Name: Castle in the Desert
Genre: Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Released: 1942-02-02
Duration: 62 min
Rating: 7.1
Cast: Sidney Toler, Victor Sen Yung, Lenita Lane, Douglass Dumbrille, Steven Geray

Castle in the Desert

Charlie Chan, with son Jimmy on a week's pass from the Army, takes up a request for help at a castle-home, miles from anywhere in the American desert south-west and inhabited by an eccentric, reclusive historian and his wife, a descendant of Lucrezia Borgia. Once there, he finds the request's legitimacy denied by all who are present, but still necessary as one houseguest has already been murdered, the other guests are at each other's throat, and the Borgia-related chatelain is suspected...

CrimeMysteryThriller

DirectorHarry Lachman

WritersEarl Derr Biggers, John Francis Larkin

StatusReleased

LanguageEnglish

Release DateFebruary 2, 1942

Runtime1h 2m

Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) Collection

Includes: Charlie Chan in Honolulu, Charlie Chan in Reno, Charlie Chan at Treasure Island, City in Darkness, Charlie Chan in Panama, Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise, Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum, Murder Over New York, Dead Men Tell, Charlie Chan in Rio, Castle in the Desert, Charlie Chan in the Secret Service, Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat, Black Magic, The Jade Mask, The Scarlet Clue, The Red Dragon, The Shanghai Cobra, Dark Alibi, Shadows Over Chinatown, Dangerous Money, The Trap

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

June 26, 20227/10

I have to say that I rather enjoyed this - but boy, is it a far-fetched affair! This time "Charlie Chan" (an on-form Sidney Toler) and No. 2 son "Jimmy" are invited to a remote castle in the Mojave desert tp investigate some strange goings on. What adds to the mystery is that the owner of this spookily lit house - "Manderley" (the man that is, not the house) wears a partial mask to cover an huge scar obtained in an accident and his wife "Lucy" (Lenita Lane) is a distant descendant of the infamous Borgia family. What ensues plays all the best cards from a mansion house game of "Cluedo" with some intrigue emanating from the many Borgia legends (with some very interesting pronunciations) that they have tapped into - all involving deadly poisons and a ring... No electricity, no phone and loads of ancient instruments of torture help keep the suspense going, as do contributions from Douglass Dumbrille; rent-a-baddie Henry Daniell and the outrageous "Madame Saturnia" (Ethel Griffies). The ending, well that's quite amusing too - and all in all, it's a good hour of diversion.