Lechuguilla Theft of radium from a bank vault, a jukebox containing a camera, and a switchboard supervisor that understands Morris code figure into this murder mystery featuring Sidney Toler as the inimitable Charlie Chan. The story follows the same whodunit theme as other Charlie Chan mysteries. And I wish I could recommend this film; but I can't.The script is poorly written. I about tore my hair out trying to figure out who's who with these various story characters and how they related to each other, if at all. Suspects are poorly defined. There's very little suspense here. The plot is somewhat mangled with unexplained occurrences. Some unnecessary scenes could have been either shortened or deleted.The B&W lighting also is not high quality. Though the noir atmosphere at the very beginning is atmospheric, the lighting is so dark the viewer can hardly distinguish character faces in outdoor scenes. High contrast lighting is also too severe in underground segments.The "cobra" is actually a person that inflicts a small cigarette lighter device containing poison into the victim. It's an imaginative plot hook, but hardly realistic. Beyond that story hook and a couple of funny Birmingham character scenes, the poor script and outdoor lighting render "The Shanghai Cobra" below average in the Charlie Chan series of whodunits.

gridoon2018 The opening is promisingly atmospheric: rain, a shadowy street, a woman who looks like she might be a femme fatale, a man watching her from his car, another man whom SHE seems to be following, a coffee shop with a jukebox whose other end looks like a movie theater (!), and cryptic dialogue between the three. But after one of the men dies and Charlie Chan is brought into the case, "The Shanghai Cobra" becomes a deadly dull mystery. The "how" at least turns out to be somewhat creative, but the "who" doesn't seem to matter much! (the chief bad guy is barely in the film). The only bright spots are Chan's witticisms and putdowns of his Number Three Son ("Pop, I want to talk to you as man to man" - "I am ready, but you still have few years to go"!). Thankfully, Mantan Moreland is kept relatively in check this time around. ** out of 4.

tedg The Chan series gives few pleasures. But you can find them if you want.This has two features to recommend it. One is a rather incredible opening scene, with much more mystery and puzzle than usual for any detective movie of the type. It includes something that I have never seen before. I have no idea if such a thing actually existed. Its a jukebox with a sort of tunnel TeeVee camera in it with a girl at the other end in an office. Sort of a video switchboard operator and DeeJay. She can literally see through the front of the jukebox. Its a truly strange notion. See it for that.The second interesting feature is that the victims are killed in an elaborate way, using cobra venom and hidden needles that are a marvel of technology.All else is typical Chan, workmanlike and ordinary.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

BaronBl00d Not one of Monogram's better(not trying to be amusing here either)Chan entries. The Shanghai Cobra has a lot going for it, but, in the end, is just way too confusing and cluttered to be overly satisfying. The film opens with a murderer named the Shanghai Cobra having already struck twice and now is about in a scene at a diner in some way. We have a guy, a girl, and another guy having some implied connection when one guy dies in the streets. Yes, I am simplifying things here for the sake of brevity, for this really is at the core of the problems with this film - it has too much going on without any real, fulfilling explanation. I haven't even gone into the diner cook who has some involvement and a juke box that talks to you and has a screen and everyone doesn't seem to have a problem with that! All this is in the first five minutes or so. Then Chan enters film working for the government and flying out to help a friend. He also has right to check a bank's store of radium and is looking for a man wrapped in bandages that he helped arrest in Shanghai many years earlier. I found the plot very involved as stated earlier. Toler is back as Chan. He is ever affable. Benson Fong and Mantan Moreland are back too. Both do good jobs and are quite amusing. But the convoluted plot just didn't convince me, and much of the film was watched with a weird, questioning glance. This isn't a bad movie not just a very interesting one except for the most devoted of Chan fans.