Charlie Chan in London

Paul Gray is going to die for a murder he has been sentenced for. Only one person believes he is innocent - his sister. His sister enlists the aid of honorable Honolulan detective Charlie Chan, who just happens to be in London for a brief stay. Chan is convinced to help the young lady secure her brother's freedom. This is a fine, creaky mystery with Warner Oland in top form as #1 detective Charlie Chan. The cast has several names in it with a very young Ray Milland as sister's boyfriend standing out the most. Veteran Character actor E. E. Clive gives a nice hammy performance as a police inspector unable to call Charlie Chan but rather Chang. Alan Mowbray also adds his distinguished persona to the mix. The mystery has a lot of red herrings, but I figured it out based on who had no herrings aimed at him/her. See if that helps you. Quite enjoyable!

Warner Oland may work best under pressure as Charlie Chan In London shows. About to leave London he is moved by the pleas of Drue Leyton who is trying to save her brother Douglas Walton from the hangman. She has used her appeal up with the Home Secretary David Torrence and even Ray Milland, Walton's lawyer says he thinks his client probably did it. But apparently Charlie Chan is moved by a woman in distress.

The murder was of an RAF officer and it took place in the stables of Alan Mowbray's estate during fox hunting season. Oland who is without the assistance of any of his kids, starts turning up clues and another murder of the groom Perry Ivins and an attempt is made against Mona Barrie and twice on Oland himself.

To say Charlie Chan was under the gun in this film was putting it mildly. He has about 65 hours to find the real killer. Do you doubt he will succeed.

The original motive if Walton were the killer is said to be personal, but it turns out to have far reaching implications when the real killer is apprehended.

Charlie Chan In London is one of the best of Oland Charlie Chan films and holds up nicely today.

Chan is in London returning a suspect he has captured to British authorities when he receives an appeal from Pamela Gray concerning her brother Hugh, who has been condemned to hang in three days for a murder she believes he did not commit. Chan takes the case and goes to the estate of Geoffrey Richmond (Alan Mowbrey), where the murder was committed. People at the estate say that Hugh and the victim, who never liked one another, were heard arguing about some unknown issue, and then later the body of the victim was found near the stables and Hugh was found walking from the stables towards the house. Does Charlie Chan solve the case? Of course he does! What a downer if he did not!

On top of the usual red herrings tossed into such detective films - the one person sneaking around menacingly, another protesting too loudly about the entire follow up investigation being a waste of time and so on, the maid is a piece of work. She's a shrieker plus she likes to hover over people even when they make it clear they want to be left alone. This film would have been more enjoyable without the barbaric practice of fox hunting being central to the plot, but then hindsight is 20/20.

The tension of the time ticking down to Hugh's execution is an added boost, and then there is a very young Ray Milland in a supporting role and E. E. Clive as a befuddled police inspector. And you have to wonder why law enforcement didn't ask the same basic questions that Chan asks during his investigation. Recommended.

You have to understand that I love these mystery movies from the 30's and 40's, hence the 8/10. It's fun to just suspend disbelief and watch the films for what they are. Get a bowl of popcorn then sit down in your comfy place and let your mind go back to a time before all of the special effects and CGI, before political correctness, and enjoy the show. There are terrific gems to be found in these old films. If you are like me then pick up the DVD; you won't be sorry. "Charlie Chan in London" is a good'un. The digital restorations are excellent. Same ol' cheezy sound and dialogue centric script but without the audio and visual noise. The shakiness of the original is gone as well.

Sure you can criticize some of the ham acting but I find the characters and the dialogue fascinating. Although IMHO Elsa Buchanan is wonderful as the distraught maid who is shocked by the evil oriental skulking about the place, others would likely be less kind.

E.E. Clive as the more than a little thick Detective Sergeant Thacker is perfect, especially his uncorrected references to Charlie as "Mr. Chang".

I didn't realize Ray Milland was in the movie till I heard his unmistakable voice. What a distance from portraying Luke Skywalker's father! While I'm on about it: the quality of the acting in "Charlie Chan in London" is not much different from "Star Wars Episode IV". ;->

The "Charlie Chan" character and its portrayal by non-Chinese actors has come under some heavy, and valid, criticism for stereotyping and for washing over issues of racism. However, I think that such criticism should be noted and should not prevent enjoyment of these wonderful films. We (audiences) are not stupid; we can see plenty of evidence of paternalism, sexism, and racism in these movies. Eh, so what? The story and the script are a product of the time and are a window into the past. Not into real life directly, but the film is enlightening with respect to what was acceptable. Eighty years from now, I'm sure many current films will be condemned for all sorts of things that we take for granted now. Food for thought.

For me, the controversy and obvious difference in cultural values from today just makes these films more interesting. Mr. Chan's quiet approach to life in general and to racism in particular speaks well of his character. We pay attention to what Chan says because he is always interesting and insightful. What may be interpreted as a stereotyped, obsequious and blandly inoffensive "chinaman", is really a thoughtful individual with obviously strong family values and who is so confident that he does not have to try to change all of the flaws in the world around him.

He just has to solve the mystery and go back to his family.

Of the first four Chan films in the Fox series, Charlie Chan Carries On (1931), Charlie Chan's Chance (1932), and Charlie Chan's Greatest Case (1933) have been lost; only the 1931 THE BLACK CAMEL remains to show the series in its early developmental stage. By the time of CHARLIE CHAN IN London the series has reached the standards that made it so widely beloved, a neat mixture of comedy and mystery, good production values, and solid acting.

As is typical of the Chan series, the cast is first rate, offering an early glimpse of future Oscar-winner Ray Milland as well as a memorable performance by character actor E.E. Clive, who graced such films of the era as THE INVISIBLE MAN and DRACULA'S DAUGHTER. In this episode, Chan has traveled to England to bring a criminal captured in Hawaii to British justice--and is on the point of departure when he asked to intervene in a notorious murder case. With a man already convicted, Chan has but sixty-some hours to unmask the real killer before the wrongly convicted Paul Gray (Douglas Walton) is sent to his death.

In some respects the film shows its era: it is very distinctly of the early sound period, and the camera is static and the performances often broad. But it captures all the essential elements of the Chan series as it starred Warner Oland, and (like THE BLACK CAMEL before it) it very specifically sets up Chan to use the racist attitudes of others to crime-solving effect. Warner Oland's Chan, and to a lesser extent Sidney Toler's Chan, would often encourage others to dismiss him as a "stupid Chinaman" all the better to trick the killer into carelessness--and the plot device is particularly apparent in the earliest Chan films.

While CHARLIE CHAN IN London will never make a critic's short list of great films, it is quite a bit of fun, and Chan fans will enjoy it. Unfortunately, the film is not available on either VHS or DVD in the United States, and since it is considered "politically incorrect" it is rarely broadcast; Chan fans will have a hard time tracking it down.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer