Am I Missing Something?

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Review - The Red Dragon, Released 2-2-46 A person is certainly guessing throughout the movie for the bad guy identity, since there is a mystery how people are murdered by bullets showing no signs of being fired from a gun. There are plenty of red-herrings in the mix of dubious characters, all with horrific pasts. Why Mexico City had been chosen for the crime scene is in question, but has no direct bearing on the plot. The law enforcement official Charlie works with is professional, not some rube, or someone incompetent. The scenery is primarily a hotel, with various floors furnishing the variety in stages. The overall cast is believable, rather professional, both major and minor roles played. There are three murders keeping Charlie busy throughout the movie, with an underlying theme of national security involving an atomic bomb formula being stolen or in jeopardy. Preventing this movie from scoring better would be the lack of a mention for motive of the murders other than greed, and a word of actual character background, except the government file on each that Chan reads when the initial grilling begins. Why were the killing victims bumped off? There wasn't an explanation as to why they were chosen as opposed to a process of elimination. Some characters seemed innocent, less dastardly than others. Some characters could have selected as the most ripe for the killer to be than some. I would have picked the two greasiest characters right off the top, and I would have correct. When the one guy's wife was killed, it really disqualified him as the killer. The singer and the tourist female roles weren't the type without a partner. What explanation was given for there to be a couple of bullets fired at each killing, one in the victim and other in the wall? I can buy the mechanism to initiate the shots, hiding the ammo on the person or in the woman's purse, and the clever manner of hiding the propelling agent was unique. The usage of the manner to disguise the secret document was also unique, and with the themed red dragon ink on typewriter ribbon that had been discarded in a desk drawer, a different twist.Number three son was less annoying than in most movies, I said less, and his counterpart appeared in only two movies speaks for itself, I think. Charlie appears to hold up well considering he lived in real life twelve months from the movie release date. Sidney Toler was in the majority of the movie's scenes, all helping move the story along through the limited clues, and it works best if the star shows often. The red dragon ink can be affixed to a typewriter ribbon and it is true the keys only strike the top and bottom of the ribbon; really? The top is struck in one cycle before flipping the ribbon to have it strike the other half. Maybe that is the reason the first murder victim was performing the function when he was killed. Watch and determine the reason for the ribbon being adjusted before the man is shot.

This one gets my vote for the weakest Chan film starring the great Sidney Toler. Even Toler's superb acting skills cannot get this inert mass airborne, unfortunately.If you looked at this film on paper, so to speak, it seems like it should work. We get a quite good premise, and the cast of supporting characters aren't bad. I think the fault likes in the direction, because the pace of this film is sometimes painfully slow. To me, there often is little sense of dramatic tension or excitement. With all the other Chan films, there's more sense of fun and energy than I find here. I say that as someone who has seen all the films, and liked all but this one, to varying degrees. I also think the Monogram films are unjustly underrated, because they are good packages of entertainment. I'll watch this one again at some point, but it's last on my list.

Stolen secret papers contain info on the mysterious 95th element, which could be used to build a giant atom bomb. Charlie Chan signs on to recover said papers—and also to track down the murderer who shot the secretary before snatching those vital documents. Unfortunately, most of the picture is not as exciting as that sounds....however, this late entry in the Chan series is passably entertaining as well as short and sweet. A mystery mechanism is used to commit multiple murders—one shot is always heard but two bullets are found. Can Chan solve the riddle before he too becomes a target? Benson Fong is on hand again as Chan's #3 son Tommy, while Willie Best takes on chauffeur duties for this picture (as Chattanooga Brown, cousin to Mantan Moreland's Birmingham Brown). Tommy and Chattanooga manage most of the comic relief with mildly humorous exchanges such as: Chattanooga: "My hair's getting tired." Tommy Chan: ""Your hair is tired?" Chattanooga: "Yeah, for the last 10 minutes it's been standing on end." The fact that Sidney Toler dancing the rhumba is probably the highlight of the picture might tell you something.

I've been critical of the lame comedy of Mantan Moreland in this series but dear lord I never wanted to see him replaced by Willie Best! Yet here we are with Best playing Chattanooga Brown, cousin to Moreland's Birmingham. Willie Best, for those of you who don't know, was a black actor famous for his stereotypical characters that were always lazy, cowardly, and stupid. It's pretty offensive, even if you aren't politically correct.Putting the Chattanooga crap aside, the rest of the movie is a fairly ordinary Charlie Chan Monogram film. The plot's about Charlie going to Mexico over some stolen atomic bomb formula or something. Anyway, there are some murders and he must investigate with Inspector Luis Carvero. Carvero is played by actor Fortunio Bonanova and yes, his name is awesome. Benson Fong also returns as "Number Three Son" Tommy. He's still worthless. I can't recommend this one unless you're a die-hard Charlie Chan fan. It's fairly terrible. Sadly, the series would just get worse.