Charlie Chan no Circo

Warner Oland is Charlie Chan in "Charlie Chan at the Circus," a 1936 entry into the series. This time Charlie brings his wife and 12 kids to the circus and runs into murder.

While Lee Chan (Keye Luke) is off trying to romance the pretty contortionist, the co-owner of the circus asks Charlie to look into some threatening letters he's gotten. Then the man is murdered, and it turns out that even though he gave Charlie 14 free passes to the circus, he's not beloved. The man had enemies including his own partner, a snake charmer, and a gorilla!

Very entertaining, and one of the things neat about the film is the presence of the Brasnos, a brother and sister midget team, who play Colonel Tim and Lady Tiny. The Brasnos were vaudevillians and successful enough that Olive Brasno could turn down the role of a munchkin in The Wizard of Oz because she was too busy with their act. They bring a lot of charm to the film. As a bit of trivia, Olive lived to age 80 and died within two days of her husband of 38 years.

Warner Oland is a terrific Chan, much livelier and more cheerful than Sidney Toler and less sarcastic (though I like Toler's characterization and lots of those episodes). Keye Luke as Lee is always delightful. The circus atmosphere made for a fun atmosphere. This is one of the better films in the series.

Fans of the Charlie Chan films should see this film for one reason in particular--it's a very rare chance to see the entire huge Chan clan in a single film. In most Chan films, there are one or two of the Chan children along to "help"(?) their father. However, here there are all twelve plus Mrs. Chan--a real rarity and proof that Charlie had interests other than police work!

The film is set at a circus where there is a mysterious murder--supposedly perpetrated by an ape! However, things don't add up and it's up to Charlie and his romantically challenged oldest son, Lee, to solve the crime. Along the way, you'll see midgets, tall guys, trapeze artists and the like--all providing an unusual and welcome backdrop to the investigation. Practically everything works well, though in 1930s fashion, there is an ape that is obviously just some guy in a gorilla costume (so I'll deduct a point). A bad cliché, but otherwise a great and exciting film--as are all the Chan films starring Warner Oland (the series, unfortunately, sagged a bit after his death).

Charlie and all 13 members of the immediate family are given passes to the Kinney and Gaines traveling circus, compliments of Joe Kinney, who wants Charlie to investigate some threatening letters he's been receiving. Anyone at the circus could have sent them, since Kinney is as popular as cancer, driving partner Gaines to bankruptcy and using violence on other performers at the circus. Naturally he is found murdered in the business wagon, which Charlie and Lee believe was done by the wild ape Ceasar. Tiny, one half of a man and wife midget sideshow, asks Charlie to work further on the case, which Mrs. Chan, Lee, and the other 11 children plead with him to do. Charlie and Lee travel with the circus and find out that one performer, Nellie Farrell, married Kinney in Mexico, which drives the rift with Marie Normand, trapeze artist and Kinney's fiancé. Marie doesn't believe that Kinney was with Nellie on the marriage date, but.... well that's her own secret and that may cost her life from the mysterious killer. Above average entry in the Chan series, and probably the most humorous entry (especially from the Fox series). The mystery angle is prevalent throughout the movie but is played down because of the humor which by the 50 minute mark does seem to get old and have the audience wanting the mystery we expect from the series. The circus setting really does look authentic giving the audience of being at the big top. Lachman uses plenty of low and high angle shots to create suspense and character interpretations, but in the context of the film itself it wasn't necessary. It was nice to see all 14 members of the family in an appearance rather than the photograph used in previous entries. Rating, 7.

Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) shows up to the circus with his rather large family. He got complimentary tickets from co-owner of the circus, Joe Kinney who wants to talk to Charlie about some threatening letters he has received.

Before Kinney can talk to to Charlie more about it, he is found strangled and the circus gorilla is blamed.

Kinney was not popular with the circus performers and was abusive to the animals. So there are lots of other potential suspects apart from the frenzied ape.

'Number One Son' Lee (Keye Luke) seems to be more enchanted with the contortionist Su Toy.

Charlie Chan has to take a break from the family and his holiday to help solve the case. The two performing midgets and a trapeze artist gives this a circus feel.

The mystery is deepened as Kinney was unlikeable, he was in a dispute with his co-owner and might also be secretly married. So his widowed wife might inherit his half of the circus.

Entertaining and also humorously silly. The solution to the mystery makes a monkey out of the whole audience.

Filmed and released in 1936, CHARLIE CHAN AT THE CIRCUS is the eleventh film in the Chan series--and although many tend to dismiss it as "only average," it is among my favorites of the Chan films.

This episode finds Chan on vacation on the mainland with the entire family--but when he takes the family to the circus he finds himself embroiled in the murder of the show's co-owner, a man so widely disliked by his co-workers and employees that virtually any one might have killed him. Begged into assisting the investigation by circus performer "Lady Tiny," Chan and number one son Lee join the circus train in an effort to ferret out the truth.

Like most Chan films, the plot is full of holes--but what makes this installment particularly enjoyable is the supporting cast. Son Lee (the ever-enjoyable Keye Luke) finds romance with Chinese contortionist Su Toy (the beautiful Shia Jung) and trapeze footage of Marie Normand (played by real-life trapeze artist Maxine Reiner) offers a glimpse into the circus world of the 1930s that is quite fascinating. Most enjoyable of all, however, are Col. Tim and Lady Tiny, played by popular circus stars and occasional film actors George and Olive Brasno; their sideshow dance alone would make this film worth the effort. It's all a tremendous amount of fun.

Chan films are often accused of being racist, and critics often complain that the actors playing Chan wore "yellowface" make up. The films, however, must be seen within the context of their era. In the 1930s, Hollywood presented most Asian characters as either servile or as Fu Manchu-like entities; Chan was actually just about the only positive Asian character going, and as such the films were tremendously popular with Asian-American audiences of the era.

True enough, Chan is inevitably played by an occidental actor, but this was typical of the era, in which star status was considered more important than racial accuracy. (Other Asian characters are almost always played by actors of Asian heritage, with Keye Luke and Shia Jung cases in point.) Whatever the case, neither Warner Oland or the later Sidney Toler wore significant make-up for the role, and Oland--although a Swede by birth--actually had a strong strain of Asian ancestry in his family tree. But most significantly, while Chan often allows the suspects to dismiss him through their own prejudices, as a character he is always presented in a positive light.

While I would not rank it along such knock-out Chan films as CHARLIE CHAN AT THE OPERA or CHARLIE CHAN AT TREASURE ISLAND, CHARLIE CHAN AT THE CIRCUS is a thoroughly enjoyable entry in the series, and in many respects the film's "old fashioned" qualities (watch out for that wild gorilla suit!) add to the fun. Recommended for Chan fans everywhere.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer