Castle in the Desert
Year: 1942
Genre: Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Director: Harry Lachman
Cast: Sidney Toler, Victor Sen Yung, Lenita Lane, Douglass Dumbrille, Steven Geray, Edmund MacDonald
Crew: Harry Lachman (Director), Richard Day (Art Direction), Bernard Freericks (Sound), Harry M. Leonard (Sound), Virgil Miller (Director of Photography), Thomas Little (Set Decoration)
Runtime: 62 minutes
Release: Feb 02, 1942
IMDb: 6.80/10 by 15 users
Popularity: 1
Country: United States of America
Language: English
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0

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.