Black Magic (1944 film) - Misplaced Pages

1944 mystery film starring Sidney Toler directed by Phil Rosen

Black Magic
Film poster
Directed by	Phil Rosen
Written by	Earl Derr Biggers (characters) George Callahan (screenplay)
Produced by	Phillip N. Krasne James S. Burkett
Starring	Sidney Toler
Cinematography	Arthur Martinelli
Edited by	John F. Link Sr.
Music by	Alexander Laszlo
Production company	Monogram Pictures
Distributed by	Monogram Pictures
Release date	August 14, 1944 (1944-08-14)
Running time	67 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Black Magic, later retitled Meeting at Midnight for television, is a 1944 mystery film directed by Phil Rosen and starring Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan.

It was the third Charlie Chan film made by Toler at Monogram Pictures.

Plot

Charlie postpones his trip home from service with the government to Honolulu to help with the investigation of murder involving Number One Daughter (Frances Chan) and an easily spooked chauffeur (Mantan Moreland).

Mr. William Bonner is murdered in the middle of a seance with a total of 8 witnesses, seen and unseen, present. Charlie Chan's daughter Frances Chan (real name Chan) is one of the witnesses and is detained. When police learn of Frances's true identity as Charlie Chan's daughter, he is summoned to police headquarters. The police offer the case to the famous Chinese Detective and he reluctantly agrees in order to get his daughter released. The police cannot find a gun anywhere in the house. Police then learn from the coroner that Mr. Bonner was shot and the bullet did not go all the way thorough, yet it is not lodged anywhere in the body. The seance room is supported by a gadget room to assist in the various ghostly appearances. Birmingham Brown's comedy with the various seance gadgets serve to link the movie audience with a "me too" bond which is very warm and human. Since there was no gun and no bullet, Charlie Chan has the Coroner perform an experiment to determine what might have happened. The case is solved when the murderer brushes up against Charlie Chan in a reenactment of the crime with Charlie Chan sitting where the murdered man was sitting.

Cast

Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan
Mantan Moreland as Birmingham Brown
Frances Chan as Frances Chan
Joseph Crehan as Police Sgt. Matthews
Helen Beverly as Norma Duncan / Nancy Wood (as Helen Beverley)
Jacqueline deWit as Justine Bonner
Geraldine Wall as Harriet Green
Ralph Peters as Officer Rafferty
Frank Jaquet as Paul Hamlin

Reception

The Los Angeles Times said the climax was "unusually absorbing".

References

Black Magic Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 12, Iss. 133, (Jan 1, 1945): 2.
Chan Solves New Crime Los Angeles Times 1 Sep 1944: 10.

External links

Black Magic film details at The Charlie Chan Family Home
Complete film at Internet Archive
Black Magic at IMDb
Black Magic at the TCM Movie Database
Black Magic at AllMovie
Black Magic at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

v t e Charlie Chan by Earl Derr Biggers
Novels	The House Without a Key (1925) The Chinese Parrot (1926) Behind That Curtain (1928) The Black Camel (1929) Charlie Chan Carries On (1930) Keeper of the Keys (1932)
Films	The House Without a Key (1926) The Chinese Parrot (1927) Behind That Curtain (1929) Charlie Chan Carries On (1931) The Black Camel (1931) There Were Thirteen (1931) Charlie Chan's Chance (1932) Charlie Chan's Greatest Case (1933) Charlie Chan's Courage (1934) Charlie Chan in London (1934) Charlie Chan in Paris (1935) Charlie Chan in Egypt (1935) Charlie Chan in Shanghai (1935) Charlie Chan's Secret (1936) Charlie Chan at the Circus (1936) Charlie Chan at the Race Track (1936) Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936) Charlie Chan at the Olympics (1937) Charlie Chan on Broadway (1937) Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo (1937) Charlie Chan in Honolulu (1938) Charlie Chan in Reno (1939) Charlie Chan at Treasure Island (1939) City in Darkness (1939) Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise (1940) Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum (1940) Charlie Chan in Panama (1940) Murder Over New York (1940) Dead Men Tell (1941) Charlie Chan in Rio (1941) Castle in the Desert (1942) Charlie Chan in the Secret Service (1944) Charlie Chan in the Chinese Cat (1944) Black Magic (1944) The Shanghai Cobra (1945) The Red Dragon (1945) The Scarlet Clue (1945) The Jade Mask (1945) Dangerous Money (1946) Dark Alibi (1946) Shadows Over Chinatown (1946) The Trap (1946) The Chinese Ring (1947) Docks of New Orleans (1948) Shanghai Chest (1948) The Golden Eye (1948) The Feathered Serpent (1948) Sky Dragon (1949) The Return of Charlie Chan (1973) Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen (1981)
Television	The New Adventures of Charlie Chan (1956-57) The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan (1972)
Related	Chang Apana

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