and her husband Paul (Douglass Dumbrille), who
investigates the Borgias' family history. Since the murdered man was
poisoned, everybody suspects Lucy of course, since her family has a long
history in poisoning, but for Charlie Chan, several things don't click,
especially when he learns the murder victim is not dead at all, and
finally he figures out that someone just tries to drive Lucy to
insanityand kill her husband to get his hands on the Borgia fortune as the
attorney of law, and this someone is her lawyer (Edmund MacDonald), who
apparently is in league with the family physician (Steven Geray). Of
course, Charlie Chan ultimately sees to it that the baddies get their just
reward. Victor Sen Yung can be seen as Chan's son number two. Less
than special mystery in the Charlie Chan series of B-movies.
Sure, there is the occasional funny, interesting or even macabre moment,
but in all it's a rather uninspired entry in a series that's slowly
running out of steam (at least at 20th Century Fox), and at times
it's even boring ...
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