Charlie Chan in Reno

Mary Whitman seems to be a logical suspect in the murder of Jeanne Bentley. After all, she was found standing over the body. And Jeanne was the "other woman" and the reason Mary was getting a divorce. On the surface, there seems to be little doubt of Mary's guilt. But Charlie Chan sees it all quite differently. He sees a hotel full of suspects who wanted Jeanne out of the way. Can he find the real killer before Mary is convicted of a crime she didn't commit?

Sidney Toler's second outing as Charlie Chan is a solid effort and an improvement over his first. I'm not exactly sure how to put this, but Charlie Chan in Reno is just more interesting. The plot, suspects, and setting all appealed to me. The pacing is nice with very few dull moments. I particularly enjoyed Chan's visit to the ghost town. The supporting cast is strong with Phyllis Brooks and Ricardo Cortez being the standouts. And Iris Wong as the dead woman's maid and Jimmy Chan's love interest is a delight. But one thing I really enjoyed about Charlie Chan in Reno is the way the finale is handled. I've often complained about the "cheat" endings of Chan films (and I should probably stop and just accept it as a given), but the ending here is played much straighter than some of the other entries in the series. If you're sharp enough, you actually have a chance to spot the killer before Chan's big reveal. Unfortunately, I am not that sharp.

When an old friend's wife, on the eve of their divorce, is accused of stabbing her rival to death, Chan flies by China Clipper to solve the case.

But the scene of the crime, a hotel catering for divorcees, is full of suspects such as Wally Burke, whom the victim had rejected and humiliated in public, the mysterious Dr. Ainsley, who seems to share a dark secret from the past not only with Jeanne, but also with Mrs. Russell.

Matter of fact, there's plenty of suspects, which makes things a mite confusing as is the whole thing about the acid bottle, but maybe it's just me and I am no different from the slow-witted Wild West Sheriff (Slim Summerville) who keeps on saying, "horse feathers," and is the typical useless policeman you find in these mysteries for the sake of humour - the overly eloquent cab driver (Eddie Collins) is another comic relief.

It's a good Charlie Chan entry with the murder happening in the capital of divorce. It's quite fun and engaging with Number two son getting romantic with Iris Wong.

Sweet but sorrowful Pauline Moore arrives in Reno for her divorce. At the hotel she quickly meets Ricardo Cortez, suave doctor, and Phyllis Brooks, a kind of "social director" at the hotel, who urges her into the lounge for a drink. Also on the scene are Robert Lowery, earnest young socialite, and Kay Linaker, a more serious-minded guest—and the vulgar and tipsy Louise Henry, the would-be future husband of Moore's current spouse, who manages to insult all of the other characters within the space of about two minutes. Not surprisingly….

The nasty woman is shortly thereafter found murdered in her room. Pauline Moore is—unfortunately for her—found standing over the still-warm body; on the plus side for Moore, however, is her old friendship with the great Charlie Chan—who on hearing of her arrest immediately drops everything in Honolulu (he has been working in the police lab on an Easter egg) and flies over to Nevada to assist. He is accompanied by Kane Richmond, Moore's estranged—yet basically solid—husband.

It's a nice ensemble cast, a good mix of suspects. Keeping an eye on them all is Sheriff Slim Summerville, who goes by the name of "Tombstone," is suspicious of everyone, and is pretty much clueless. He is good comic relief, as is—

Sen Yung, back as Jimmy Chan, now a student at USC who borrows a car and sets out for Reno when he gets word that there's a case on. Along the highway, he gets highjacked and loses his car and his clothes….And one of the funniest scenes in the Chan series has got to be the moment when Jimmy, picked up by the cops, walks out under the lights in a police lineup wrapped in a blanket—and his recently-arrived pop is in the audience with the Reno chief.

Once released, Jimmy has a cute romance with hotel maid Iris Wong. "Does honorable father think you're too young to smoke?" she asks as he (amateurishly) lights up a cigarette. "Oh no, I'm no kid," Jimmy insists. "I help him solve his cases." Of course, he has a few ideas on this case as well….

Sidney Toler is fine at the center of it all, bantering with suspects, flattering the sheriff, tut-tutting Jimmy. Eventually, he gathers all of the suspects together for a climactic scene that is quite suspenseful and nicely satisfying.

Very enjoyable. It may be a formulaic series entry—but at this point they sure had the formula down right.

After a poor start with "Charlie Chan in Honolulu", Sidney Toler made a good come back with this, his second Chan film. This one is set in the divorce mecca. It has a particularly effective, atmospheric sequence in a ghost town. Ricardo Cortez is good in a supporting role. And Sen Yung is fun as Jimmy. Toler was just warming up for his masterpiece, the next film in the series, "Charlie Chan at Treasure Island."

Although this story got a bit confusing early on and was impossible to figure out with so many suspects, it still was very enjoyable to watch because of the humor.

Between Charlie's proverbs and just some humorous remarks - many by Charlie's Number Two Son "Jimmy" (Sen Yung) and "Sheriff Tombstone Fletcher" (Slim Summerville) - it's a very entertaining Chan episode. Summerville played a pretty funny lawman.

The movie also had a couple of very pretty women, most notably Phyllis Brooks.

Overall, here's another Chan mystery just crying out for DVD packaging. Hopefully, we'll get it soon.