''Charlie Chan in the Secret Service'' is a 1944 mystery film starring

Sidney Toler Sidney Toler (born Hooper G. Toler Jr., April 28, 1874 – February 12, 1947) was an American actor, playwright, and theatre director. The second European-American actor to play the role of Charlie Chan on screen, he is best remembered for his p ...

Charlie Chan Charlie Chan is a fictional Honolulu police detective created by author Earl Derr Biggers for a series of mystery novels. Biggers loosely based Chan on Hawaiian detective Chang Apana. The benevolent and heroic Chan was conceived as an alter ...

. It is the first film made by

Monogram Pictures Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram was among the smaller studios i ...

after the series was dropped by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

, and it marks the introduction of Number Three Son (

Benson Fong Benson Fong (Chinese: ; October 10, 1916 – August 1, 1987) was an American character actor. Born in Sacramento, California, Fong was from a mercantile family of Chinese extraction. After graduating from high school in Sacramento, he studied ...

) and taxi driver (later Chan's chauffeur), Birmingham Brown (

Mantan Moreland Mantan Moreland (September 3, 1902 – September 28, 1973) was an American actor and comedian most popular in the 1930s and 1940s. He starred in numerous films. His daughter Marcella Moreland appeared as a child actress in several films. E ...

Plot

In the two years since the last Charlie Chan feature film (''Castle in the Desert''), Charlie Chan is now an agent of the U.S. government working in Washington DC and he is assigned to investigate the murder of the inventor of a highly advanced torpedo. Aiding Chan is his overeager but dull-witted Number Three son Tommy (Benson Fong) and his Number Two Daughter Iris Chan (Marianne Quon). Also involved in the case is the bumbling and easily frightened Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland) who works as a limo driver for one of the suspects.

Cast

as Birmingham Brown, Taxi Driver *

Arthur Loft Arthur Loft (May 25, 1897 – January 1, 1947) was an American film and stage actor. He appeared in more than 220 films between 1932 and 1947. Biography He was born in Denver, Colorado and died in Los Angeles, California. He is interred ...

as Inspector Jones, Secret Service *Gwen Kenyon as Inez Arranto * Sarah Edwards as Mrs. Hargue, Housekeeper * George J. Lewis as Paul Arranto (as George Lewis) *Marianne Quon as Iris Chan *

as Tommy Chan *Muni Seroff as Peter Laska *Barry Bernard as David Blake *

Gene Roth Eugene Oliver Edgar Stutenroth (January 8, 1903 – July 19, 1976), known profesionally as Gene Roth, was an American film actor and film manager. Early years Roth was born in Redfield, South Dakota. He was the son of a German father and ...

as Luis Philipe Vega aka Von Vegon (as Gene Stutenroth) *

Eddy Chandler Eddy Chandler (March 12, 1894 – March 23, 1948) was an American actor who appeared, mostly uncredited, in more than 350 films. Three of these films won the Academy Award for Best Picture: ''It Happened One Night'' (1934), '' You Can't T ...

as Lewis, Secret Service (as Eddie Chandler) *Lelah Tyler as Mrs. Williams

Production

20th Century Fox stopped making Charlie Chan films in 1941. In May 1943 Monogram Pictures announced they had purchased the rights to the character from Fox and would make two Charlie Chan films a year. Sidney Toler would reprise his performance as Chan.

Keye Luke Keye Luke (, Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Cant ...

was reportedly unable to reprise his role as Number One Son, so a search started for an actor to portray Chan's son. In June 1943 Monogram Pictures announced ''Charlie Chan and the Secret Service'' would be one of 24 movies and 16 Westerns the studio would make over the following year. This was eight less than the previous year as Monogram said they wanted to make "fewer and higher budgeted pictures". The film was to star Sidney Toler and also include

Iris Wong Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye * Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants *Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional ent ...

from the Fox movies. In July 1943

was signed to play Chan's son. Wong eventually was replaced by Marianne Quon. Filming started 10 September 1943.DRAMA AND FILM: Newcomer Ella Raines Lead in 'Phantom Lady' 20th Will Film Unusual Subject, 'Sunday Dinner for a Soldier' Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times 10 Sep 1943: 15.

References

External links

Charlie Chan Family
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Charlie Chan in the Secret Service 1944 films 1940s crime films American black-and-white films Charlie Chan films Monogram Pictures films American crime films Films directed by Phil Rosen 1940s American films

Plot

Cast

Production

See also

References

External links