Charlie Chan e la crociera maledetta

Producer John Stone and Director Eugene Forde's last Chan films. By now Stone had done over a dozen and Forde had directed four. Sidney Toler (who appears to be ill in portions of the movie) is supported by #2 son Jimmy and #7 son Willie (Layne Tom, Jr. who was once cast in `Charlie Chan at the Circus' as #2 son Charlie Jr. and in `Charlie Chan in Honolulu' as #5 son Tommy). Lionel Atwill and Leo G. Carroll both add to the drama but Charles Middleton is best remembered in the Flash Gordon films as the Emperor Ming. Cora Witherspoon provides great comic relief. Don Beddoe is credited as playing `James' Ross but introduces himself to Chan as `Frederick' Ross, weight 168 lbs, 5'10', and he will admit to being 35.

Fast-paced who-done-it set primarily aboard a ship bound between Honolulu and San Francisco. A 'round the world cruise by ten travelers has been beset by a series of deaths by strangulation. It is clear from the beginning of the film that the guilty party is a man dressed in a dark hat and raincoat with dark classes and a full beard. But none of the passengers look like that.

Scotland Yard Inspector Duff is sent to investigate only to die as the film opens. Interesting subterfuge will keep the viewer off balance and probably unable to keep up with Chan until all is revealed at the end. `Man can more safely search for gold if world think he dig ditch.' Recommended.

A little more than ten years ago, I read the novel "Charlie Chan Carries On" when I was also watching various Charlie Chan movies and reviewing them here on IMDb. Because it's been so long since then, all I really remember from the book was that Chan didn't appear in it until it was in the middle of it. So while watching this movie version (the second, after the previous filmed version which was the first time Warner Oland played the role. That version is lost), I didn't remember the characters that were now depicted from that novel. Anyway, this was another enjoyable film in the series with Sidney Toler doing fine in the role of the famous detective. Ditto Victor Sen Yung as his son Jimmy who's always in over his head but also always well meaning. So that's a recommendation for Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise.

From 1940, "Murder Cruise" sports a nice cast, with Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan, Sen Yung as his son Jimmy, Leo Carroll, Lionel Atwill, and Cora Witherspoon, who is very funny.

Charlie seems to have a tough time with this one -- after his friend from Scotland Yard is killed, he joins a cruise from Honolulu to San Francisco to help find a suspected murderer. There are no less than four more.

The murderer is obvious the second he's introduced for reasons having nothing to do with the plot.

Inspector Duff has been on a case case undercover. He's a passenger on a cruise ship going on a world tour from New York. One of the passengers was strangled the first night.

Duff joined the cruise in Liverpool, and he is sure the criminal is on board, and he's afraid that he will strike again. You can say that again - he strangles Duff right in the office while Charlie takes a call about another of the passengers being murdered.

Jimmy shows up, naturally, and gets into all kinds of trouble. Charlie puts up with it, Toler's Chan always being on an even keel and exhibiting dry humor.

Very enjoyable. The young Chan, Willie, is played by Layne Tom, Jr. Tom is on a 2006 interview about the Chan films and became a very well known architect, dying at age 87.

Good fun.

This is a tight little entry in the Charlie Chan series concerning the tracking down of a serial killer on a cruise ship. Sidney Toler and Sen Yung are in good form as Charlie and his impetuous son, Jimmy. The supporting cast would be outstanding for an A film. With Lionel Atwill on-board as (I kid you not) cruise director you know you're in for a good, scary time. The Chan series was at its peak when this one got made. Warner Oland, whose dour presence had put Charlie on the map, so to speak, was but a memory by 1940. Toler was a more jovial Chan, and his good humor set the tone for the rest of the series. The actors in the film, which include Charles Middleton and Claire Du Brey, as a stuffy religious couple, do their deadpan best to keep the story afloat and suspenseful, adding just a touch of the diabolical. There's a festive air in this one, and a neat game of shuffleboard with Don Beddoe.

Investigating the murder of an old friend puts Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) on the trail of a strangler, which leads to a cruise ship where he encounters more murders. Well, the title's accurate. It's kind of amusing that several people get knocked off before Charlie can solve the case. Doesn't exactly look good on a detective's résumé.

Toler's fine but his yellowface makeup seems especially exaggerated in this one. Maybe it's me but it just looks different. Always fun to see Victor Sen Yung as Jimmy Chan. Layne Tom, Jr. appears here but not as Charlie Chan, Jr. as in his previous appearances. This time he's "Number Seven Son" Willie. Cora Witherspoon is terrific comic relief as Susie Watson. Great supporting cast that includes Lionel Atwill and Leo G. Carroll, among other familiar faces.

This one's a remake of an earlier Charlie Chan film, Charlie Chan Carries On. Unfortunately that's one of the lost Warner Oland Chan films from the early '30s so I can't really compare this to that. But this one's good, with a solid cast and healthy doses of humor.