Sky Dragon (also titled The Sky Dragon and Murder in the Air) is a 1949 American mystery film, the sixth in which Roland Winters portrayed Charlie Chan. Directed by Lesley Selander, it is the last Chan film in the long-running series that originated in 1930 with Fox Film Corporation production of Charlie Chan Carries On, starring Warner Oland. Mantan Moreland provides comic relief as Chan's assistant and chauffeur, Birmingham Brown.
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Plot
Charlie Chan and Number One Son, Lee, are passengers aboard a commercial airliner headed for San Francisco. 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 Charlie Chan
Mantan Moreland as Birmingham Brown
Keye Luke as Lee Chan
Milburn Stone as pilot Capt. Tim Norton
Joel Marston as copilot Don Blake
Lyle Talbot as Andrew Barrett, passenger on DC-3
Iris Adrian 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 as William French, owner of the insurance company
Tim Ryan as Lt. Mike Ruark
Noel Neill as Jane Marshall
Lyle Latell as Ed Davidson