The Scarlet Clue (Monogram) (1945)

MONOGRAM PICTURES presents SIDNEY TOLER. THE CAST Charlie Chan. SIDNEY TOLER Birmingham ‘icin ‘MANTAN MORELAND BEN CARTER Tommy Chan. BENSON FONG Mrs. Marsh. ek ths VIRGINIA BRISSAC Capt. Fivnn <0 t eos Willie Rand. Bie a JACK NORTON Sore BaVRG nes .. JANET SHAW Didne Hall. Sas HELEN DEVEREAUX VICTORIA FAUST Wilbur Guccier: ae eS REID KILPATRICK Ralph Brett. See I. STANFORD JOLLEY Sinclair... MILT KIBBEE -CHARLES JORDAN Carlos.... LEONARD MUDIE Sergt. McGraw CHAS. SHERLOCK RUMOR SPIKER Sidney Toler, star of “The Scarlet Clue,” latest of the Charlie Chan series of mystery-comedies coming to the theatre starting oNg eset egmie-s ge (6.8 eum table discussion of the war every noon on the Monogram sound stage where the picture was filmed. news His fellow workers looked to him as an authoritative interpreter of propaganda techniques, and rightly so. During World War I, Toler was with the Bureau of Propaganda as a rumor chaser-downer. It was part of German strategy to spread rumors of American defeats, and it was Toler’s job to find out from where they came. MANTAN. MORELAND | BENSON CARTER FONG | _NO DISGUISE CREDITS | In Hollywood, where many of Produced by JAMES S. BURKETT Directed by PHIL ROSEN Production Manager WILLIAM STROHBACH Photographed by the top stars frequently walk under the very noses of autograph hounds without being recognized, Sidney | | Toler, | who comes to the theatre, starting Charlie Chan in Monogram’s ‘The Scarlet Clue,’ latest picture in the classic series of the Chinese super | Scarlet Clue,” WILLIAM SICKNER Edited by RICHARD CURRIER Technical Director | DAVE MILTON Musical Director EDWARD KAY Sound Recording TOM LAMBERT Original Screenplay by GEORGE CALLAHAN invariably is public. That trim paint when cameras. THE STORY (Not for Publication) The murder of a suspect being followed by Capt. Flynn (Robert Homans), while investigating a plot to steal secret radar plans from the government, starts a series of murders by the “manager” of the plot, who is unknown even to his own accomplices. Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) traces the murder car to radio actress Diane Hall (Helen Devereaux) whose sponsor, Mrs. Walter Marsh (Virginia Brissac), will not cooperate with the investigators. Another actress, Gloria Bayne (Janet Shaw), is killed by a mysterious gas while in a crowded studio, when she tries to blackmail station manager Ralph Brett (I. Stanford Jolley) with evidence that he was at the scene of the first murder. Chan's bungling assistant, his son Tommy (Benson Fong), and servant, Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland), catch janitress Hulda Swenson (Victoria Faust) in suspicious actions. At the radio station, Moreland and Ben (Ben Carter) do a comedy routine. Later, when suspicion for the crime falls on Brett, his unknown “manager” lures him to his death by springing a trap door in the elevator, and his body is found in the radar laboratory. The safe there has been robbed. Actor Willie Rand (Jack Norton) is also murdered during a broadcast, before he can tell Chan of a clew he has unearthed. Announcer Wilbur Chester (Reid Kilpatrick), suspect who gave the murdered persons their last cigarettes, is released by police, when Chan closes in on the real killer. Ingenious death machines are found in microphones. Dressed in the “monster” costume of actor Horace Carlos (Leonard Mudie), the “manager,” who turns out to be Mrs. Marslk falls into her own elevator death trap. sleuths’ adventures, is one star who recognized by the little mustache and goatee, and those shrewd, piercing eyes, which identify Charlie Chan to the nation’s movie-goers, are not the creations of a studio makeup artist. They really belong to Toler, who requires almost no theatrical he works befere the Produced by JAMES S. BURKETT Directed by PHIL ROSEN Original Screenplay by GEORGE CALLAHAN Suggested by EAM DERR MOGGERS Chorocter ra Death Traps Snap At Charlie Chan (Advance) The latest scientific methods for getting rid of persons who stand in the way of an arch-murderer are put to effective use in “The latest of Monogram’s Charlie Chan series, coming to the theatre on Sidney Toler is the great film detective, the target of the murderous efforts of the head of a gang plotting to steal secret radar plans from the government. The chiller is set in a radio station and radar research laboratory, where the killer devises all sorts of tricky gadgets to finish off his victims by remote control. Helping Chan find the clues which will bring the killer and his associates to justice is the hit Ne | gro comedy team from Bob Burn’s |radio show, Mantan Moreland and talented also put in a of detective work, as “number three son.” Ben Carter. Benson Fong, young Chinese actor, few licks Chan’s When Toler, Moreland and Fong start closing in on the leader of the gang—whose identity is so well concealed that even his associates do not know who he is—the death traps start snapping. Included in the capable supporting cast are Virginia Brissac, Robert Homans, Jack Norton, Janet Shaw, Helen Devereaux, Victoria Faust and Reid Kilpatrick. The comedy-mystery was directed by Phil Rosen for producer James S. Burkett. Original story and screenplay, based on the Earl Derr Biggers character, were written by George Callahan. VETERAN Sidney (Charlie Chan) Toler, now being seen at the theatre in Monogram’s murder comedy, “The Scarlet Clue,’ hates to be called a veteran actor, although he has worked in films and on the stage for over 35 years.