Charlie Chan in the Secret Service

Charlie Chan in the Secret Service (1944) is the first Charlie Chan film (affiliate link) produced by Monogram Pictures. Sidney Toler reprises his role as Inspector Charlie Chan. After Twentieth-Century Fox decided to cancel the series after Castle in the Desert (1942), Sidney Toler bought the production rights. Toler successfully shopped the rights for the series to Monogram.

Sidney Toler made eleven films for Twentieth-Century Fox before making another eleven films for Monogram Pictures. Toler would have made more films for Monogram but he died of intestinal cancer on February 12, 1947. Roland Winters took over the role and play Charlie Chan in seven more films.

This film gets the series off to a solid start. Sidney Toler, healthy at the time, is active both mentally and physically in the film. Benson Fong played “Number Three Son Tommy”. Although Tommy never achieved the comic appeal of “Number Two Son Jimmy”, played by Victor Sen Yung, Fong preformed solidly as a helper and comic relief.

Mantan Moreland enters the series as Birmingham Brown, a chauffeur. In later films, Birmingham drove Inspector Chan’s driver and assisted Tommy’s in investigations. Inspector Chan often referred to Tommy and Birmingham as his sitting assistants. The racial stereotypes in the film are jarring.

The film opens in the home of Dr. John Melton, the inventor of a new bomb. Melton is preparing for a dinner party with friends. Prior to the guests arriving, Dr. Melton dies under mysterious circumstances.

Someone has also taken the plans for the bomb. The Washington, D. C. police called the Secret Service, where Inspector Charlie Chan works for the War Office. Inspector Chan heads to the home to begin his investigation.

Inspector Chan quickly realizes that a German agent is present among the guests. He must unmask the agent and recover the plans.

This film runs approximately 64 minutes.

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