Docks of New Orleans (1948)

"The Docks Of New Orleans" (don't expect to see much of New Orleans, by the way; the production values are depressing) presents a potentially intriguing locked-room murder mystery, but the method of the murder turns out to be an almost exact copy of "Mr. Wong, Detective" (the Boris Karloff movie), and the murderer is fairly obvious after a point. The film is a mostly dreary affair, but one long sequence near the end, with Chan held at gunpoint by three villains and trying to stall for time, is well-done. Number Two Son and Birmingham Brown have very small parts this time around. My favorite Chan line: "Only important that you do not underrate me when we part". ** out of 4.

This is one of the Roland Winters episodes. He is really weak as Chan. Of all the non- Asians who played Charlie, he is the least Asian appearing of all. He delivers lines poorly and is, frankly, boring. This is another episode about international terror. Apparently, some guys are trying to kill masses of people by producing a kind of poison gas. Once again, while everyone is in a room, a guy goes into his office and dies mysteriously. There is something to do with radio tubes and high frequency sound. It's a good idea, but the way everything unfolds is so far fetched. Another weakness is how little Mantan and Tommy are utilized. Since Chan is so lame, these guys are normally the fun. Winters seems to have no chemistry with these guys. One can see the series gasping for air as we move to the last episodes.

This could be considered yet another manufactured episode in a tired series.But the Chan things had some pretty clever writers, so far as plot devices.One thing that made them dull was that you were introduced to the crooks early in the game; the battle of wits was boring. Here, the crooks you are introduced to are not the only ones and are being manipulated themselves. Sure, there is the pretty woman who is part of the gang and who gets cheated...But I would like to point out a rather remarkable plot point. The plot requires that a glass container of poison gas be released. This container can be planted ahead of time and triggered remotely. As it happens, the trigger involves a radio.Now common sense in the real world would have this glass vial be secreted in some convenient place, easy to place and remain hidden. But the story here has this vial in the form of a radio tube placed in the radio. The reason is that viewers would make the radio- gas connection better. In other words, it is a concession to cinematic storytelling even though it makes no sense, no sense at all if you think about it. But it makes absolute sense when presented. Smart writing.Those Chinese!Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

Docks of New Orleans has one scene that makes the whole movie worth watching. Number Two Son Tommy Chan and chauffeur Birmingham Brown decide to play a duet of ' that old Chop Suey Boogie', with Tommy on violin and Birmingham on piano. The look on Charlie Chan's face as he hears the off key tune from another room, while trying to solve the murder mystery, is priceless.Spoilers ahead: The clever ending, with a captive Charlie Chan tricking the bad guys into believing they have been trapped in a room filled with odorless poison gas, is quite amusing. Roland Winters brought a very low key wit to his portrayal of Chan, which serves the character well; as Charlie frequently reacts to the outrageous events around him with one raised eyebrow and an air of humorous resignation at the idiocy he must contend with, from both dopey policemen and his enthusiastic assistants. This is one of the lesser films in the long running series, but fun for Charlie Chan devotees.