by Ted Davis
Directed by: Clive Donner
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!
Synopsis: When a series of bizarre murders occur in San Francisco, the legendary detective Charlie Chan (Peter Ustinov) comes out of retirement to assist the completely and comically harassed and overmatched Police Chief Baxter (Brian Keith), who is down to his his last nerve ending. The accomplished and venerable Chan also lends a much needed helping hand to his bumbling and likable grandson Lee Chan Jr. (Richard Hatch), whose own private eye practice is an embarrassing failure. It’s a race against time as the two Chans team up to expose the gruesomely creative murderer before all the nightclubs in the city are wiped out.
Kitty Cameo: Earlier in the story, a very determined little girl, Maysie Ling (Alison Hong), delivers a beating to the unfortunate Lee Chan because he hasn’t found her lost cat, a sequence which pays off at the end of the movie when Charlie Chan gives a wedding gift to Lee and his wonderfully ditzy and beatific bride Cordelia (Michelle Pfeiffer). The timely present is Lala, the lost orange tabby, who Lee is delighted to receive. When Lee asks how he found the cat, Charlie responds dryly, “Not easy,” and sucks his index finger where the cat evidently nipped him.
When Lee leans over the cat to hug his grandfather, Lala snarls in complaint and Charlie understandably flinches. Afterwards, the happy newlyweds drive off to their honeymoon with the cat.
Final Mewsings: Not sure Lala will enjoy being the third wheel on Lee and Cordelia’s honeymoon.
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