Instant Favorite.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Charlie Chan takes a bus trip with number two son Jimmy Chan and chauffeur Birmingham Brown. They stop at a bus station where a passenger notices he's been robbed. The station door is slightly ajar and a mysterious hand pokes a revolver through and shoots Charlie Chan. Luckily, the bullet hits his watch and he is uninjured. Could the robbery and shooting be connected? It doesn't always make perfect sense but there's plenty going on in this lightweight Charlie Chan entry. As the picture starts, Chan is already expressing interest in a gruesome murder case ("Torso Victim Unidentified," says the newspaper headline) and is soon also investigating a phony bus driver, a Marine straggler, and a pickpocket, as well as promising little old lady Mary Gordon to help find her missing granddaughter. Mantan Moreland is consistently funny as Birmingham Brown, and Victor Sen Yung returns to the series as Jimmy Chan (replacing number three son Benson Fong). Yung is brash and earnest as always; Jimmy and Birmingham provide Pop Chan with approximately equal amounts of assistance on the case and comic relief. The plot's a little convoluted but I suppose there's a chance it would all add up correctly if one set out to understand it....however, if anything holds the picture together it's not the great plot but rather Sidney Toler's usual steady presence as the great detective. Favorite scene: Father and son sit in a restaurant and Jimmy Chan orders chop suey. Charlie Chan: "I shudder to think what Confucius say to that." Jimmy Chan: "Aw, it's good stuff, Pop. You oughta try it sometime."

A series of bodies have been found recently in Northern California-all headless, armless and legless. Who is killing these victims and leaving their torsos behind? That's Charlie Chan's newest case, and he's off to San Francisco to get involved in the investigation. The film starts with Chan (Sidney Toler in one of his last films), number two son Jimmy (Victor Sen Yung) and chauffeur Mantan Moreland on a bus going up the Pacific Coast Highway where the bus breaks down and someone takes a shot at the unkillable Charlie. Only a bit stunned, Chan immediately agrees to take on the case of a sweet old lady (Mary Gordon on a brief break from the Sherlock Holmes series) searching for her granddaughter which, not surprisingly, ties in with the case he's off to Frisco to assist on.The stylish sets of this Monogram entry in the long-time series makes this appear to be higher budgeted than it probably was. Mantan Moreland gets the typical share of stereotypical cracks that black actors were forced to say in even the lowest ranking of Hollywood studios, but he is certainly funny saying them, whether fighting his way through a Chinese antique store (including a fun house mirror) or finding himself inside the storage area of a morgue (which he spells out loud as M-O-R-G). Sen Yung is as eager as ever in helping pop, even though he disgusts dad by ordering that all-American variation of Chinese dishes called Chop Suey. "Must use fine tooth comb to find son, like flea on dog", Chan says about Jimmy when he goes off on his own to investigate the case without dad's permission. This is entertaining and short, not one of the best of the series (those came from 20th Century Fox in the 1930's with Warner Oland in the part), but certainly higher rated than the other Monogram films. The series would petter out in a few years as Toler's replacement (Roland Withers) never caught on with audiences and double bills themselves seemed to fade away as television came in and audiences began staying home to watch films like these for free.

Rather than having anything to do with Chinatown, Shadows Over Chinatown is inspired by the famous and unsolved Cleveland torso murder. But with Charlie Chan on the job you know this case will be solved.Sidney Toler, Victor Sen Yung, and Mantan Moreland arrive in San Francisco by bus during which trip Toler is almost shot, saved like Theodore Roosevelt by a pocket watch. Now you know it has to be one of the people who arrive in San Francisco with the Chan entourage.What brings Charlie to San Francisco is that he's been retained by an insurance company as some people with large policies died on their honeymoons and the widows disappearing after collecting. As it turns out Mary Gordon was also on the bus with Toler and she's there inquiring after a missing granddaughter. It all points to an escort bureau run by Dorothy Granger where granddaughter Tanis Chandler was last known to work. There's more than Granger behind it though.Despite the title misnomer Shadows Over Chinatown is a well made and sturdy Chan feature and one of the better Monogram features since that studio took over the series.

I really liked this Chan, it kept my interest all the way through. I found the plot complex, not hard to follow. I think that is why I really enjoyed it, there is a lot going on with lots of characters coming and going. Some people on here claimed the plot didn't make sense but let us be fair, a mystery isn't a mystery if you know what is going to happen from one scene to the next. I really have no complaints, this is one I want to watch again very soon. One thing I appreciate about the Chan movies is the fact that the producers tried to give you something a bit different from one film to the next. Sure, they recycle themselves after a while but some Chans really stand out...like this one. I just relax and watch all the events as they occur and let Charlie explain it all at the end! I guess some folks just like predictable films and turn up their noses at anything that doesn't follow the herd.