Charlie Chan: Mord über New York

I love the Chan series but it takes an element of disbelief. You have to either accept (or ignore) the fact that Charlie never seems to spend much time in Hawaii (making one wonder what the Honolulu PD actually pays him to do) and much like Philo Vance or Nick Charles, has some sort-of official status everywhere he goes. And if you watch enough of these, you begin to see the same Fox contract players popping up over and over again as red herrings, jilted lovers and "adventuresses." This '40 entry has Charlie coincidentally meeting up with an old friend (bad omen--- his friends have a shorter life expectancy than the doomed red shirted yeomen beamed down in Star Trek episodes) Scotland Yard on a plane en route to a police convention. Charlie enlists himself in solving his friend's murder and by default, the case he was working on. No. 2 son Jimmy Chan (played by 25-year old Victor Sen Yung) seems to exist to state obvious inane comments or offer wildly improbable facts--- most notably identifying a new poison gas by smell (he must be a whizz undergrad back in California). Watch for Shemp Howard as a phony Hindu in a line up and future Captain Marvel Frank Coghlan Jr. in a bit part as a coat room clerk in a men's club. This is a fair entry but suffers somewhat from the lack of an exotic setting (Paris, Berlin... Reno!) or the occasional supernatural elements found in several of the others (...Egypt, ...Secret, Castle in the Desert). It's one of the most straight forward whodunits of the entire Fox films.

In watching the entire Charlie Chan canon, there is one consistent issue. That is the trust that Charlie puts in his own son. There are at least five goof ups due to him; not to mention his constantly tampering with evidence and shooting off his mouth. I realize that these are part of the comic relief, but sometimes they cross over into potential danger for other people. Putting that little complaint aside, this was quite an entertaining offering. It involves sabotage once again. There is a test plane at the center of it and concern that someone may try to put a wrench in the works. The use of poison gas is front and center and the identity of a man known for his terrorism. We have the repeated business of a person in authority wanting the spotlight, but Chan is ultimately in control. I like this one.

Charlie Chan flies in to New York for the big police convention. His flight lands, he's greeted by old friend Inspector Vance (Donald MacBride), and who should come rushing out onto the runway but—Jimmy Chan?

Sidney Toler and Sen Yung are excellent as always as Pop Chan and Number Two Son. Jimmy, it turns out, has come to New York with a college buddy to see the World's Fair—he figured he could ask permission once he got there.

The Chans are soon on a case, this one jump started—as is frequently the case—by the murder of a fellow detective. Their investigation delves into the suspicious crash of a newly designed airplane, a deadly supply of poison gas pellets, and the usual assortment of suspicious characters.

Donald MacBride offers good support as the police detective who looks to Mr. Chan for guidance and is even impressed with Jimmy Chan's detecting abilities. (The elder Chan is dubious but resigned: "Aid from number two son like interest on mortgage…impossible to escape.")

Ricardo Cortez is an executive with the company building the new planes; Kane Richmond an engineer; Robert Lowery and Marjorie Weaver a frightened young couple; and Joan Valerie (who had just appeared in a different role in the previous Chan movie) an actress mixed up in it somewhere. —No shortage of familiar faces for B movie fans, that's for sure.

It's a nicely worked up plot, and the couple of action sequences are well staged and exciting. The series was really rolling along at this point—and this entry is no disappointment.

Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) is full of clever sayings in Murder in New York, from 1940. Also starring is Sen Yung as Jimmy Chan. They make a delightful team. Jimmy shows up unexpectedly while Charlie is in New York to attend a conference. He and a friend of his want to attend the World's Fair.

It's not long before both Chans are on a case, when a friend of Charlie's, a detective, is murdered. Soon they're in the midst of the investigation of a sabotage ring, people being killed by poison gas pellets, an airplane crash, and plenty of suspects. The police ask Charlie to stick around and help. I don't think he gets to his conference, and Jimmy doesn't see the World's Fair, at least not yet.

Donald McBride, Ricardo Cortez, Kane Richmond, Robert Lowery, Marjorie Weaver, and Joan Valerie are all featured.

It's a fair mystery, enlivened by Charlie's witty dialogue. Frankly, any one of these films that has something to do with the war basically have similar plots: sabotage, missing formulas, spies, that type of thing.

Sidney Toler is in good form. I have to say I prefer Warner Oland, who seemed to exhibit more energy and was more upbeat. Toler's humor comes from his sardonic line delivery and good chemistry with the actors. Both brought something special to the role.

Whether the story is bad, good, confusing, whatever, with stereotypes abounding, somehow these films are always enjoyable.

Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) is headed to a police convention in New York City when he reconnects with an old colleague on the plane ride. The old friend is now working for British military intelligence in the war effort, and he tells Charlie that he's on the trail of saboteurs after bomber planes. When Chan's buddy ends up murdered, Charlie takes on the case.

This Chan entry, the last of four released in 1940, has a few unusual characteristics. The most obvious is dropping the "Charlie Chan" name from the title. In fact, even in the opening credits Toler's name is listed last. Director Lachman had helmed Charlie Chan at the Circus back in 1936, and his return to the series sees some distinctive visual touches, like a more mobile camera; heavy (if at times corny) use of shadows, with menacing disguised figures lurking behind our hero; and lots of close-ups of actors giving suspicious looks. It's enjoyable if one doesn't take it too seriously, but it can seem almost comical. The cast is good, although Cortez is wasted.