Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

bkoganbing During all the time I was watching The Chinese Ring I kept thinking I saw it before and then I learn that this was indeed the plot of an old Mr. Wong film also put out by Monogram. As the Wong series was before World War II started in Europe only the politics were changed and they got a little vague in this one.Barbara Jean Wong, a Chinese princess who is in America to purchase war airplanes for what I presume is the Kuomintang air force against the Communists is shot and killed by a dart fired from an air rifle almost immediately after entering Charlie Chan's home. With a murder right in his own home Roland Winters in his first film as Charlie Chan is kind of forced to help the authorities who in this case are represented by homicide detective Warren Douglas. Tagging along is Louise Currie who is a reporter looking to scoop her rivals on who killed the princess.The Occidentals who the princess had to deal with are one scurvy lot who saw a cash cow and were milking it for all it was worth. But one of them is scurvier than the rest that one murders the princes, her maid and a small mute Chinese boy who's only crime was that he was a witness.The story did not translate that good to a post World War II political situation. Still the players do their best with it and Roland Winters slips nicely into the tradition of Warner Oland and Sidney Toler as our fortune cookie aphorism speaking Charlie Chan.

zsenorsock Roland Winters steps into the role of Charlie Chan for the last of the great detective's final six outings. First we see the now familiar Chan home in San Francisco (has he separated from his wife? Where are all those little kids we used to see?) then the familiar Birmingham Brown who then goes to the new Charlie and tells him he has a mysterious visitor. Soon after they are joined by Victor Sen Young, still playing number two son but now called Tommy (the name of Benson Fong's number three son) instead of Jimmy. This film is a lot more atmospheric than Toler's last outing in "The Trap" and the script makes a bit more sense but there's a sense that the party is over and they're just playing out the string here. Roland Winters doesn't contribute much as Chan and fails to make any impression other than that of a road show Charlie Chan. This film is more interesting as a curiosity than as a film. It is only interesting if you're watching to see what the new Chan is like. The answer: not too good. And the next five were pretty much downhill from here.

classicsoncall "The Chinese Ring" is a passable entry in the Monogram series of Charlie Chan films, notable for Roland Winters' first time portrayal of the Oriental Detective. In a strange departure from the usual strong continuity between films, Victor Sen Yung is presented as Number #2 Son named Tommy; he was Jimmy in all of his prior Chan films with Sidney Toler. Number #3 son Tommy was portrayed in earlier movies by Benson Fong. Mantan Moreland is on hand as Birmingham Brown. The intrigue involves the murder of Chinese Princess Mei Ling (Barbara Jean Wong) and her servant; the ring she uses to introduce herself to Charlie Chan is inscribed in Chinese - "Long life and happiness". Stunned by a poisonous dart, she manages to write the name of "Capt K" on a scrap of paper in Chan's study. The clue leads Chan and Sergeant Bill Davidson (Warren Douglas) of the San Francisco PD in two directions. Captain Kong of the S.S. Shanghai Maid brought the princess to this country, while Captain James Kelso is the owner of the Kelso Aviation Company. Both are in league with banker Armstrong, eventually revealed as the mastermind of a plot to sell, but not deliver airplanes to Mei Ling's brother, a field marshal for the Chinese Army. This is a reasonably paced entry in the Chan series, particularly for Winters' first turn as the Oriental Detective. Louise Currie provides great support as reporter Peggy Cartwright, although she's embarrassingly pushed around by romantic interest Sergeant Davidson. The mystery is a lot easier to follow than prior Chan films, many of which had up to dozen characters to keep track of; here it's all wrapped up pretty neatly by film's end.***Added on 11/12/08 - Monogram Pictures originally made this film in 1939 as "Mr. Wong in Chinatown", with Boris Karloff in the role of the title detective. In that story, the 'Captain K' clue differed by one letter - 'Captain J'. Otherwise, it's pretty much the same story, even including a variation of my summary line above, citing a 'murder in the house of Mr. Wong'!

admjtk1701 This was the first Chan film with Roland Winters in the title role. It is a remake of Monogram's "Mr. Wong in Chinatown". This is okay as Monogram Chans go. The supporting cast is pretty good for this studio with Philip Ahn standing out. An interesting search for a mysterious "Captain K" makes it fun.