Dangerous Money (1946)

Dangerous Money (1946) is the second to last Charlie Chan film starring Sidney Toler from Monogram Pictures. After Sidney Toler’s death, Roland Winters would take over the role for nine more films. This film (affiliate link) allows us to appreciate Toler’s portrayal of Inspector Chan for close to the last time. This film was the tenth for Monogram and his twenty-first portrayal of the famous fictional character.

Dangerous Money begins on a cruise, where Inspector Chan is attempting to catch some counterfeiters. He is assisted by number two son Jimmy Chan, played by Victor Sen Yung, and Chattanooga Brown, played by Willie Best. Due to Sidney Toler’s bad health, Monogram brought Victor Sen Yung back to help Sidney Toler through the filming. Toler could barely walk in this film and The Trap (1947).

Inspector Chan has to deal with counterfeiters, blackmailers and murders on the ship and the Isle of Samoa. Jimmy and Chattanooga provide both comic relief and much of the actual action in this film.

According to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), Willie Best appeared with many of the top film stars of the 1930s and 1940s until his drug arrest ended his film career. He made a brief comeback in television before retiring. Unlike Mantan Moreland and Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, who transcended the stereotypical roles they were forced to play, Willie Best was not so fortunate.

The roles he was allowed to play pigeon-holed him as a porters, butlers and bellhops. During the Civil Rights Movement, his portrayals were singled out as what was wrong with African-Americans roles in Classic Hollywood. Tragically, Best, who was born in Sunflower, Mississippi on May 27, 1915, died at the young age of 45 on February 27, 1962.

This film runs about 66 minutes. It moves at a good pace and has plenty of plot lines to keep the viewer interested. Despite it’s low “B” status, it is an entertaining film.

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