Philip Ahn Movies

Although released after The Shadow of Silk Lennox, this ultra low-budget mystery thriller was the first film in which Creighton Chaney used the billing Lon Chaney, Jr. The actor was persuaded to change his name by producer Ray Kirkwood, who promised to make 24 action melodramas with him as the star. Only two were actually made, however, and Scream in the Night did not enjoy a wide release until 1943, when Chaney had become Universal's newest horror sensation. Detectives Jack Wilson (Chaney) and Wu Ting (Philip Ahn) are tracking the famous jewel thief Johnny Fly (Manuel Lopez) to Singapore, where Fly has stolen a priceless ruby belonging to lovely Edith Bentley (Sheila Terry). Wu Ting is murdered by one of Fly's underlings, the deformed Butch Curtain (also Chaney), and Edith gets herself kidnapped. Bearing some resemblance to the killer, Wilson manages to infiltrate the gang and free the girl. Kirkwood and director Fred Newmeyer obviously counted on Chaney, Jr. to deliver the goods as the deformed Butch Curtain, but Lon was not in a league with his legendary father no matter how hard he tried. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Stranded in Shanghai, orphaned Ching-Ching (Shirley Temple), the ward of Chinese missionaries, is rescued from harm by playboy Tommy Randall (Robert Young). Through a series of unbelievable but entertaining circumstances, Ching-Ching inadvertently stows away on a boat bound for San Francisco, which happens to include Tommy on the passenger list. During the long voyage, our heroine plays little-miss-fixit for the shipboard romance between Tommy and Susan Parker (Alice Faye). The two marry to give Ching-Ching a proper home, but their clashing personalities lead inexorably to the divorce court. Once again, however, Ching-Ching saves the day, this time with the assistance of twinkly-eyed Judge Booth (J. Edward Bromberg). Stowaway is the one in which Shirley dispenses oriental aphorisms a la Charlie Chan, speaks Chinese, and offers imitations of Eddie Cantor, Al Jolson and Fred Astaire. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Anything Goes is a fun-filled but hardly faithful adaptation of the same-named Cole Porter Broadway musical, with additional songs by Hoagy Carmichael, among many many others. Set on a luxury liner, the story gets under way when Moonface Mullins (Charlie Ruggles), Public Enemy No. 13, slips on board disguised as a bishop. As he weaves in and out of the story, Billy Crocker (Bing Crosby) romances Hope Harcourt (Ida Lupino), titled Englishman Evelyn Oakleigh (Arthur Treacher) also pursues Hope, and brassy entertainer Reno Sweeney (Ethel Merman) chases after Sir Evelyn. Critics in 1934 complained that the original Broadway production's Victor Moore was replaced by Charlie Ruggles, but none could fault Ethel Merman's rendition of "I Get a Kick Out of You", nor her duet with Bing Crosby, "You're the Top" (the only two songs retained from the Porter score!) Anything Goes was remade in 1956, again with Bing Crosby, and again with little fidelity to the original (this remake required MCA Television to retitle the 1936 version as Tops is the Limit). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Anna May Wong, who cornered the 1930s market in Eurasian heroines, stars in Daughter of Shanghai. Wong is on the trail of the criminals who murdered her father. The villains are running an illegal-alien operation, smuggling cheap Chinese and Mexican labor into San Francisco and killing those unlucky souls who prove "inconvenient". Wong takes a job as an exotic dancer in a Central American nitery, hoping to trap the murderers in the act. Though J. Carroll Naish and Buster Crabbe are top-billed, the actual hero of Daughter of Shanghai is Chinese actor Philip Ahn, playing an FBI agent protecting Wong from the bad guys. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A couple of American soldiers of fortune are hired by the wife of a Chinese general to deliver a priceless diamond to a shopkeeper in Shanghai in this low-budget whodunit from the RKO "B"-unit. Just as the gem reaches its destination all hell breaks lose. When the dust settles, the diamond is gone and Tom Baldwin (Vinton Haworth) and sidekick Joe Dugan (Gordon Jones) are left with a group of highly suspicious witnesses. The entire assembly, including pretty but mysterious Jane Dunn (Constance Worth), then boards a liner headed for San Francisco. After several shipboard murders and the revelation that Jane is a custom agent, the culprit is caught red-handed. A lady detective ought to have made a refreshing change but, sadly, China Passage delivers few surprises and the armchair detective is never truly tested. Usually a supporting player of little merit, Vinton Haworthproves a rather weak-chinned hero and is certainly no match for the ash-blonde Worth, an Australian actress turned Queen of Hollywood B-movies. The rest of the supporting cast perform their assignment in the expected manner, Dick Elliott being the standout as an eternally tipsy traveler. China Passage was directed by Edward Killy, who later helmed the studio's series of Tim Holt B-Westerns. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The second of eight 1930s films based on J. P. Marquand's Japanese detective, Thank You, Mr. Moto finds Moto (Peter Lorre) coming to the aid of Chinese royalty. The last remaining members of an ancient Chinese clan (Pauline Frederick and Philip Ahn) have in their possession six of seven scrolls, which when put together reveal the secret hiding place of Genghis Kahn's treasure. Moto has the seventh scroll, which he sneaks into Peking in hopes of contacting the family. The villains torture and kill the Chinese royals, then lure Moto to a rendezvous on a Chinese river junk. Moto is aided in thwarting the villains by the quick thinking of ingenue Jayne Regan; then, rather than risk the scrolls falling into the wrong hands and thus disgracing the Chinese family who died for their sake, Moto burns all seven parchments. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on Will Gould's popular comic strip, the 13-episode Universal serial Red Barry stars Buster Crabbe in the title role. Detective Barry is galvanized into action when $2,000,000 worth of bonds is stolen from an unnamed Asian country. Among the villains involved are prima ballerina Natacha (Edna Sedgewick) and criminal mastermind Quong Lee (Frank Lackteen). Forming an uneasy alliance with criminologist Vane (Hugh Huntley), Barry pursues the miscreants up hill and down alley. Also on Barry's side is intrepid girl reporter Mississippi (Frances Robinson), who makes Lois Lane seem shy and retiring. Seldom pausing for breath, Red Barry remains one of the most memorable of the Universal chapter plays. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sidney Toler made his first appearance as aphorism-spouting oriental sleuth Charlie Chan in 1938's Charlie Chan in Honolulu, while Victor Sen Yung likewise makes his series debut as Charlie's Number Two Son Jimmy. While awaiting the birth of his first grandchild, Chan endeavors to solve a shipboard murder on a Hawaiian freighter. Hint: the most likely suspect is played by George Zucco, so it's safe bet that he's not the guilty party. Hampering Chan's investigation is the well-meaning assistance of overeager Charlie Chan Jr. (Layne Tom), as well as the dangerous menagerie of animal trainer Al Hogan (Eddie Collins). Audiences immediately warmed to Sidney Toler as the new Charlie Chan, encouraging 20th Century-Fox to keep the series going as long as possible. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The gathering war clouds in the late 1930s prompted a number of Hollywood films about recent political upheavals, one of which was 20th Century-Fox's Barricade. While fleeing war-torn China by train, two Americans-singer Emmy Jordan (Alice Faye) and journalist Hank Topping (Warner Baxter)-are attacked by Mongol bandits. United in danger, Faye and Baxter fall in love as they attempt to escape the American embassy where they're holed up. More than one reviewer noted that Barricade resembled a modern-dress western, with the Mongol hordes substituting for American Indians. Also noted was the fact that the film had been completed as a nine-reel "A" picture in 1938, undergoing drastic cutting and script revisions before it finally emerged in its present truncated 71-minute form. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Akim Tamiroff plays the title role, an underworld leader who controls all illicit operations in Chinatown. Tamiroff is toppled from power by two members of his own mob (Anthony Quinn and J.Carroll Naish). He is left for dead, but is saved by a dedicated Chinese-American doctor (Anna May Wong). In gratitude, Tamiroff turns over his fortune to a Chinese war relief fund. King of Gamblers was directed with flair by the otherwise unimaginative Nick Grinde, who seems to have borrowed several artistic touches from fellow Paramount contractee Robert Florey. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

They Met in Bombay is a typical MGM star vehicle, in which the leading players are called upon to carry a pencil-thin plotline on the force of sheer personality. Clark Gable and Rosalind Russell play Gerald Meldrick and Anya Von Duren, a pair of rival jewel thieves at large in India. Both parties are after the same prize, a priceless diamond owned by the Duchess of Beltravers (Jessie Ralph). To inveigle their way into the Duchess' confidence, Gerald poses as a Scotland Yard detective, while Anya pretends to be an aristocrat. After several reels of cross-purposes, hero and heroine decide to team up, keeping one step ahead of a diligent police inspector (Matthew Boulton) and mercenary freighter captain Chang (Peter Lorre). Both Gerald and Anya betray the nobler sides of their natures in the final reels, participating in a pitched battle against invading Japanese military forces. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A lively espionage drama that reunited the stars and director of the previous year's The Maltese Falcon, Across the Pacific was originally envisioned as the story of a Japanese invasion of Hawaii. Real-life events of December of 1941, however, precluded such a scenario and the location was changed to the Panama Canal. For reasons known only to Warner Bros., the title was retained despite the fact that none of the action takes place in the Pacific. Humphrey Bogart plays Rick Leland, a disgraced ex-army man, who, after being turned down by the Canadian military, jumps a Japanese steamer bound for the Panama Canal Zone. Also onboard are Alberta Marlow (Mary Astor), a small-town girl claiming to be en route to Los Angeles; Dr. Lorenz (Sydney Greenstreet), a corpulent sociologist with a suspiciously friendly regard for all things Japanese; and Joe Totsuiko (Victor Sen Yung), a happy-go-lucky second generation Japanese-American on his way to visit the old country. But no one is exactly who he or she claims to be and the voyage from Halifax via New York City to Panama becomes a matter of life and death for the passengers in general, and for the future of the United States in particular. Director John Huston was forced to leave the film three weeks into the four-week shooting schedule when summoned to report to the Department of Special Services. According to Huston, he purposefully placed Humphrey Bogart's character in a highly precarious situation and left it up to his replacement, Vincent Sherman, to come up with the solution -- which Sherman did in an especially fiery climax. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The first of Columbia's "B" wartime melodramas for their Summer 1942 schedule was the largely speculative Submarine Raider. Set in the early stages of the war, the film makes several suppositions concerning the events surrounding the Pearl Harbor attack which don't entirely hold up when seen today. According to the screenplay, a Japanese aircraft carrier en route to Hawaii takes time out to shell an American yacht, killing all the passengers except for heroine Sue Curry (Marguerite Chapman). Fortunately she is rescued by a passing submarine, wherein she falls in love with sub commander Chris Warren (John Howard). Apprised by Sue of covert Japanese naval movements, Warren tries to alert Pearl Harbor of the impending sneak attack. Failing to do so, he spends the remainder of the picture trying to sink that enemy aircraft carrier introduced in Reel One (both sub and carrier are "played" by unconvincing scale models, bobbing up in down in Columbia's studio tank). Nino Pipitone, in real life a Philippine horse trainer, plays the black-hearted Japanese commander. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide