Steineded How sad is this?

ThrillMessage There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

Lucia Ayala It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

gridoon2018 "Red Dragon" is one of the better Monogram entries in the Charlie Chan series, because it presents a genuinely puzzling enigma (one shot, two bullets....no gun), and also has one of the most likable inspectors whom Chan has ever worked with (there is a mutual respect between them, and he doesn't speak with an overdone Mexican accent for comic effect). But Chan has no witty lines, and the killer seems to be picked out of a lottery - there is no logic that would lead Chan, or the viewer, to this particular conclusion. ** out of 4.

bkoganbing Some bad science characterizes this Monogram Charlie Chan feature with Sidney Toler. The other thing that characterizes this film is the temporary absence of chauffeur Birmingham Brown on vacation to be sure. Mantan Moreland is replaced as Chan chauffeur by Willie Best, another member of the Brown family who hails from Chattanooga.Charlie, Chattanooga, and son Benson Fong as Tommy Chan are in Mexico City on a case. Charlie was to meet a contact there who was murdered an hour before meeting Chan and Mexican detective Fortunio Bonanova is there to break the bad news. Two more murders occur before this is all solved. I do have to say that the weapon used is quite a unique gadget, firing bullets, but hardly from a traditional gun. Of course you have to get up close and personal with your target before moving a distance away to fire the weapon. And no guarantee as to how the bullet will be aimed. You'll have to see the film to know what I mean.Originality in weaponry is one thing, but the science is appalling here. The object of the Chan search is some hidden document noting a discovery of an unknown atomic element of a higher grade than Neptunium or Plutonium which they say were discovered during the Manhattan Project Research. Not so, not so at all, but I imagine few physicists went to see Monogram Pictures.Such sinister types as Charles Trowbridge, Don Costello, Barton Yarborough, George Meeker, and Marjorie Hoshelle are around and with enough mysterious background to have everyone looking twice. Marjorie Hoshelle later married Jeff Chandler, here she's the mysterious Countess Irena, fake royalty, but good nightclub singer.The Red Dragon shows the decline in quality when the Charlie Chan series went to Monogram, still even with the bad science it's hardly the worst one out there.

Michael O'Keefe When an attempt is made to steal important papers that reveals the discovery of a new element that could possibly be used in making the Atomic Bomb, Charlie Chan is summoned by Police Inspector Cavarro(Fortunio Bonanova)of Mexico City. Chan(Sidney Toler) is accompanied by his Number Three son Tommy(Benson Fong)and driver/assistant Chattanooga Brown(Willie Best)and immediately arrives at a murder scene. Guests at a luncheon party hear a gunshot, but two bullets are discovered. Murdered is an undercover agent with the U.S. Government working as a secretary to a mysterious Alfred Wyans(Robert Emmett Keane); but are his papers still safe? Murder suspects at the party include a Countess, an international smuggler, a singer, a Nazi propagandist and a former gunrunner. Some say this is one of the worst Chan movies, while others strongly disagree. The murder weapon is quite inventive. Other players include: Carol Hughes, Barton Yarborough, George Meeker, Marjorie Hoshelle and Don Costello.

classicsoncall One shot, 2 bullets, no gun - that's the common denominator in three separate murders being investigated by Charlie Chan in Mexico City. The motive for the murders is a set of research notes and a formula for an atomic bomb which the killer is after. Adding to the mystery is the fact that there are no rifling marks on the bullets that found their victims.This is a very stiff, almost painful to watch Chan film. The acting is halting and abrupt, even for the experienced members of the Chan family, Sidney Toler in the Chan role and Benson Fong as Number #3 son Tommy. Willie Best appears as Chan chauffeur Chattanooga Brown, cousin of Mantan Moreland's Birmingham character in the prior seven Monogram Chans.There is virtually no meaningful investigation to solving this case, a sample of the mechanism that houses a remote controlled bullet mysteriously turns up in Charlie's pocket; the detonator is disguised as a thermostat. Of course, if you're a fan of Charlie Chan, you'll have to view this film to be a completist, but once is probably enough.There is one redeeming factor to this movie though - Sidney Toler cuts a mean rumba!