Shadow of Chinatown (1936)

Yellow Phantom

Cast:

Bela "I...am...Dracula...." Lugosi is Victor Poten
Bruce Bennett is Martin Andrews
Joan Barclay is Joan Whiting
Luana Walters is Sonya Rokoff, aka The Dragon Lady
Maurice Liu is Willy Fu

What the box says:

A group of Chinese merchants and importers are the targets of a European import firm that uses a beautiful Eurasian girl and a mad scientist as the means to put them out of business. A newspaper reporter and her dashing boyfriend learn of the problems the Chinatown businessmen are dealing with and decide to investigate. Will our intrepid couple and police be able to track down and stop those responsible for the hardships of the merchants before their businesses are ruined?

Plot:

Bela Lugosi is called in for a meeting by Sonya Rokoff, the Dragon Lady, who wants him to help her run the Chinatown businesses since the gangs control everything.

Joan, the lady reporter, wants to get out a big newsbreak that will get her out of the society column. Unfortunately, she gets lost in Chinatown and trapped in a basement. Her editor calls the police who do investigate along with Marty, the hero of this movie. They find her but don't believe her story of gangsters grabbing her, etc...

Joan is sent on job to keep her from annoying Marty.

In a ship, Marty is searching a finds one of Bela's goons who tells part of the Bela's plan but is killed before finishing it. Marty and the Captain search for Bela but who disguises and evades them.

Marty catches Sonya and questions her about Bela. The group leaves unaware that Bela sneaks in and hypno-fues Sonya into a coma. Bela sends a goon to attack the group with a grenade. However, Marty is able to save the day. Sonya is taken to a doctor who can't awaken her from the coma. They get an expert who is able to revive her, and she explains Bela's plan to spy on the world before destroying the European and Oriental races.

Sonya takes them to Bela's lab. All are unaware of Bela spying on them or that Bela has booby-trapped the lab. Bela hides at Joan's apartment. Elsewhere, Marty and Willy realize that Bela is probably hiding at Joan's apartment but he leaves before they arrive.

Bela rushes over the buildings roofs with Marty chasing him. They fight but Bela manages to escape.

Marty keeps searching for the villain.

Joan, Sonya, and Willy head to Marty's home. This time unaware that Bela has decided to hide there.

Marty heads home. Bela is skulking about and ties up Joan and Willy. He sets up a trap for the chandolier to fall on Marty when he enters. Sonya sees this and manages to knock Marty out of the line of fire. Marty handles the Bela's goon and then chases after Bela. Let the 1930s hi-speed drivin' ensue until Bela drives off a dock and drowns.

Afterwards, Marty proposes to Joan so she'll quit reporting and live happily ever after.

What I say:

450, that's hard to realize you've actually reached that big a number. Glad to know that a few out there actually spend the 5 seconds to glance down my writing from keyword searching. This week, we aren't going over any of the Sam Raimi or Peter Jackson movies that normally would get reviewed for a special instance.

Think it is safe to say most people know about Bela Lugosi even if it is just lame Dracula impressions. Well, mad scientific Bela Lugosi without wearing his hair like the 1960s song about San Francisco wild hair. How can the world stop the evil mad scientist, Bela Lugosi? It won't unless some rugged two-fisted hero is against him. Bela's villain acts almost like a absolute stand-in for Fu Manchu.

Willy Fu, the hero's faithful man-servant seems like he can only speak advice from a fortune cookie. He almost looks like a prototype of Hop Sing from Bonanza crossed with Charlie Chan's Number One Son.

15 chapter serial with two feature versions, one under original title in 1936, and the other called Yellow Phantom in 1942. The release during World War 2, had to be included with the "Yellow" to make it more ominous. From the serial version it is 280 minutes long but cut down to 71 minutes for this version where it could be run as part of a double feature. Well, when a movie is only running at a quarter of it's original length is bound to be missing several scenes or scenes that are badly edited together or apart.

Quotable Dialogue
"I accede to honorable request of thugs."
"There's a Tong War in Chinatown."
"I'm a reporter, honest I am..."
"You understand my personal feelings."
"You know he seems kind of peeved."
"I took seps that he took to stop thinking."
"Sherlock Holmes is a back number."
Morals of the Story
Barbers automatically obey Bela Lugosi.
Lady reporters want to be the plucky Lois Lane type.
Bela Lugois is Oriental.
"Grogan" and "Heeley" are Asian names.
Alka Seltzer is a medicinal cure-all.