| The real deal |
I cannot add anymore to the praise that others have heaped on this series.
On a personal note, I was brought up thinking that Sidney Toler was the definitive Charlie Chan, because that's what I see on Saturday afternoon TV. I wasn't sure that I would like Warner Oland. No problem. Each actor brings something slightly different to the role, and despite my first preferring Sidney Toler, I think that I now prefer Warner Oland.
The movies each come in their own pack: this isn't one of those turn-it-over-for-the-next-movie deals.
I'm not a big one for special features, but for those that like that sort of thing this has plenty of extras.
In fact, one of the pleasures of this set is that when I select "play movie" the next thing that happens is the original black-and-white FOX logo from the original movie and off we go. No annoying messages, disclaimers, and additional logos that so distract me with most of the recently released videos. These are done by someone who obviously loves Charlie Chan and wants nothing to interfere with the audiences' pleasure. |
5 Rating
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| Charlie Chan on Three Continents |
Charlie Chan in London is one my favorite movies in the series. The opening grips you when you discover that a young man is about to be executed for a murder he claims he didn't commit. Only his sister believes in his innocence, and all avenues of escape seem closed after the Home Secretary turns down her appeal. But she begs Charlie Chan to see what can be done in the remaining three days.
Charlie is about to leave London but changes his plans to help the young people. Arriving at an English country manor, Charlie must examine the setting to find out what really happened. Only by finding the real killer can the young man be saved.
It all looks pretty bleak until Charlie re-creates the crime and begins to pick up clues. A rattled murderer soon begins making mistakes.
The mystery is a hard one to solve, and you won't identify the killer much before Charlie does. The continual tolling of time adds real suspense and drama to the investigation.
One of the strengths of this movie is that excellent character actors are allowed to steal scenes, in the best tradition of 30's movies: A supercilious and suspicious butler wants to keep Charlie out of the house; a drunk and his wife provide humorous by plays making fun of English pretentiousness; and a not-too-bright police detective has trouble with Charlie's name and following what Charlie tells him.
Drue Leyton is solid in the role of Pamela Gray, sister of the accused man. Her leading man, Ray Milland, is somewhat weak in his role . . . not yet having developed into the suave, assured actor he later became. But it's fun to see Milland as a young actor.
The setting is well done. With one exception (driving in a car with the steering wheel on the left), all the settings ring true for being in England. Especially good for local color is a fox hunt complete with full kit, dogs, and a fox.
If you watched this movie as a youngster as I did, I'm sure it will also provide some nostalgia by helping you remember how you reacted to the movie the first time you saw it.
Charlie Chan movies are an acquired taste. I'm assuming that you have that taste or you wouldn't be looking at this review of the video of Charlie Chan in Paris.
I hadn't seen this movie in over 30 years, and I was curious to see if my obsession with Charlie Chan had survived. I must report that I'm still hooked.
Why? The plot is extremely compact, complex, and well developed. Even knowing who did what to whom, I was fascinated to see the story unfold.
I expected to be bothered by the treatment of Charlie as a Chinese American, but that was handled with reasonable aplomb. Charlie is obviously the smartest guy in the room, and everyone figures that out pretty quickly. Once they know him, they all love Charlie. There's one scene early on where Charlie is patronized by a new acquaintance, but he handles it all with grace. The rest of the time, Charlie receives the kind of treatment that a detective king might command. Warner Oland graciously takes it all as his due.
Those who love Keye Luke who played Lee Chan in the series will be pleased to see that he has a good sized role in Charlie Chan in Paris.
Those who love Apache dancing will enjoy that scene.
What really shocked me was how poorly the film represented Paris. Aside from some French names and a pair of Apache dancers, no one in the film seems to be French. The effort is most amateurish except for an interesting trip through the Paris sewers which is rigged with an unexpected gag.
Charlie Chan in Egypt is based on an original screen play so don't look back into any of the Earl Derr Biggers' novels for insights into this plot. This film is one of the last ones done by Warner Oland, the original actor who portrayed Charlie Chan. In this movie, the studio was obviously trying to tell a good story without spending much money. The result is surprisingly good.
Having not seen this movie for many years, I was concerned when I saw that Stepin Fetchit was in the cast. Although the role certainly plays on stereotypes about African-Americans (laziness, fearfulness, and drunkenness), the effect wasn't nearly as bad as I feared from some of the other movies in the series where Chinese stereotypes are much too deeply reinforced. Stepin Fetchit comes across more like a reasonable man who is put upon by foolish employers than as an ex-slave who cringes at the sight of a white man.
The strength of the movie comes in the excellent atmosphere created by visiting an Egyptian crypt and a professor's laboratory inside a darkness-shrouded house. There's a heavy mood of danger and dread that infects the actors and the story. You'll get hints of curses, crooks, and obsession. The atmosphere is superbly set in context by having Charlie arrive by plane and taking a barn-storming tour over the Sphinx and major pyramids.
Like the best of the Charlie Chan stories, this film has some excellent science involved to help explain the mysteries and murders.
An unexpected treat is to have the young Rita Hayworth (playing under the name of Rita Cansino) decoratively walking across the rooms in an attractive native costume. Although no one will mistake her for an Egyptian, she certainly adds to the scenery.
The film's main weakness is that the identity of the murderer is pretty easy to figure out.
The DVD also has a short feature on an exemplary Chinese-Hawaiian detective in Honolulu who was operating there when Earl Derr Biggers visited the islands. Biggers probably got the idea for having a Chinese detective from this man, but little else seems to have been based on the real detective who mostly worked on drug and gambling cases in the Chinese community and was famous for carrying a bull whip to enforce the law.
Charlie Chan in Shanghai has one of my favorite opening scenes in the series. A group of young children are playing leapfrog on a liner deck. The camera slow pans back to reveal that Charlie Chan is folded over on the deck waiting for the youngsters to leap over him.
From that playful interlude, the mood soon darkens as a stranger slips a note into Charlie's pocket warning him not to get off the ship in Shanghai. Naturally, Charlie isn't perturbed . . . until threatened by the thought of having to make a speech at a welcoming dinner in his honor that night.
At the dinner, his local contact leans over to tell Charlie that he has important news to share. They agree to meet after the event. But death intrudes. Charlie doesn't know where to go next because his contact had not alerted him to what the issue was that summon Charlie to Shanghai.
Charlie begins investigating the murder on his own and seems to have ruffled more feathers. With quick wits he escapes from a kidnapping.
Much humor is supplied by the presence of eldest son, Lee Chan, played by Keye Luke, who repeatedly slows down progress by hogging the telephone with his girl friend. The other gags involve Lee dressing as a beggar and conducting surveillance on Charlie's behalf.
Eventually, Charlie realizes that he's up against an opium-smuggling ring and starts to track the ring down through the men who kidnapped him.
The ending is full of suspense and action.
Part of the fun of this story is that Charlie gets a chance to speak Chinese and to be on home turf compared to the Europeans and Americans who are doing business in China. It would be great fun to see a remake of this movie, updated for today's China. Presumably, the smuggling would involve pirated copies of Microsoft programs instead of opium.
The plot is a little on the light side, and the mystery isn't quite mysterious enough to be completely satisfying. But all Charlie Chan buffs will be glad to see this movie.
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4 Rating
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