Loosely based on novels by Earl Derr Biggers, 20th Century Fox's Charlie Chan series proved an audience favorite--but when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor the studio feared audiences would turn against its Asian hero. This was a miscalculation: actor Sidney Toler took the role to "poverty row" Monogram Studios, where he continued to portray the character in eleven more popular films made between 1944 and his death in 1947.
20th Century Fox had regarded the Chan films as inexpensive "B" movies, but even so the studio took considerable care with them: the plots were often silly, but the pace was sharp, the dialogue witty, and the casts (which featured the likes of Bela Lugosi and Ray Milland) always expert. The result was a kindly charm which has stood the test of time. Monogram was a different matter: Chan films were "B" movies plain and simple. Little care was taken with scripts or cast and resulting films were flat, mediocre at best, virtually unwatchable at worst.
Released in 1944, MEETING AT MIDNIGHT (also known as BLACK MAGIC) is often described as one of the best Chan films made at Monogram--but the term "best" is comparative. It is certainly better than such Monogram Chan films as THE TRAP, but it is a far cry from the 20th Century Fox films of the 1930s. Although it has a running time of little more than a hour, it drags; the plot is profoundly unoriginal; the dialogue is not in the least memorable; and the cast, for the most part, is merely marking time.
The story concerns a spiritualist whose séance draws Chan's daughter Frances--who finds herself a witness to murder when the medium dies under very suspicious circumstances. In order to spare his daughter any unpleasantness, Chan agrees to take the case and soon uncovers fraud, strange drugs, hypnosis, wire-rigged skeletons, and a revenge murder plot. It is always nice to see Sidney Toler reprise Chan, but in truth he is less entertaining than Mantan Moreland, who played Chan's nervous servant in the Monogram films; although changing times have led us to look upon his performances as demeaning to African-Americans, he was an expert comic, and taken within the context of the era his performances have a certain innocent likability.
Fans of the 20th Century Fox series are likely to find Monogram's Chan a significant disappointment and newcomers who like the Monogram films will probably consider them third-rate after encountering the Fox films. Like other Monogram Chan films, MEETING AT MIDNIGHT is best left to determined collectors. Three stars, and that's being generous.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
20th Century Fox had regarded the Chan films as inexpensive "B" movies, but even so the studio took considerable care with them: the plots were often silly, but the pace was sharp, the dialogue witty, and the casts (which featured the likes of Bela Lugosi and Ray Milland) always expert. The result was a kindly charm which has stood the test of time. Monogram was a different matter: Chan films were "B" movies plain and simple. Little care was taken with scripts or cast and resulting films were flat, mediocre at best, virtually unwatchable at worst.
Released in 1944, MEETING AT MIDNIGHT (also known as BLACK MAGIC) is often described as one of the best Chan films made at Monogram--but the term "best" is comparative. It is certainly better than such Monogram Chan films as THE TRAP, but it is a far cry from the 20th Century Fox films of the 1930s. Although it has a running time of little more than a hour, it drags; the plot is profoundly unoriginal; the dialogue is not in the least memorable; and the cast, for the most part, is merely marking time.
The story concerns a spiritualist whose séance draws Chan's daughter Frances--who finds herself a witness to murder when the medium dies under very suspicious circumstances. In order to spare his daughter any unpleasantness, Chan agrees to take the case and soon uncovers fraud, strange drugs, hypnosis, wire-rigged skeletons, and a revenge murder plot. It is always nice to see Sidney Toler reprise Chan, but in truth he is less entertaining than Mantan Moreland, who played Chan's nervous servant in the Monogram films; although changing times have led us to look upon his performances as demeaning to African-Americans, he was an expert comic, and taken within the context of the era his performances have a certain innocent likability.
Fans of the 20th Century Fox series are likely to find Monogram's Chan a significant disappointment and newcomers who like the Monogram films will probably consider them third-rate after encountering the Fox films. Like other Monogram Chan films, MEETING AT MIDNIGHT is best left to determined collectors. Three stars, and that's being generous.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer