Charlie Chan in The Jade Mask (1945)

A different way of telling a story

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

A gated estate on a foggy night....A mysterious figure creeps up to the door and rings the bell....A shot rings out! –This dramatic opening sets the mood for a decent Charlie Chan mystery involving a secret formula and murder in an old dark house. Sidney Toler is assisted this time around by Mantan Moreland, settling into the role of chauffeur Birmingham Brown, and Edwin Luke, who plays number four son Eddie and gets to spout some typically silly Chan-offspring dialog like "Ah, this looks like an excellent place for murder." Luke's performance is just fine but the most interesting thing about watching Edwin Luke is probably comparing him with his older brother Keye. The plot is hardly important but involves a nasty old scientist who has developed a secret formula that turns wood hard as metal. This curmudgeonly old inventor is roundly hated by one and all and so his disappearance is mainly worrisome because nobody knows where he hid his valuable formula. Was he murdered? Who was that fake policeman sneaking into the house? It gets kind of complicated….or maybe it just doesn't make a lot of sense. The movie's title refers to some life masks of people in the house— or rather the broken off ear of one mask that becomes a key clue. While slower-moving than the best Monogram Chans, this one is perfectly easy to watch. The comic relief is better than the actual mystery...in other words, thank goodness for Mantan Moreland!

I liked the sound the plot, mystery house movie People were being killed one by one but we had to figure out who the killer is The movie was a lot more funny then scary, as there were really fun y moments, that made me laugh out When the killer attacks we never we only see , when there is death we only get to see the after math Soon fingers are pointed at each other but who the really killer I was disappointing who the killer was in the end but its not all want it seemed I give this 5 out of 0

Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) investigates the murder of a scientist in a spooky mansion. This is one of the better Chan films made at Monogram. There's plenty of atmosphere and the claustrophobic setting of the mansion helps keep the suspense up.Thankfully, Mantan Moreland's Birmingham Brown character doesn't louse it all up with his fear of spooks and bug-eyed double takes. He's actually kind of subdued in this one, which I appreciated. No Benson Fong as Tommy Chan here (yay!) but also no Frances Chan (boo!). Instead, we get Eddie Chan (Edwin Luke). I forget what numbered son he is. He's about as exciting as watching paint dry. The part seems like it could have been pretty good with a better actor. Eddie's supposed to be a nerdy kid with long-winded textbook explanations for simple things. It could have been funny but in wooden Edwin Luke's hands, it's not. He recites a lot of his lines like he's reading them off of cue cards. Anyway, despite the presence of Eddie and Birmingham , it's still a watchable and often enjoyable Chan film. There's no jade mask anywhere in the movie, though.

"The Jade Mask" was made in 1945 and, as was often the case during the war years Charlie Chan movies, there's a McGuffin, some formula or process that will help the war effort. Here, the nutty inventor is paranoid about security so no one in his household knows anything. When he's killed, Chan is brought in, his number four son (Edwin Luke) dragging along behind him.This film moves slowly, but is brightened by some good dialogue from Sidney Toler and Mantan Moreland, who was always a riot. I know his is a stereotyped character in a way, but in another way, it isn't, as he is treated as an equal by Chan. Frankly without Moreland, a good many of these films would be very boring.