Having just seen director Phil Rosen’s clumsily edited CHARLIE CHAN IN THE SECRET SERVICE (1944) the night before, I was pleasantly surprised to find this earlier film so tight, interesting, and competent. Among other things, it contains an even earlier instance than I thought existed of the “faux archeologic expedition” footage idea later used in CALTIKI THE IMMORTAL MONSTER (1959), which subsequently became the basis of Deodato’s CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (1980). Here, it’s footage of the discovery of an Egyptian king’s burial site in Mongolia, where we learn the leader of the group (introduced as a reliable witness) absconded with a sacred scroll supposedly containing the location of an H. Rider Haggard-like “pillar of eternal fire” that may actually indicate the whereabouts of a huge and immensely valuable flow of natural oil. Unexplained deaths occur - the result of the mummy’s curse, or someone out to steal the oil? As with many Rosen films, this question is ultimately solved by assembling a group of suspects in a house and wearing them down with questions while dodging stray bullets fired by skulking silhouettes. The script was written by director George Waggner under his "Joseph West" pseudonym, the same name he used to pen Universal's MAN-MADE MONSTER the same year, and many others besides.
As often happens, the American detective on the case (Capt. Street, Grant Withers) is a how'd-he-ever-make-it-to-Captain muttonhead with no patience for Far Eastern mumbo jumbo; however, to his credit, in time he puts his lazy biases aside and decides to learn something from Wong (Luke) and his lucid, methodical, informed approach to solving the case. The dialogue also pokes occasional fun at American presumptions about people of Asian descent, as when Luke (sporting a dashing mustache) turns out to be a stranger to the only other Chinese-American in the room; Wong seems to live in a two-room efficiency apartment yet he has his own gibbering manservant (Lee Tung Foo, who is left tied up and forgotten about at the end of CHARLIE CHAN IN THE SECRET SERVICE). Also interesting is the absence of romantic sparks between Luke and leading lady Lotus Long, as we might anticipate. On the contrary, their characters share a mutual initial distrust - and when Luke decides to trust her, she abuses the privilege! Of course, films like this stand or fall on the charisma of their lead actor, and while Keye Luke is highly charismatic, he is ultimately too formal a presence to carry the movie, and a bit too overly mannered in his line readings at times. That said, at a brisk 61 minutes, I found PHANTOM OF CHINATOWN a pleasant little time-killer.
(c) 2019 by Tim Lucas. All rights reserved.
