The Trap ** (1946, Sidney Toler, Mantan Moreland, Victor Sen Yung) – Classic Movie Review 9017

Sadly, Sidney Toler’s reign as Charlie Chan and his film career ended with a rather dull, thudding whimper with director Howard Bretherton’s 1946 comedy crime mystery The Trap, a slackly handled story of strangulations and revenge in a Malibu beach house when a troupe of showgirls, their impresario and their press agent holiday at a Malibu Beach resort.

The character acting helps a little, with amusing appearances by series regular co-stars Mantan Moreland as faithful chauffeur Birmingham Brown and Victor Sen Yung as Number Two Son Jimmy Chan, who were given extra screen time as Toler became increasingly incapacitated by ill health, so they help Charlie with the case.

It is the much loved Toler’s final film. Stricken with intestinal cancer, he was so weak during shooting he could hardly walk or say his lines, but he was determined to finish the film. He died at his Hollywood home on 12 February 1947, aged 72, after being bedridden for several months.

Also in the cast are Tanis Chandler, Larry J Blake, Kirk Alyn, Rita Quigley, Anne Nagel, Helen Gerald, Minerva Urecal, Howard Negley, Lois Austin, Barbara Jean Wong, Margaret Brayton and Bettie Best.

The Trap [Charlie Chan in The Trap] is directed by Howard Bretherton, runs 68 minutes, is made by Monogram Pictures, is released by Monogram Pictures (1946) (US) and Pathé Pictures (1947) (UK), is written by Miriam Kissinger, based on the character created by Earl Derr Biggers, shot in black and white by James S Brown Jr, produced by James S Burkett, scored by Edward J Kay and designed by Dave Milton.

Toler’s last three Charlie Chan installments are Shadows Over Chinatown (1946), Dangerous Money (1946), and The Trap (1946).

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 9017

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