Why so much hype?

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

When the strange death of three employees of the same bank from cobra venom startles the police, they start remembering a similar case that had occurred in Shanghai eight years before - and they think that the only one who can identify the killer named Jan Van Horn that had escaped before the trial back then is Charlie Chan, because it was him who'd caught him. But Charlie, once called in for help, explains that the convict had been burnt badly in an accident and his face has probably changed completely; and besides that, he'd always insisted that he'd been framed...But one thing becomes clear pretty soon: there IS something going on in connection with the bank, where a large and immensely valuable amount of radium is stored; and, strange as it sounds, there also seems to be something wrong with the laundry next door, and the coffee shop across the street - and its jukebox...! And when Charlie, Tommy and Birmingham finally find out that there's a secret passage to the bank leading through the underground sewers, they get into a REALLY tight spot there...This 'Charlie Chan' movie definitely has got a BIG 'touch' of Noir, from dark, rainy streets to a ruthless gang of killers to a genuine 'tough guy' private eye (well, he finally turns out not to be so tough after all...) - only the gags that Tommy and Birmingham, and even Charlie himself, deliver, lighten up the otherwise really 'black' and pretty suspenseful atmosphere. But after all the perils are overcome, and the RIGHT guys have been convicted, we get to see an ending that CERTAINLY is one of the funniest of ALL 'Charlie Chan' films!

Yet another Charlie Chan B-Pic from Poverty row Monogram Pictures.This time around Chan (Sidney Toler) is given the task of investigating the Murder of three Bank workers from Cobra venom, and in the same bank the Federal Government keeps valuable Radium in its Vaults worth several Millions of Dollars - The case has similarities to one Chan investigated in Shanghai 8 years earlier, although the main suspect vanished without a trace at the time.Also along for the ride are No.3 son Tommy (Benson Fong) and Assistant Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland).This 40's B-Pic by Low budget Studio Monogram Pictures is a pretty good Chan release, The Acting is above average and not as Wooden as in other episodes, There is more action and greater care in the Script and production this time and there are plenty of scenes in different locations rather than just a few rooms and despite the re-using of sets time and again (You'll notice rooms here that have been in other Monogram Chan Releases, even with the same pictures on the walls) all in all 'The Shanghai Cobra' is done with enough enthusiasm to make it pleasantly enjoyable.*** out of *****

Director Phil Karlson gives this Charlie Chan mystery the Film Noir treatment. Otherwise, business as usual with Sidney Toler playing America's favorite Hawaaian detective. Chan is summoned to investigate several murders concerning wartime radium. A group of bank employees where deposits of radium is held for safe keeping mysteriously die. It appears each has been injected with deadly cobra venom. Chan remembers a similar case that happened earlier and the only clue he has is a man with a white streak down the middle of his otherwise jet-black hair. You can always depend on Tommy Chan(Benson Fong)and Chauffeur Birmingham (Mantan Moreland)to provide comic relief. You can't go too wrong with a Chan movie. Other players: James Cardwell, Joan Barclay, Walter Fenner and Addison Richards.

In 1937, Dan Van Horn was arrested in Shanghai for a murder in which the bite of a cobra was implicated. Van Horn escaped, never to be heard from again, although it's known that his face was badly burned in an accident.It's now eight years later, and three employees of the Sixth National Bank have turned up dead, all identified as victims of the "Cobra Killer". The bank contains stores of radium for laboratory and hospital use, and is the center of all the skullduggery. As we've seen before, Inspector Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) is alternately aided and confounded by his assistants, Number #3 Son Tommy (Benson Fong) and chauffeur Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland) - "You remain here until I find doghouse big enough to hold both of you". There are just enough characters and victims here to need a scorecard, and truthfully, that's about the only way one can follow the action. Add to that the device of moving a laundry storefront one door down from it's original location to further confuse the investigation. Van Horn (alternately referred to as "Dan" and "Jan"), is eventually revealed to be bank guard John Adams, who with his undercover daughter Paula Webb, have trailed the real Cobra Killer to the United States in an attempt to clear his name. The cobra device turns out to be not one, but two different gimmicks - a poisoned needle on the knob of a coffee shop juke box, and a similar set of needles on a cigarette lighter used to dispatch a detective working the bank building. The real Cobra Killer is a chemical engineer with an office at the bank, but as usual, his identity is only revealed at the end of the film, with only his profession providing a clue to the mystery. The Shanghai Cobra is a nifty entry into the Charlie Chan series at Monogram (this is the 6th film), but view it with some suspension of belief, as any number of the scenes and elements in the film rely on a stretch of the imagination.