Boris Karloff attempts to become the male version of Gale Sondergaard in this second entry in the fortunately short-lived series, the worst of the three continuous mystery programmers starring obvious Caucasians in Asian roles. At least, Peter Lorre was slightly believable as Mr. Moto, and all four Charlie Chans were too. But the tall Karloff isn't at all believable in any sense, even if he utilizes his all too frequent over- the-top sincerity to spout out the ridiculous lines in a wretched screenplay.
At least this second in the series is somewhat watchable, even if every cliché of every dime store mystery novel is utilized, from the line-up of predictable suspects to details added into the plot during the last minutes of the movie. The story surrounds the theft of an ancient Chinese gem which apparently carries a curse, and the murder of the man whose hands it ended up in. The set-up for the murder is a neat twist, occurring in a game of charades where the clues for the answer are somewhat obscure and the answers almost impossible to guess.
This is a slightly above average entry, the others extremely slow moving in spite of short running times, and all filled with stereotypes. This film is ripe for parody (especially for one suspect who goes by the name of Strogonoff!) and some of the tackier moments are downright unintentionally comical. Film history students will have a fun time dissecting this, especially those who are interested in the poverty row studios which sometimes turned out surprising sleepers and an occasional masterpiece. In the final scene, try not to be distracted by Mr. Wong's parrot in the background who steals the scene from the talking actors.
At least this second in the series is somewhat watchable, even if every cliché of every dime store mystery novel is utilized, from the line-up of predictable suspects to details added into the plot during the last minutes of the movie. The story surrounds the theft of an ancient Chinese gem which apparently carries a curse, and the murder of the man whose hands it ended up in. The set-up for the murder is a neat twist, occurring in a game of charades where the clues for the answer are somewhat obscure and the answers almost impossible to guess.
This is a slightly above average entry, the others extremely slow moving in spite of short running times, and all filled with stereotypes. This film is ripe for parody (especially for one suspect who goes by the name of Strogonoff!) and some of the tackier moments are downright unintentionally comical. Film history students will have a fun time dissecting this, especially those who are interested in the poverty row studios which sometimes turned out surprising sleepers and an occasional masterpiece. In the final scene, try not to be distracted by Mr. Wong's parrot in the background who steals the scene from the talking actors.