''Sky Dragon'' (also titled ''The Sky Dragon'' and ''Murder in the Air'') is a 1949 American

mystery film A mystery film is a film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur Detective, sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means of clues, ...

, the sixth in which Roland Winters portrayed

Charlie Chan Charlie Chan is a fictional Honolulu Police Department, Honolulu police detective created by author Earl Derr Biggers for a series of mystery novels. Biggers loosely based Chan on Hawaiian detective Chang Apana. The benevolent and heroic Chan ...

. Directed by

Lesley Selander Lesley Selander (May 26, 1900 – December 5, 1979) was an American film director of Western (genre), Westerns and adventure film, adventure movies. His career as director, spanning 127 feature films and dozens of TV episodes, lasted from 1936 to ...

, it is the last Chan film in the long-running series that originated in 1930 with

Fox Film Corporation The Fox Film Corporation (also known as Fox Studios) was an American independent company that produced motion pictures and was formed in 1914 by the theater "chain" pioneer William Fox (producer), William Fox. It was the corporate successor to ...

production of '' Charlie Chan Carries On'', starring

Warner Oland Warner Oland (born Johan Verner Ölund; October 3, 1879 – August 6, 1938) was a Swedish-American actor. His career included time on Broadway and numerous film appearances. He is most remembered for playing several Chinese and Chinese-American ...

Mantan Moreland Mantan Moreland (September 3, 1902 – September 28, 1973) was an American actor and comedian most popular in the 1930s and 1940s. He starred in numerous films. His daughter Marcella Moreland appeared as a child actor in several films. Ear ...

provides

comic relief Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...

as Chan's assistant and chauffeur, Birmingham Brown.

Plot

( Roland Winters) and Number One Son, Lee (

Keye Luke Keye Luke (; June 18, 1904 – January 12, 1991) was a Chinese-born American actor, and a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild. He portrayed Lee Chan, the "Number One Son" in the Charlie Chan films, the original Kato in the 1939–1941 ...

), are passengers aboard a commercial airliner headed for

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. Also on board are two insurance couriers who are carrying a shipment of $250,000. Minutes after drinking coffee that was served, everyone on board the plane falls asleep, including the crew. Lee is the first to awaken and he notices a limp hand protruding from the cockpit door. A closer look reveals that one of the couriers has been stabbed to death and that the insurance money he was carrying is missing. After the plane safely arrives, Chan and son, along with assistant, Birmingham Brown (

), take on the case.

Cast

* Roland Winters as

as Birmingham Brown *

as Lee Chan *

Milburn Stone Hugh Milburn Stone (July 5, 1904 – June 12, 1980) was an American actor, best known for his role as "Doc" (Dr. Galen Adams) on the Western (genre), Western series ''Gunsmoke''. Early life Stone was born in Burrton, Kansas, to Herbert Stone an ...

as pilot Capt. Tim Norton * Joel Marston as copilot Don Blake *

Lyle Talbot Lyle Talbot (born Lisle Henderson, also credited Lysle Talbot; February 8, 1902 – March 2, 1996) was an American stage, screen and television actor. His career in films spanned three decades, from 1931 to 1960, and he performed on a wide ...

as Andrew Barrett, passenger on

DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...

Iris Adrian Iris Adrian Hostetter (May 29, 1912 – September 17, 1994) was an American stage and film actress. Life and career Adrian was an only child, born in Los Angeles, California, to Florence (née Van Every) and Adrian Earl Hostetter, who wed in 1 ...

as Wanda LaFern, burlesque dancer and airline passenger * Elena Verdugo as Wanda's sister Connie LaFern and former wife of Andrew Barrett, stewardess using the alias Marie Burke * Paul Maxey as John Anderson, investigator for the insurance company *

John Eldredge John Eldredge (born June 6, 1960 in Los Angeles) is an American author, counselor, and lecturer on Christianity. He is known for his best-selling book '' Wild at Heart''. Life and work Eldredge received his undergraduate degree in theater from ...

as William French, owner of the insurance company * Tim Ryan as Lt. Mike Ruark *

Noel Neill Noel Darleen Neill (November 25, 1920 – July 3, 2016) was an American actress, pin-up girl, and model. She played Lois Lane in the film serials ''Superman'' (1948) and '' Atom Man vs. Superman'' (1950), as well as the 1950s television series ' ...

as Jane Marshall * Lyle Latell as Ed Davidson

External links

* *
''The Sky Dragon'' film details
a
The Charlie Chan Family Home
1949 films American black-and-white films Charlie Chan films Monogram Pictures films Films directed by Lesley Selander American aviation films 1949 mystery films American mystery films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films English-language mystery films {{mystery-film-stub