Charlie Chan at The Wax Museum

This is possibly my favorite Charlie Chan film.

This one has Chan showing up at a wax museum in order to be part of a radio program where an unsolved murder will be discussed. Unknown to Chan is the fact that the museum is actually a front for a plastic surgeon who changes the faces of wanted criminals, including one that Chan just helped to send away, or would have had he not been shot and "killed" in an attempt to escape. As the night progresses Chan will have to not only deal with the murder on the radio, but the potential murder of the great detective himself.

Creepy in an old dark house sort of way, things remain nicely light and airy thanks to Chan's son Jimmy who as always is an equal mix of help and hindrance. As with many of the Chan's the mystery really isn't that mysterious, its more about watching the characters do what they do best, Jimmy Chan get into trouble, his father save the day and the bad guys prove they are nowhere near as clever as they thought. Its just a great deal of fun.

Brief thougts on Charlie Chan at the Circus

With possibly the best sense of place in the entire series this is another one of the films that is near the top of the entire run of Chan films.

The plot has Chan and some of his sons getting involved in the dark happenings in and a round a circus. The film manages to walk the fine line between being both light and dark. You have the humor of Number One Son's attempts to help, but you also have the seriousness of the main mystery. sometimes the two tones don't work together, but here they do and the result is truly satisfying.

I really like this film a great deal and in a twisted sort of way think that this would be nicely paired with Todd Brownings Freaks, with which it shares a setting and some of the same actors.

Stay AT Home Fest Bonus Film: Charlie Chan in Treasure Island

The master sleuth solves a crime

Charlie Chan at the Olympics (1936)

If you view the Chan films in order there is actually a weird around the world trip that happens. Its almost as if Chan is moving from place to place in one trip. Its clear from the internal details that time has passed between adventures, but at the same time its as if Chan is taking the long way home to Hawaii.

This stop is in Germany where Chan is visiting his son who is on the US Olympic team during the infamous Berlin Games. Chan is sucked into the mystery as a favor to one police organization or another, since at this point in the series he was still a detective with the Honolulu police force.

Amazingly watching the film one loses ones self in the mystery (which has to do with the theft of a military guidance system) and completely forgets the darkness that would devour the world. Here the Nazi's are the good guys, almost comedicly so.

One of the better Chan films is most certainly worth a bag of popcorn and a glass of soda.

Charlie Chan's Secret

More serious Charlie Chan story has the detective going it alone as he tries to solve the mystery of a missing heir. The mystery becomes a question of murder in short order and the detective tries to find the killer before he is the next victim.

Atypical Chan is undeservedly forgotten, even by me. I remember the film not because of what it is, a cracking good mystery, rather because of what its not, a film with little humor and no of his kids to help him. Its a wonderful change of pace that marked a break from the formula that would dominate most of the films in the series. The film also has one of the best mysteries, as in the plot of what is really going on, in the entire 40 plus film series.. Closer in a way to the darkness of some of the later films, this is one of the Chans thats really is perfect for a dark and rainy night. Recommended

Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936) Fantasia 2017

Charlie Chan at the Opera was one of the later Fox productions of a Charlie Chan story. Made at a time when the series was worth of big budgets and big stars the film is a grand mystery of the sort they don't make any more.

The film has Chan getting involved with the murders happening in and around an opera house. It seems that a crazed composer (Boris Karloff) has escaped from the asylum and plans to kill the man who wronged him.

Its a wonderful production that is so lavish that the studio actually has a mini opera written just for the production. It looks and feels impressive and will surprise you if you've only seen the public domain ones not the ones that Fox produced.

As a Chan film, it's one of the best. There is a genuine mystery here and the characters while stock still manage to grab you.To be certain the there had been a lot of films in the series -this is the thirteenth of forty four, but the film still had a lot of life in it and it wouldn't really begin to become mechanical until later into Sidney Toler's run at Monogram. Fox cared about the films and made sure that they were quality products because they were a cash cow for the studio.

The shame of the Chan films is that they are viewed as being un-PC. While that may be true on some level it has to be remembered that Chan is always the smartest guy in the room. It is a something that the early entries in the series made clear. By now the series was set so they didn't need to emphasize it. (So as a result the portrayal when stripped of the previous film always looked questionable)

Regardless this is a great film and fun mystery

Recommended

The film plays July 30 as part of the Sherlock Holmes vs Charlie Chan screening at Fantasia. For tickets and more info go here