Charlie Chan in Honolulu

Due to the regrettable death of Warner Oland, 20th Century-Fox had to look for a 'new' Charlie Chan to continue its immensely popular series; they found him in Sidney Toler, who was indeed an ideal choice, not only because of his physical appearance (although he had primarily Scottish roots, he had quite an oriental look, and he always claimed that there had been Asians among his ancestors), but also of his acting style that was quite similar to Oland's: he was simply PERFECT at portraying the gentle, polite Chinese with a lot of wisdom, cleverness, and also humor.

Now, since the protagonist had changed, the producers seemed to think it best to change his assistant as well: instead of 'number one son' Lee, it's now 'number two son' Jimmy (Sen Yung, who would make a wonderful team with Toler for many more 'Charlie Chan' adventures) - but, in order not to upset the audience too much, they let Toler's first appearance begin right at his home in Honolulu, among his whole huge family... to which another member is just about to be added; not a child, but a grandchild for Charlie this time! But amid this happy family scene, a police call comes in, calling Charlie to a freighter off the harbor where a murder has been committed - only it's not Charlie who takes the call, but one of his smaller boys, who tells everything to Jimmy, who's most ambitious to become a detective as well, and goes there to impersonate his father, hoping to get his first 'big' case that way... Instead, he and his little brother who followed him secretly are in a pretty bad jam soon; and Charlie, who's been informed of somebody 'impersonating' him, comes to their rescue just in time!

Anyway, Jimmy has done quite a good research job until now - only it's up to his father now to put the pieces of the difficult puzzle together: a man traveling with a bag filled with money which he'd handed over to a pretty young lady who had orders to forward it to an unknown destination was shot; there are five more passengers aboard the freighter: the VERY strange psychiatrist Dr. Cardigan (George Zucco, one of the greatest specialists at this kind of roles), young Judy Hayes who was entrusted the money, mysterious Mrs. Wayne, and a police officer who seems on strangely friendly terms with the murderer he's in charge of and has to turn over to the States' authorities. But that's not all: the cargo room is full with... beasts: lions, elephants, monkeys - and their boozy warden, who has to deliver the whole 'Noah's Ark' load to the zoo!

So there's LOTS of adventure and suspense guaranteed in Sidney Toler's debut as 'Charlie Chan': murders, criminal psychology, hot money, convicts - and on the other side great fun with Jimmy Chan's first attempt to be a detective, the stuttering animal warden who takes 'his' lion for walks and sleeps beside him, but is afraid of ghosts and shadows, the creepy psychiatrist examining everyone with a loony look in his eyes... In short: there ARE some changes in style, but it still remains the same good old 'Charlie Chan' series we all adore!

Upon Warner Roland's death, it was SIDNEY TOLER's turn to play the Chinese detective with the huge family. This time his son is played by Victor Sen Yung, who would go on to play the role of Jimmy Chan in many future Chan films.

This time the plot involves $300,000 of stolen money and a slew of passengers aboard a freighter, several of which are suspicious enough to be questioned by Chan about their associations. RICHARD LANE, MARC LAWRENCE, PHYLLIS BROOKS, EDDIE COLLINS and ROBERT BARRAT are the chief suspects but it's GEORGE ZUCCO, a mad doctor with thick glasses carrying a live brain in a suitcase, who makes the most vivid impression and, at one point, actually seems to be the killer when a couple of murders occur.

Not the best of the series, but it does make a good start for Sidney Toler who would go on to keep playing Chan until the mid-'40s. The comic relief from Eddie Collins is sometimes painful and Chan's quotations are a bit much, as usual. He gathers the passengers together for the final scene and stages a bit of detective work that gives the story a nice finish.

Summing up: As usual, the viewer is given almost no way to solve the crime.

Warner Oland had died and Sidney Toler took over the role of Charlie Chan. While Lee is apparently in college, Number Two son, Jimmy, becomes the one aspiring to be a detective. During a rather tiresome beginning involving the birth of a grandchild, there is some banter between father and son and other child. While Charlie is at the hospital with the entire here, one of the boys gets a call about a murder aboard a ship. Jimmy and his stowaway brother end up on the ship, impersonating honorable father. In addition to two woman, a strange man who sleeps with a lion, is a weird character played by George Zucco, who was in many horror films. He has a kind of fish tank where he keeps a brain alive. Anyway, things go from bad to worse. One of the women came aboard with 300,000 dollars. It is soon missing. There are numerous suspects and eventually Charlie gets wind of his son's bumbling activities (not terrible, just not very insightful) and heads for the ship. This isn't a bad transition for the series as Toler picks up pretty well where his predecessor left off. This Chan, at least for now, is a bit harsher.

Sidney Toler makes his debut as Lieutenant Charlie Chan in this who-done-it mystery where the writer actually plants sufficient clues that the alert viewer might be able to ascertain the guilty party before all is revealed at the end. Bravo - the Warner Oland Chan movies rarely offer such a treat. Toler plays a more animated Chan than did Oland - most fans have their preference. This Chan moves fast and points out more clues along the way.

The Toler series opens with a Chan family gathering and an impending birth of his first grandchild. Chan admits to having a total of 13 children of which 10 are sons. Son Lee's absence is explained as being in art school in New York and Victor Sen Yung (billed as Sen Yung) is introduced as Chan's #2 son James (as shown in closing credits). Jimmy both aids his Pop and hinders the investigation but wants to become a detective.

In Charlie Chan at the Circus, Chan's #2 son is Charlie Jr., played by Layne Tom, Jr. In this new film, Layne Tom plays #5 son Tommy but the IMDb listing and all reviews show him as Willie. The closing credits clearly show Layne Tom playing the role of Tommy Chan and I never heard anyone refer to him by name - except perhaps the ship's Captain who says he is tired of this `tommyrot.' In this film, the Chan family is awaiting birth of first grandchild - this theme forming the basis of some good comedy throughout.

The bulk of the story takes place aboard the freighter Susan B. Jennings that is taking a mixed cargo from China to the US. The cargo includes animals for a San Francisco zoo - to include Oscar the lion and Eddie Collins as a great comedic keeper. George Zucco is superb as the eccentric psychiatrist Dr. Cardigan who is keeping alive the brain of Chinese murderer Chan Ho Ping. The rest of the supporting cast does a credible job and the viewer is offered a menu of suspicious characters and planted clues. `Opinion like tea leaf in hot water - both need time for brewing.' Just stick to the main clues as they are revealed and you might just get to the end along with Lieutenant Chan.

There are fewer racial slurs in this offering although the elder Chan makes reference to the `wrong flavor' when viewing a newly born black child. Probably too much time is spent with Oscar and Al but he is funny.

Chan gathers everyone together at the end in the Captain's Cabin where he tricks the guilty party into taking a final incriminating step. The last scene is interrupted by a phone call from the hospital and the lights being turned off, but in the end, justice prevails. As in earlier Chan movies, the detective knows some facts that the viewer cannot know, but in this film those facts are not vital to figuring out the solution.

By the way, the grandchild is a boy. Recommended.

This Charlie Chan, (Sidney Toler) keeps you busy seeing plenty of comedy performed by Jimmy Chan, (Victor Sen Young) oldest son to Charlie Chan who takes over an investigation of a murder which occurred aboard a freighter and claims he is Charlie Chan and gets himself deeply in trouble with his father. George Zucco, (Dr. Caredigan) appears in this film wearing glasses that look like the bottom of coco cola bottles and is very mysterious especially when he transports human brains along with him on his travels. Wild animals like tiger's, and lions also appear in this film and there are plenty of women who act very suspicious and one gal has in her possession $300,000 dollars which seems to disappear and more people are involved with this investigation. At the same time, Charlie Chan is expecting his first Grandchild and the entire family of fourteen all can be seen visiting the hospital room. You will never be able to figure out just who the killer is, because the film goes around like a Merry-go Round. Enjoy this 1938 B Film.