Charlie Chan in Rio

in Rio, but a really well thought out Chan film. A very interesting and familiar array of characters.One can almost feel the breeze coming in off the S.Atlantic.One of the better films for Jimmy Chan (Victor Sen Yung).It's easy to watch over again.

Globe-trotting Charlie winds up in Rio for this so-so entry. It's an uncommonly attractive cast and a lively, well-produced first half, before the pace slows down during the sleuthing second half. Being in Rio gives Hollywood a chance to sample the South American rhythms popular at the time, and the ladies a chance to model high-fashion wear, circa 1941.

Note presence of New York débutante Cobina Wright, the Paris Hilton of her day, as Grace, the statuesque adversary of the brassy, low-class Mary Beth Hughes. Their nightclub spats amount to versions of the class struggle over proper table etiquette. And, of course, where there's Chan Sr. there's going to be a Chan Jr. Here Sen Young's sometimes silly Jimmy Chan nonetheless pairs up with the charming Iris Wong to make the proverbially cute couple.

The mystery involves a dead nightclub performer, a slick-talking swami (Victor Jory), a cup of coffee, and a funny looking cigarette. Note how Charlie is ably assisted by the captain of the Rio police (Harold Huber). Usually the cops of the period were depicted as bumbling, at best, or comically foolish, at worst. But with WWII on the horizon, South America became an important sphere of influence, and the captain is treated with unusual respect. In passing, something should be said about the dewy-eyed Kay Linaker as the personal assistant. She died just a short time ago. This programmer shows what a lovely and capable screen presence she was. Her career may never have made the big time, but the big-time talent was definitely there.

Recommended for guys who like to ogle well-upholstered girls.

Although 20th Century Fox even gave Harry Warren and Mack Gordon an opportunity for an original song in Charlie Chan In Reno, the plot is recycled from The Black Camel the second film of the Charlie Chan series that starred Warner Oland ten years earlier. The plot has Charlie and son Victor Sen Yung in Rio DeJaneiro on an extradition charge to arrest and bring Jacqueline Dalya back to Honolulu to face a murder rap.

Dalya is a singer in a Rio nightclub and Sidney Toler and Brazilian police inspector Harold Huber decide to let her finish her act and arrest her at her home. But when they get there she's already been stabbed to death with several guests already there for a dinner party.

Which gives Toler a whole house full of suspects of both sexes. Apparently Dalya played around a lot and she's got some jealous women and men whom they're jealous over.

I won't say who did it, but it does go back to the case that Toler is in Rio on.

This was the next to last film in the Charlie Chan series that 20th Century Fox did and clearly they were running out of ideas and interest in the series. Charlie after one more picture would be doing his sleuthing for Monogram with much reduced production values even from a B picture at a major studio.

Still this one should satisfy Charlie's fans.

"Gee, Pop," Jimmy Chan says, "She doesn't look like a murderess." Number two son and his famous father share a table with the local police captain in a Rio nightclub, watching Lola Dean sing and dance—and waiting to arrest her for a murder back in Honolulu.

–Alas, Lola herself is murdered before they get the chance, and the Chans begin sorting through the usual suspects—a couple of romantic rivals, a secretary, a fiancé, a psychic who gives his clients spell-inducing cigarettes and also owns a recording machine….

A solid supporting cast fill their roles nicely, particularly Victor Jory as Marana, the psychic who offers his clients a "psychognosis" and is certainly up to something fishy. Kay Linaker also stands out as the purposeful personal secretary.

Sidney Toler and Sen Yung are excellent as usual as Charlie Chan and son Jimmy. The local policeman is played, as in multiple other Chan films, by Harold Huber—more restrained this time around, he's an actual detective rather than simple comic relief.

Iris Wong is cute as Lola's maid, Lili. Of course, Jimmy tries to impress her with his detective skills—"The case is in the bag. It's a cinch!"—and they have a little romance.

A memorable climax involves Mr. Chan volunteering to undergo Marana's coffee-and-cigarette hypnosis: Chan puffs and puffs, that little smile on his face, nothing happening, while the gathered suspects wait and wait….

No wasted motion in this one—short and sweet. The plot is unexceptional but the production and performances are absolutely solid: for simple entertainment value, this is one of the series' best.

As others have pointed out, this is a remake of The Black Camel, which itself was one of the original Chan stories by Biggers. If you've seen the earlier film, then of course you know the twist by which this one is solved - which of course is very disappointing. Were people really not paying attention between the two versions of this story? Harold Huber gets to play a policeman straight this time, which is a big improvement over the usual clowning he was required to do in other Chans. Son Jimmy intrudes on the story too much for me, as usual, but doesn't express the worst of his pop-eyed hammyness in this one. There's not much Rio here, as others have complained, but this is a B movie, not a travelogue. The ladies are lovely, there's a musical number, and Jimmy gets an action scene near the end. All in all, quite good.