James S. Burkett

A mysterious Chinese princess is murdered in Charlie Chan's own home, leaving only a large ring and the dying message "Capt K" as clues. Chan traces the ring to a visiting princess and untangles a plot involving stolen fighter planes and a cargo ship bound for China. The Chinese Ring was Roland Winters' first outing as Chan after taking over the role at Monogram, with Mantan Moreland and Victor Sen Yung back as Birmingham Brown and Tommy Chan. Directed by the prolific William Beaudine, the film is in the public domain.

Mystery · Crime

One of the six Charlie Chan pictures Sidney Toler made for Monogram after the series left Fox. When murders pile up around a radio station that is secretly tied to a wartime espionage ring, Chan works the case while his son Tommy and chauffeur Birmingham Brown stumble through the clues beside him. The film is best remembered for the extended comedy routine between Mantan Moreland and Ben Carter, whose rhyming, never-finished conversations became a signature of the Monogram Chans. Directed by series veteran Phil Rosen, it is a brisk poverty-row mystery that keeps the plot moving and the banter constant. The film entered the public domain after its copyright was never renewed.

Mystery · Crime · Thriller