Black Magic (1944)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Phil Rosen

Writers:

Earl Derr Biggers (characters)
George Callahan (original screenplay)

Release Date:

19 August 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Chan stalks a fiendish murderer!

Plot:

Charlie searches for a murderer amidst numerous ghosts conjured up by a strange variety of spiritualists and occultists.

Plot Keywords:

Butler | Charlie Chan | Psychic | Murderer | Occult

Cast

Sidney Toler	...	Charlie Chan
Mantan Moreland	...	Birmingham Brown
Frances Chan	...	Frances Chan
Joseph Crehan	...	Police Sgt. Matthews
Helen Beverly	...	Norma Duncan / Nancy Wood (as Helen Beverley)
Jacqueline deWit	...	Justine Bonner
Geraldine Wall	...	Harriet Green
Ralph Peters	...	Officer Rafferty
Frank Jaquet	...	Paul Hamlin
Edward Earle	...	Dawson, Police Lab
Claudia Dell	...	Vera Starkey
Harry Depp	...	Charles Edwards
Charles Jordan	...	Tom Starkey
Dick Gordon	...	William Bonner (as Richard Gordon)

Also Known As:

Meeting at Midnight (USA) (TV title)

Runtime:

67 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (2004)

Company:

Monogram Pictures

Trivia:

Actress Frances Chan didn't have to stretch too far in this role. She played a character named . . . Frances Chan!

Quotes:

Birmingham Brown: You know, after being here I could have an elegant time in a cemetary reading tombstones at midnight.

Movie Connections:

Follows Charlie Chan in Rio (1941)

More Comedy Than Mystery

This late-entry Charlie Chan movie gets marks simply for the entertainment, not for a deep-thinking suspenseful "whodunnit." It's just fun to watch with an always-smiling daughter (played by Frances Chen) replacing number-whatever-son and the eyes-popping-out-of-the-head Mantan Moreland adding humor, although of his humor is a bit stupid (and insulting to black folks, I'm sure). However, Moreland is a likable guy so it's hard to get annoyed at his silliness.

The story is a familiar one of the day, about the occult (seances) and, thankfully, another that exposes the mediums as crooks.

These Sidney Toler-Mantan Moreland collaborations, as opposed to the early Warner Oland/Charlie Chan movies, replied more on comedy and gimmicks rather than brains, and once you accept that, you just go along with an entertaining hour of lamebrain fun, especially when Chan starts to put people down with his sarcasm.