Charlie Chan à Londres

Charlie Chan In London Is the second oldest surviving film with Warner Oland in the role and is very entertaining. The story moves along at a pretty fast pace for this era in films. A young man is accused,and convicted of murder. He,s only days from execution when by chance his sister{portrayed by Drue Leyton} encounters Chan and convinces him to try and clear her brother. Charlie then begins a brisk investigation into the crime,which brings him to a country estate..there he is faced with the harrowing task of trying to

identify the real killer. With only about 48 hours to complete his investigation, Charlie moves quickly and eliminates several suspects... As he brings the case to a close..It is very surprising to find out the identity of the actual murderer..This is a film well worth

watching if you can get a copy..It,s never been released commercially. Also appearing in this entry are Alan Mowbray and Ray Milland, both give excellent performances...also included in the cast is E.E.Clive another great character actor of this era.

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

"Contradiction please." Warner Oland is clearly at the top of his game here as he attempts to save an innocent man from the gallows with only hours to spare.Truly one of the better films in this series with the Swedish actor.He is surrounded by a unique cast of English characters.There are a couple of amusing moments with Chan climbing through a window and crawling from beneath a desk in what otherwise is a serious "whodunit." Really well done and a must for a Chan fan.

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!

Chronologically it's the 2nd Chan film extant after Black Camel, 4 others remain lost - Charlie is either getting into his stride in this or had already done so previously! The formula was in place, all they had to do from now on was reprise it with variations a couple of times a year. Whenever on TV in the past it always appeared murky to me but the copy I've just seen was pristine, with an astonishingly clear soundtrack.

Paul Gray is incarcerated in Pentonville for murder but in a few days time is to hang – his sister believes him innocent, and apparently so does Charlie as he postpones his voyage to Honolulu to help them out. When arriving at the country house in Retfordshire where the deed was done he finds himself up against a wall of suspicious British stereotypes, ranging from Cockney idiots and brusque snobs to out and out racists, which of course he continually uses to his advantage in his unravelling of the case. And he unravels it perfectly, with a plethora of marvellous aphorisms and red herrings, but as so often had to happen also with a fool-the-murderer-into-finally-exposing-him/herself denouement.

Swedish Warner Oland gave a wonderfully urbane performance as usual as the Chinese detective. Sadly as time goes on it's shown less and less on TV, partly because the schedulers who may not want to offend Chinese sensibilities also prefer to show violent and deviant films to the public instead, and partly because the public want it that way too. Hunt a copy down and revel in it!