(CASTLE IN THE DESERT, USA 1942) - This final entry in 20th Century-Fox's "Charlie Chan" series is set in a huge mansion, smack-dab in the middle of the Mojave desert. When snoopy weekend guest Professor Gleason is murdered, every member of the household falls under suspicion-none more so than Mr. Manderly, the surly and highly secretive master of the household. Charlie Chan and number two son Jimmy stumble into this nest of vipers and quickly get to work trying to unravel the mystery, which involves a collection of priceless artifacts and an old-fashioned torture chamber. An excellent series entry, Castle in the Desert would have been a worthy screen finale for the inscrutable Mr. Chan, impersonated by Sidney Toller, who has a quite peculiar manneirism in delivering the lines that I personally like very much. One curiosity in this movie is the presence of Ethel Griffies, the ornithologist in Hitchcock's THE BIRDS.
