Charlie Chan in Shanghai

While visiting China, Charlie Chan finds himself the guest at a banquet in his honor. At the banquet, a man is murdered. Now Charlie and "Number One Son" Lee must investigate. This is one of the best of the Charlie Chan series. A nice mystery coupled with some humor and more action than usual for the series. Keye Luke is great in his second appearance as Lee. He was sorely missed in Egypt. Warner Oland is pitch-perfect, as always. We even get to hear him sing! Solid support from pretty Irene Hervey, Halliwell Hobbes, Russell Hicks, and Jon Hall in a very early role (billed under his real name Charles Locher). Just a fun story for fans of classic detective movies.

This is one of Warner Oland's best, in my opinion. I found it to have a very clear plot line with a neat twist at the end, albeit somewhat predictable. Oland made a terrific effort and Keye Luke was marvelous, without being "over the top". They could have left the singing out, though.

This is an engaging whodunit with a particularly charming back and forth between Warner Oland and Keye Luke. A good bit of action as well, with some some fisticuffs and bang bang. I was intrigued by several occasions where Chinese is spoken, although it appears none of it was critical to the plot. Certainly it is appropriate considering the locale in Shanghai. Some good little surprises here and there, with Charlie always ahead of everyone else in spite of a couple of perilous encounters.

If you like this series in general, you should be quite pleased with this entry. Warner Oland is, at least I think, the best Chan, showing warmth and wit and a playfulness his antecedents seem to lack.

If you want to see him dance, get the Red Dragon. If you want to see him sing, look no further. I like this one, it's one of the lesser seen early Chan films. This one had a bit more rough-housing than the the others. The shot of Lee Chan flying down a stairway in mid leap is great. It was always one of my most memorable Chan scenes.

This time, Charlie Chan pays a visit to China, the home of his honorable ancestors - and lands, of course, in Shanghai, the biggest and most infamous (and most dangerous) port in the world, an Eldorado for crimes of all kind, and especially for opium-smuggling...

The officials give a big banquet in Charlie's honor - where his old friend and colleague Sir Stanley Woodland, who'd been after the smuggling ring, is murdered in front of everybody's eyes. From that point on the story becomes more and more complicated, the suspects more and more, until even the most seemingly honest man - and woman - isn't above suspicion anymore...

Charlie's son Lee once again - when he's not busy flirting with girls on the telephone - gives his father VERY valuable assistance, until the whole intricate puzzle is solved in a shady shack on the waterfront...

Magnificently acted and photographed, with lots of moments of great suspense - and of great surprise, when it comes to revealing the identities of the 'heads' behind this big smuggling ring... An absolute 'must' for fans of classic crime in general, and of course of Charlie Chan in particular!