Roland Winters steps into the role of Charlie Chan for the last of the great detective's final six outings. First we see the now familiar Chan home in San Francisco (has he separated from his wife? Where are all those little kids we used to see?) then the familiar Birmingham Brown who then goes to the new Charlie and tells him he has a mysterious visitor. Soon after they are joined by Victor Sen Young, still playing number two son but now called Tommy (the name of Benson Fong's number three son) instead of Jimmy. This film is a lot more atmospheric than Toler's last outing in "The Trap" and the script makes a bit more sense but there's a sense that the party is over and they're just playing out the string here. Roland Winters doesn't contribute much as Chan and fails to make any impression other than that of a road show Charlie Chan. This film is more interesting as a curiosity than as a film. It is only interesting if you're watching to see what the new Chan is like. The answer: not too good. And the next five were pretty much downhill from here.
Review of The Chinese Ring
