Alicia I love this movie so much

UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Panamint I cannot say that "The Chinese Ring" is a bad mystery movie, because it isn't. The production values are good enough, especially considering the studio that made it. Although the story and some of the dialog is literally a remake of an older Monogram "Mr. Wong" film, the producers seem to be trying to put forth a dignified continuation of the established Chan series; I do not believe that this is a "take the money and run" fast-buck ripoff (like say Jaws 4,5, 9 etc). It is a legit effort and William Beaudine was probably as fine and established a director as Monogram could afford to hire.Roland Winters was a good actor who had a long and distinguished career. He was the studio's choice to continue the Chan character and probably wasn't the best choice but I guess he is adequate. Winters seems tentative here but has the thankless task of following up his two beloved and deceased predecessors in the ongoing role of Charlie Chan. His acting approach here is too careful and very deliberate but doesn't lack skill, and he manages to avoid what could have been career suicide. He does become a little more forceful and lively in his subsequent Chan films.Moreland and Sen Yung are capable in support and manage to avoid the outright buffoonery that was required of them in previous Chan outings. Phillip Ahn is a very recognizable actor in a villain role. He does a good job and he is another example of the studio's commitment to the Chan project, since they could have used a much cheaper unknown actor if so inclined.This is an OK mystery story (after all, its a tried-and-true story from a good prior film). It works as a mystery and moves along at a brisk enough clip for the most part. Overall not a great film, but not a bad one.

binapiraeus So this is the first Charlie Chan movie after Sidney Toler's death (if you've watched all the Charlie Chan films in chronological order, you can REALLY feel the grief the series' fans felt back then when that great actor whom they'd seen in so many wonderful adventures as the Chinese detective had passed away)- but the show must go on; and we mustn't be in ANY way prejudiced against Roland Winters, who took over the role. In fact, even from his first appearance, he won our hearts with his REALLY good attempts to make a good, new Charlie Chan. He wasn't copying Sidney Toler; he was just the humble, polite, sometimes tough, sometimes humorous Chinese master detective he was supposed to be.Perhaps in order to give a 'new' appearance to the 'old' cast that had worked with Toler for years, Sen Yung, Charlie's former 'number two son' Jimmy, now becomes 'number three son' Tommy, and 'Birmingham' Mantan Moreland is now acting not only as chauffeur, but also as butler. And the movie begins right in Charlie's own home: a mysterious Chinese lady comes to visit him; she doesn't give any name, she just hands a ring over to Birmingham to give to Charlie. And when Charlie sees it, he understands immediately from the inscription that the lady must be something like a princess - only, in the meantime, she's shot next door from outside the window by a poisoned dart from a noiseless air rifle; the last thing she manages to do is to write on a piece of paper: 'Captain K'...And very soon we get to know TWO 'Captain Ks': one is Captain Kong, governor of the cargo ship 'Shanghai Maid', which allegedly ships valuable goods to China (but as we find out, they're airplanes intended for princess Mei Ling's brother, a Field Marshall), and the other one's Captain Kelso, manager of the aviation company that builds the planes for Mei Ling. We also learn from Armstrong, the director of the bank through which Mei Ling had made her transactions, that on her arrival, she'd put a million dollars on her account, and the money had slowly been withdrawn by Kelso...Then Mei Ling's maid is killed, too, in the same way as her mistress, and a little Chinese boy whom the princess had befriended disappears - and all the time, Charlie is being assisted not only by Sgt. Davidson, but also by cheeky reporter Peggy Cartwright (Louise Curry), Davidson's girlfriend (during the few moments they're not quarreling...) - a fabulous specimen of that so popular character of the nosy, snippy 40s girl reporter! Charlie visits Armstrong, who denies knowing anything; and incidentally, we learn that he's preparing a grave for one of his big watchdogs... But then, the two 'Captain Ks' force their way into Armstrong's house, presenting him with the fact that the princess' signature on the checks was forged, and asking them what became of the money; and they drag Armstrong and Charlie on board the 'Shanghai Maid' - but both Davidson and Peggy and Birmingham and Tommy are on their trail, and so we can prepare for a big clash as the final highlight! As we said before, Roland Winters REALLY does his best to do justice to the heavy burden of his first portrayal of Charlie Chan; and the movie itself is in NO way of a lesser quality than the previous ones - in fact, in style it moves away somewhat from the hilarious comedy and returns to the 'Noir' style of the first Monogram Charlie Chans: hard-boiled characters, bleak, dark settings, and a PRETTY tough, not to say at some points cruel plot. But there's always room for some comedy, at which the first and best is this time the reporter girl - but also Roland Winters, the new Charlie Chan, displays some wise humor with a mild smile; so he DOES find a place in the fans' hearts right from the beginning...

MartinHafer To most fans, Warner Oland is THE Charlie Chan. He was the first and in many ways, the best. However, when he died, the series picked up pretty well with Sidney Toler. While to me he wasn't quite as good, I did like his attitude. He tended to be a lot more sarcastic and perhaps a bit surly--and I liked hearing the creative ways he insulted his dopey son. However, when Toler died, things really started to go down hill quickly. Roland Winters, to put it bluntly, just wasn't very good as Chan. His characterization wasn't as good as either of his predecessors and the films were getting a bit tired. After all, there'd been more than 40 for the series already and so they couldn't help but seem a tad old. Fortunately, while this film IS one of these lesser ones, it is the best of the three I've so far seen--and may see, as I don't think any more are available at this time on DVD, video or on television.The film begins with Birmingham (Mantan Moreland) working at the Chan residence. There's a knock on the door and in rushes a woman who won't identify herself and insists she MUST see Mr. Chan immediately. The only identification she provides is a ring. When Chan sees the ring, he's able to read its Chinese writing and sees the woman is a princess. But, when Birmingham and Chan return to the room to see the princess, she is dead--killed by some sort of poison dart! Leave it to a Charlie Chan movie to come up with completely atypical ways of killing people! Just once, I want someone to be shot--something that actually doesn't happen all that often in one of these films.The rest of the film involves Chan and a really, really, really stupid local detective trying to solve the murders. In addition, a stereotypically pushy female reporter is on hand as well--a standard cliché of the day. The only thing I really liked about this female character was when she belted the dumb detective--he really had it coming. However, in spite of these less than stellar characters, the film had a reasonably involved plot and the end kept you guessing. Plus, for once, Chan's son wasn't all that dumb--other than letting a prisoner escape! All in all, not exactly a glowing endorsement, but a decent little time-passer.

Steve-171 Winters' debut as Chan is okay, but film is a near line-by-line remake of MR. WONG IN CHINATOWN, and the story wasn't great then. Foulger has meaty part as nervous banker, Ahn looks inscrutable, Moreland rolls his eyes, and Louise Currie is gorgeous, but pedestrian direction and cheapo production sink this for all but Chan fans.