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Black Magic (1944)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
19 August 1944 (USA) moreTagline:
Chan stalks a fiendish murderer! morePlot:
Charlie searches for a murderer amidst numerous ghosts conjured up by a strange variety of spiritualists and occultists. full summary | add synopsisNewsDesk:
(4 articles)
New Pics! Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie Take Kids Trick-or-Treating (From Extra. 2 November 2009, 11:15 AM, PST)
Weird Facts about Halloween
(From Extra. 30 October 2009, 3:00 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
More Comedy Than Mystery more (18 total)Cast
(Credited 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) |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
67 minCountry:
USALanguage:
EnglishColor:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 moreSound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Actress Frances Chan didn't have to stretch too far in this role. She played a character named . . . Frances Chan! moreQuotes:
Birmingham Brown: You know, after being here I could have an elegant time in a cemetary reading tombstones at midnight. moreFAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (18 total)
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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.