Murder Over New York

Charlie's in New York catching pre-war spies with wise-cracking #2 son, Victor Sen-Yung. They make a delightful team. Yes, it's unfortunate that blacks are stereotyped, but we're certainly intelligent enough to place this within the proper prospective.

As with every Chan film in the 30s & 40s, the film shows Charlie's high sense of family values, and he is accorded respect like no other character in the film as he easily outwits dimwitted white chief detective Don McBride and the others.

Overall, the Chan series are an honorable and respectable part of our film history - and they're fun and entertaining as hell. These films deserve to be seen as often as any other film of the era.

Please pass the popcorn and leave your over-sensitive political correctness at the door. It's show time!

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.

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.

This Charlie Chan mystery is a misnomer. There is no Murder Over New York, but not for lack of trying. And the attempt is made at the climax of the film so that Sidney Toler can get the murderer of three people to give himself away.

Toler and number two son Victor Sen Yung are in New York for a police convention and Toler runs into a former Scotland Yard colleague Frederic Worlock who is on the trail of an international spy. Later on Worlock is found dead. Two other murders are committed.

Note the presence of a lot of Hollywood's British colony here. Some are suspects, some are not. A whole lot of the cast has played villains in other films so that affords you no clue. The ultimate mastermind is someone who has played some incredibly slimy bad guys on screen.

Quite a curve gets tossed us toward the end as all the suspects are put in a plane and are meant to be killed. Of course they're not as Charlie Chan gets his man.

One of the best of the Sidney Toler Chan films.