Tue 27 Jan 2026
Archived Movie Review: DOCKS OF NEW ORLEANS (1948).
Posted by Steve under Mystery movies , Reviews[2] Comments
DOCKS OF NEW ORLEANS. Monogram Pictures, 1948. Roland Winters (Charlie Chan), Virginia Dale, Mantan Moreland, John Gallaudet, Victor Sen Yung. Based on charcaters created by Earl Derr Biggers. Director: Derwin Abrahams.
A chemical manufacturer hires Charlie Chan to help investigate the trouble he’s gotten into after agreeing to handle a mysterious overseas assignment, then dies under strange circumstances before their appointment the next morning.
The is some semblance of a locked room mystery here, but I don’t think it occurred to anybody involved. Happy to say, I figured out who the killer was and how he did it, even before Charlie’s number two son starts up rousing rendition of “Chop Chop Boogie.”
— Reprinted from Movie.File.2, April 1988.
February 1st, 2026 at 3:17 am
Winters made more effort as Charlie than “just squinting” as he is sometimes accused but low budget, too much comedy relief, and often tired plots didn’t give him much to work with, or Mantan Moreland and Victor Sen Yung.
February 4th, 2026 at 5:32 am
Yeah, Dave, for some reason, when Roland Winters took over as Chan, Monogram cut down Mantan Moreland’s screen time drastically, to the detriment of the films as a whole.