Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Stephan Hammond It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Casey Duggan It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

xnet95 Most of the Monogram Chan's fall somewhere between mediocre and horrendous, but this one was actually interesting. It had some thought put into it and definitely made the most out of its small budget. One of the previous reviewers said the movie was too claustrophobic. This is one of my biggest complaints about Monogram Chan's, but Dangerous Money does a great job of avoiding that. There are many different sets and scenes on the boat, plus there's the added bonus of all the different scenes on the island, which included some exterior beauty shots. Another aspect of this movie I liked was the absence of Bumbleham Brown. He always seems to take over and dominate the scenes he's in, which usually detracts from the mysterious mood that has been created. In Dangerous Money, Chattanooga and Jimmy Chan are more in the background and less obtrusive. I love the last scene where Charlie strangles his moronic son for almost killing Chattanooga. I wonder if they did that because so many viewers had fantasized about doing it themselves over the years? At certain points, the story is difficult to follow, so make sure you have the remote ready. There are a few things that don't make sense, like why the hell did the criminal gang want Rona Simmonds to come to Samoa? It makes no sense, she could identify the missing objects of art. Did they want her to verify that they were authentic? They obviously didn't do it to lure her to her death because they never tried to kill her. Why did Freddie Kirk contact her father to come to Samoa? Another nice thing about this film is that it is in the public domain. The print that I watched from archive.org was crisp and sharp, with good contrast - black and white at it's best. Also, keep your eyes on Miss Simmonds breasts. I swear that they inflate or deflate as the situation calls for. It's mind boggling.

MartinHafer I wish someone could tell me why Willie Best played 'Chattanooga Brown' in a couple late Charlie Chan films. After all, Mantan Moreland had played 'Birmingham Brown' in quite a few Chan films--why was he briefly replaced? And, did they really think people would just accept 'Chattanooga'?! He wasn't a good addition to 1945's "The Red Dragon" and now he's back for one final appearance in the Chan series...but why?! As for the plot, it's pretty typical. As was often the case, Charlie Chan is on vacation--during which time someone is murdered (in this a US government agent). This time is occurs aboard a cruise ship--also not the first time for this series. So, it's up to Charlie and two bumbling assistants (#3 son and Chattanooga) to solve this case. Considering he always did, it's probably not too much of a stretch to say that once again he'll be successful. So this make you wonder why the criminals didn't just kill Charlie first! Among the many possible suspects is Mr. Burke--played by the very familiar actor, Dick Elliott. Usually, Elliott played bumbling and rather dim individuals--here he plays a slimy and rather dangerous character. But is he the killer or just a horrid little blackmailer and all-around jerk? Overall, this is an exceptionally familiar sort of Chan story...without Mantan Moreland. The only things that set this one apart are that you see Charlie shoot a couple people (though, not surprisingly for a B-film, he never kills any of them--they're only flesh wounds!) and one of the passengers is a cross-dresser!! It's slightly below average in quality, but considering that Chan films are always worth watching, it's still worth your time.

classicsoncall "Dangerous Money" is an aptly named Charlie Chan film in which Sidney Toler's character investigates a pair of murders relating to illegal trading in "hot money" and stolen art. The action takes place aboard the S.S. Newcastle heading to Australia via Samoa. Along for the ride are Number #2 Son Jimmy (Victor Sen Yung) and assistant Chattanooga Brown (Willie Best). Charlie doesn't have much time to solve the case as he's committed to another investigation on arrival in Sydney. Be prepared for more uncomfortable racial insinuations, as Jimmy converses with Chattanooga via walkie talkie using the code names "Chop Suey 108" and "Pork Chop 711". Once again Chan/Toler demonstrates his dancing skill in a film; in "Red Dragon", he cut a mean rumba, here he slows it down a bit, but still quite smoothly with a shipboard waltz. Passenger Rona Simmonds (Gloria Warren) and ship's pursar George Brace (Joseph Allen) are hiding a secret for which she is being blackmailed. She is traveling with false papers, smuggled on board in an attempt to identify art stolen from her banker father. International businessman P.T. Burke (Dick Elliott) uses his position to extort a valuable necklace from Simmonds, but as we've seen before, there is another villain masterminding the action from a loftier height. He is flushed out by Charlie in a convenient "lights out" scene intended to add to the confusion. I have to admit, it's difficult to follow most Charlie Chan films without keeping a personal scorecard, and even so, the revelation of the killer almost always comes as a surprise. Chan himself best expresses this in a line from the film - "Kangaroo reaches destination also by leaps and bounds".

pbalos Much of the action takes place on a ship. Typical acting for a Chan flick with some comedy provided by sidekick Chatanooga. Not one of the best Toler movies, but not the worse. Poor direction and weak story line. Might be alright for a rainy day.