The Chinese Cat (1944)

When a man (Sam Flint) is murdered in a room locked from the inside, police are unable to solve the case. After a book is published accusing his wife (Betty Blythe) of the murder, her daughter (Joan Woodbury) appeals to the detective Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) to find the real killer. This Charlie Chan murder mystery from poverty row studio Monogram starts off nicely but at about the halfway point, it becomes clear this is just another routine "B" programmer. One begins to lose interest in the who and why of the killing and sits back enjoys the minor pleasures, notably Mantan Moreland and Benson Fong as a cab driver and no. 3 son respectively. Moreland may be playing a politically incorrect stereotype but there's no denying the man had crack comedic timing. Not one of the better Chan vehicles, for completists only. With Ian Keith, Weldon Hayburn and Daisy Bufford.