(by classicsoncall on 10 October 2004)

"The Chinese Ring" is a passable entry in the Monogram series of Charlie Chan films, notable for Roland Winters' first time portrayal of the Oriental Detective. In a strange departure from the usual strong continuity between films, Victor Sen Yung is presented as Number #2 Son named Tommy; he was Jimmy in all of his prior Chan films with Sidney Toler. Number #3 son Tommy was portrayed in earlier movies by Benson Fong. Mantan Moreland is on hand as Birmingham Brown.
The intrigue involves the murder of Chinese Princess Mei Ling (Barbara Jean Wong) and her servant; the ring she uses to introduce herself to Charlie Chan is inscribed in Chinese - "Long life and happiness". Stunned by a poisonous dart, she manages to write the name of "Capt K" on a scrap of paper in Chan's study. The clue leads Chan and Sergeant Bill Davidson (Warren Douglas) of the San Francisco PD in two directions. Captain Kong of the S.S. Shanghai Maid brought the princess to this country, while Captain James Kelso is the owner of the Kelso Aviation Company. Both are in league with banker Armstrong, eventually revealed as the mastermind of a plot to sell, but not deliver airplanes to Mei Ling's brother, a field marshal for the Chinese Army.
This is a reasonably paced entry in the Chan series, particularly for Winters' first turn as the Oriental Detective. Louise Currie provides great support as reporter Peggy Cartwright, although she's embarrassingly pushed around by romantic interest Sergeant Davidson. The mystery is a lot easier to follow than prior Chan films, many of which had up to a dozen characters to keep track of; here it's all wrapped up pretty neatly by film's end.
***Added on 11/12/08 - Monogram Pictures originally made this film in 1939 as "Mr. Wong in Chinatown", with Boris Karloff in the role of the title detective. In that story, the 'Captain K' clue differed by one letter - 'Captain J'. Otherwise, it's pretty much the same story, even including a variation of my summary line above, citing a 'murder in the house of Mr. Wong'!