Chinatown Nights is a 1938 British science fiction film directed by Anthony Frenguelli and starring Harry Agar Lyons, Anne Grey and Robert Hobbs.[1][2] It was written by Nigel Byass and Frederick Reynolds.
| Chinatown Nights | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Anthony Frenguelli |
| Written by |
|
| Story by | Kaye Mason |
| Produced by | Nell Emerald |
| Starring |
|
Production company | Victory Films |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures Corporation |
Release date |
|
Running time | 70 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
Lyons plays the evil Dr. Sin Fang, a character that he had played earlier in a 1928 six-picture film series produced by Pioneer Productions (see the actor's filmography).[3]
Preservation status
editThe British Film Institute's National Archive holds no ephemera, stills or film or video materials.[1]
Plot
editOn the eve of her marriage to John Byrne, Sonia Graham is hypnotised and abducted by Boroski, the son of Chinese criminal Sin Fang, who is seeking a formula invented by Sonia's brother. Mrs. Higgins, housekeeper for the Byrnes, discoveres the criminals' whereabouts, and together with a policeman they infiltrate their headquarters, but Fang blows up the building. Sonia escapes capture from Boroski and she and John are reunited.[4]
Cast
edit- Harry Agar Lyons as Doctor Sin Fang
- Anne Grey as Sonia Graham
- Robert Hobbs as John Byrne
- Nell Emerald as Mrs. Higgins
- Arty Ash as Professor Graham
- George Mozart as Bill
Reception
editKine Weekly wrote: "Crude, involved story of abduction and hypnotism with Chinese atmosphere. At least, the mainspring of the villainy and the venue of the plot are represented as having a Chinese origin: but we seldom seem to be out of a rather exotic film studio, and neither the plot nor the characters have any recognisable likeness to reality. ... Anne Grey is the conventional heroine caught in absurd situations: Robert Hobbs, the distraught bridegroom; and Henry Agar Lyons and Edgar Picrce porfray the Chinese villains in preposterous make-up."[4]
The Daily Film Renter wrote: "Disjointed, under-directed, and lacking in production values. ... Quite what one is supposed to do with this disjointed mélange of crude melodrama is a mystery, for not even the most unsophisticated juvenile patron can digest a series of apparently unrelated happenings, put over with an entire lack of conviction. ... The photography is passable, otherwise the picture lacks even the elementary principles of entertainment."[5]
References
edit- 1 2 "Chinatown Nights". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 4 April 2026.
- ↑ "Chinatown Nights (1938)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
- ↑ Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 334. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
- 1 2 "Chinatown Nights". Kine Weekly. 253 (1615): 27. 31 March 1938. ProQuest 2339644428.
- ↑ "Chinatown Nights". The Daily Film Renter (3427): 4. 29 March 1938. ProQuest 2826338577.