Charlie Chan at the Race Track

This is one of my favorites of the Chan series! Keye Luke as Lee Chan gave his funniest performance, in my opinion. His blabbering in Chinese when being led out of Charlie's stateroom; his antics while the fireworks are going off; notice how hard he hits one of the bad guys over the head with the bottle prop - really whacks him! Although I didn't care for the way the "Streamline" character was treated by some of the other cast members, this entry is entertaining! One of Charlie's great quotes - "Frequent spanking when young make rear view very familiar!"

... not that the other Charlie Chan films had simplistic plots, but this one was involved yet not confusing.

Charlie Chan gets word that an old friend of his, Major Kent, has been trampled to death by his horse Avalanche, onboard a ship bound for America, where Avalanche is to race at the Santa Anita racetrack. The fact that the major had sent Chan a wire about his suspicions about an illegal gambling ring, asking Chan to meet his boat when it docks in Honolulu to discuss the matter, makes Charlie initially suspicious. When he investigates the stall where the major was killed and notices that the blood spatter patterns do not match the story of how the major was killed, he becomes even more suspicious. So much so that he boards the boat to America so that he can further investigate.

This one has it all - a multitude of suspects, a very good plot, and plenty of Keye Luke as Charlie's oldest son, Lee. This time Lee is not just chasing girls. Instead he helps his dad quite a bit with the actual case. Of course, an involved plot requires involved investigation techniques by Chan, but his every move is explained to the audience as he is making them so that you can understand the approach taken. With Frankie Darro as an unfortunate jockey who gets in over his head, I'd recommend this one as the very best of the Warner Oland Charlie Chan films.

This 'Charlie Chan' movie, like so many others, picks a background for its 'usual' complicated murder mystery that's very attractive and familiar for a lot of people: horse racing. The scent of the stables, the sight of the 'noble animals', as Charlie calls them, the excitement of the race itself - that alone must be enormously stimulating for a big part of the audience.

But, unfortunately, just like with prizefighting and so many other sports, along with horse racing many times comes - the gambling racket. Because there are millions at stake just for that great little moment when the first horse crosses the finishing line... And the great favorite of the season is 'Avalanche', who belongs to Charlie's old friend Major Kent. But, at the big Australian racing event, although he wins he is disqualified for a foul - which obviously was caused intentionally by his jockey. That makes Major Kent suspicious - and a few days later, during the sea voyage to the USA for the next big race, Kent is found dead, allegedly killed by his own horse's kicks; but Charlie Chan has got a different theory: murder!

Of course, there are lots of suspects and strange events that make the plot twist more and more; and besides, a whole gambling ring is a VERY powerful enemy... Will Charlie, with the help of 'number one son' Lee (who provides us with some magnificently comical scenes here, first as a ship's steward and then as a laundry boy!), be able to track down the racketeers AND to find his friend's murderer? A great, suspenseful, intricate mystery, with NO lack of entertainment whatsoever!

An interesting film with much in its favor, especially the team of Oland and Luke. I particularly like the scenes aboard ship en route from Honolulu to the mainland. Keye Luke has many funny scenes. A fair portion of the beginning of the film involves the other characters before Chan gets involved in the mystery. This makes it seem more like one of the Earl Derr Bigger's novels. This film makes a good double feature with the Marx Brothers' film, "A Day At The Races".

Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) and son Lee Chan (Keye Luke) become involved "At the Race Track," from 1936.

When a friend of Charlie's is murdered by his race horse on board ship, Charlie is asked to investigate when the ocean liner stops in Honolulu. Looking at the horse's stall, Charlie doubts the horse had anything to do with it -- this was a human's doing.

His investigation continues, and Charlie and Lee board ship and travel to Santa Anita raceway to continue their investigation. He soon discovers fraud and a nefarious gambling ring, and he has to ferret out a murderer.

This is a very lively and fun Charlie Chan, with Lee posing as an attendant on the ship to find the typewriter on which threatening notes were typed; and later, at a crucial point, he drives a Chinese laundry truck. Charlie, meanwhile, is shot in the leg and laid up for part of the film.

Some excellent racing footage and beautiful horses are also shown.

It's not perfect. A horse falls, and I absolutely hate seeing that. They would trip them with chicken wire, and it was quite cruel. The second and more egregious thing, particularly by today's standards but I think it might have been embarrassing even then, was the role of the black stable boy, done as a Stepinfetchit type character. Cringe-worthy.

Frankly, I liked it much better when Mantan Moreland came on as Birmingham. First of all, he was hilarious, and secondly, he was treated as an equal. Yes, he had some scenes where he was supposedly afraid of his shadow, but it was better than what is in this film.

Oland is a warmer Chan than Sidney Toler, though both brought a great deal to the role. There is something a little less intimidating about Oland.

"Charlie Chan at the Race Track" is very enjoyable, somewhat reminiscent of the Sherlock Holmes story "Silver Blaze" -- so that's probably why the story is so good.