Torchy Blane in Chinatown (1939)

So much average

Simply Perfect

As Good As It Gets

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

A hic-cup in the Torchy Blane series, Torchy Blane in Panama (1938), droped the Farrell-MacLane combo in favor of Lola Lane and Paul Kelly. Despite an ingeniously fast-paced script and admirably deft direction by William Clemens, this entry was not popular with audiences who clamored for the restoration of the team, Farrell and MacLane.Never one to disappoint the picturegoing public, producer Bryan Foy rushed his original stars into Torchy Gets Her Man (1938). On this excursion, Torchy uncovers the brains behind a counterfeiting racket. Another tightly-written script, another great assembly of top-notch character players, plus - would you believe? - a really outstanding music score. Glenda Farrell so enjoyed getting Her Man with director Bill Beaudine who encouraged her to set a new record in speedy dialogue delivery, she specifically asked Bryan Foy to assign him to Torchy Blane in Chinatown (1939). Many critics actually regard this entry as the best in the series. Certainly the support line-up headed by Henry O'Neill, Patric Knowles and James Stephenson surpassed even the highest standards of the other entries. Just the presence of James Stephenson alone guaranteed a high audience impact. Stephenson, who was on the verge of major stardom after his riveting performance in The Letter (1940), died in 1941 just as he was about to reach the top. A stage-trained actor with a magnetic personality, rugged yet soulful features and an expressive voice of unique timbre and resonance, Stephenson never gave a less than compelling performance in his life.

I'm always drawn to 40s B movies about wisecracking investigators, but some are better than others, and this one is definitely a lesser example of the genre. Farrell's performance as brassy reporter Torchy feels thin, and the lead detective is bland, although I rather liked the odd romance between the two.Tom Kennedy, on the other hand, was quite amusing as a doofus cop.As for the story, well, it was really moronic. Of particular note was how terrible the lead cop was, constantly assuring people he would protect them and failing to do so, yet never losing confidence and, more amazingly, never getting in trouble. And no one ever said, "I don't trust you because you gave the same assurances to the last guy" (although ultimately you could make a case for why that ultimately makes sense).I think that will be it for me and Torchy Blane movies.

Glenda Farrell really shows up the police department in Torchy Blane In Chinatown. She's got the whole thing figured out long before the cops get wise. Of course interestingly enough the apprehension of the villains themselves is a really good idea cooked up by Barton MacLane.Henry O'Neill plays a US Senator who is a collector of Chinese jade and when he purchases some jade death masks he gets threats, the unsigned note threats and in Chinese. Fortunately Patric Knowles is around to translate the threats.Their ancestors graves have been defamed, but a little American hard cash will sooth the ancestor's feelings and be good for their descendants as well. It all smells pretty bad, but it's Torchy Blane who catches the right whiff.Tom Kennedy as Geohagen once again steals the show. Seeing Kennedy in New York harbor rowing that boat to the final rendezvous was quite a sight.If Torchy could figure it out you can too. Even with that the film is still kind of fun. And MacLane comes in handy in the apprehension. You have to see what he uses.

This is the seventh film in the Torchy Blane series (though one review erroneously says it's the fifth) and it has an advantage over the previous films. Here there are some excellent supporting actors that previous movies in the series lacked. Henry O'Neill, James Stephenson and Patric Knowles all are on hand in supporting roles.The plot seems very much like one that you might have in a Charlie Chan or Mr. Moto film, though the film actually is a remake of MURDER WILL OUT (1930). It involves some rare jade tablets and threats that are supposedly from Chinese people who are angry that these priceless treasures were taken from the graves they adorned.As usual in the last few films, Torchy and her police lieutenant boyfriend work against each other instead of together like they did in the first few films in order to solve the crimes. This is a shame, as this is pretty much the same pattern MOST B-detective films fell into during this era--with heroes such as the Falcon, Boston Blackie and the Lone Wolf doing their own investigations since the cops are morons.By the way, with the one murder attempt involving cigarettes, this might be one of the silliest and most contrived bits I've seen in a film like this in a long time. The doctor begins choking and feeling ill when he starts smoking. Suddenly another person at the funeral grabs the cigarette from the doctor's mouth and announces "it has the sign of the golden dragon!!". And, it just so happens that the doctor has the antidote to the poison at his home! And, it just so happens that someone substituted the antidote with water! And, it just so happens that none of this makes any sense--especially when a bullet to the brain is a lot easier. It all was just too convenient and contrived to be believable.Despite this being so contrived, the mystery itself turned out to be a pretty dandy one. In fact, the film would have earned a 7 had they not had this silly poisoning segment.