As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

...even though it was a Ralph M. Like production and even that was a better joke than any featured in the film. Billy Gilbert had an early role as dim witted Dooley, the chief of police whose humour consists mainly of talking slang and sneezing at inappropriate times!! Even though forgotten today, Carmel Myers had a big career in the silents, going right back to the mid teens when as a young teen herself she worked at Universal. But by 1931, even though only in her early 30s, she was considered too old for leading lady parts and may have jumped at this chance to portray a character role. In this film she played Madame Ying Su, or Poppy, a smoothly seductive dragon lady.A real mish mash of a movie, begins abruptly with Ralph Bonner (Frank Mayo) being entrusted with a priceless heirloom, a Chinese dagger, that he has to bring to America so Lee Fong (Edmund Breese) can give his ward, Lotus, a chance to start life with her own people. Ralph, who realises he has been followed during the voyage, is killed after he hands the dagger over and soon Fong has been murdered as well. Enter Ralph's brother Jim (Rex Lease) who wants to find his brother's murderer and also wants to protect the vulnerable Lotus. He is shaping up as the lead suspect but he has his own ideas and is keeping a careful watch on Poppy who just happened to be nearby when both murders took place.I often wonder what these poverty row films would look like all cleaned up - maybe you could praise the authentic looking Oriental sets, the wall hangings and even the costumes. Unfortunately, no praise for this movie. Lotus is played by Barbara Kent who started off as an insipid leading lady but films such as "Lonesome" revealed her talent and hidden glamour.

I watched "Chinatown After Dark" (1931) with Carmel Myers, Barbara Kent, Rex Lease, Edmund Breese, Frank Mayo, and Billy Gilbert. Wow!! Utterly unbelievable! Gilbert as a sneezing cop - in a half-way serious role, although it's a light part - is simply over-the-top for modern audiences. Would possibly have played better 90 years ago. But it's up against a group of Chinese in America (all played by American Caucasians!) who are bad, bad, bad. Except for Lotus, played by beautiful Barbara Kent, who turns out to be white (her father died and only a Chinese man played by Edmund Breese would take her in and raise her - yeah, right...)... Story concerns a dagger that happens to contain a very large and beautiful - and extremely valuable - stone...hidden inside the dagger, of course...Rex Lease not playing a cowboy is something of a wonder in and of itself. His brother, played by Frank Mayo, has about as much energy as molasses dried on a plate. Carmel Myers, as a Chinese gang leader, is about as realistic as me being Chinese. Edmund Breese played Chinese several times - I've got him in several of these performances - and he's actually fairly good, although his part doesn't last very long.This not only was shot on the cheap, but it screams the fact to the viewer. In fact, the scream is so loud it may remind someone of insanity where a scream inside the head won't go away!! Some of the acting is so bad as to be laughable. The film, I must admit, however, is still fun to watch. I'm not sure why. But I could actually recommend this to early film lovers of the transition period from silent to sound. This one has most of the technical faults, and it's a good study piece for that reason. Otherwise, be warned. I'll leave it at that.

This is a low-budget B movie with a mostly unknown cast (other than Billy Gilbert in a small comic relief role). It begins with a man trying to buy a dagger from a man who has agreed to take this to Lee Fong. Although it seems of minor value, the man offers $1000 for it but is refused—after all the other man can't sell something that isn't his. But when he refuses, the guy tries to kill him and take it! Apparently this is SOME dagger! In fact, several more attempts are made on his life but somehow he is able to escape with his life. When the dagger finally is brought to Fong, the reason it's so desired is now apparent. However, at that moment, Fong is killed and the secret is stolen.Of special note is the character of Madam Ling Soo who might just be the worst character played by a Westerner imitating an Asian—and that's saying a lot. It is probably worse than John Wayne's impersonation of Genghis Khan or Katherine Hepburn as a Chinese peasant—mostly because her accent and acting are so utterly bad and ridiculous. Also, while I usually like Gilbert in films, here he plays a person so stupid and one-dimensional that he is a serious detriment to the movie—not that it was a great film to begin with, by the way.Overall, bad acting and a bad script make for a bad picture. This film is in the public domain and I can easily see why no one bothered to renew the copyright!

Detective Dooley (Billy Gilbert) explaining police procedure to Lotus (Barbra Kent): Dooley: When I get enough evidence on him I'll send him to the pen.Lotus: What pen?Dooley: Well it ain't the fountain pen!That's an example of the comedy relief in this movie and we could have gotten along very well if they had just stuck to the mystery and forgotten the . . . um . . . humour.Chinatown had been a source of mystery and imagination from silent movie days. To hear filmmakers tell it there was danger in every restaurant and a murderer lurking in every dark alley. This thriller from 1931 is no exception. The hero Jim Barton (Rex Lease, taking a break from westerns) is trying to locate his missing brother Ralph. Said brother was supposed to deliver an antique dagger which has a priceless jewel in the hilt to a certain Mr. Lee Fong. Just before delivering the dagger a mysterious hand fires a shot in the dark and when the lights come on Lee Fong is dead and Ralph and the dagger have vanished! Now Jim must find his brother and the dagger, not necessarily in that order. Detective Dooley, who is very tough but so dumb he could not find a bucket of sand at the beach, is certain Jim is the killer so Jim must dodge both the police and Madame Ying Su (Carmel Myers) to solve the mystery.Despite the low budget and the fact that "Chinatown" is an obvious backlot this is a well constructed picture. Jules Cronjager is a competent cameraman who makes very good use of the shadows. Director Stuart Paton does his job very well also. The lead Chinese characters are played by Caucasian actors in makeup but the "background" roles are handled by actual Chinese actors. If you like this film, and I suspect you will, you might also want to check out CAPTURED IN CHINATOWN (1933) and CHINATOWN NIGHTS (1929).