Charlie Chan in Paris

Charlie Chan In Paris was recently released on VHS and DVD in the UK and I was pleased I purchased a VHS copy.

Charlie Chan comes to Paris making out he is having a holiday but is actually over to investigate a forgery racket but also ends up investigating murders after two people are killed. With the help of his No 1 son, he gathers clues and the investigation takes them under Paris in the sewers and the culprit is caught at the end, in heavy disguise...

This mystery is atmospheric at times, especially the sewer scenes.

Charlie Chan is played well by Warner Oland. I'm not familiar with the rest of the cast though.

If you like a good old mystery, you will enjoy Charlie Chan In Paris. Great fun.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

Directly from solving successfully the London murder mystery, Charlie Chan goes on to Paris - on account of a British bank, who's discovered there's some strange business with bonds going on at a Parisian bank, with huge sums of money involved, of course. In Paris, Charlie has got an undercover helper who's been working on the case for a while and has gathered quite some information; and they agree that he and the beautiful young dancer meet right after her performance - but, there's a pretty gruesome beginning to this new case: at the end of her magnificent dancing performance, pretty Nardi is brutally stabbed before she can give any information to Charlie.

At least, he finds something in her apartment: a notebook with everything she'd found out, which contains the name of one of the bank's employees, Dufresne, who's been spending surprisingly high amounts of money lately... But Dufresne is soon murdered himself, and the suspicion falls on the bank director's daughter Yvette, who once had an affair with him; then there is Victor Descartes, now Yvette's fiancée and also an employee at the bank, their friend, painter Latouche - and a mysterious, crippled beggar who always seems to turn up near the scene of every crime...

Sounds complicated? In fact, it IS, and it requires absolute attention by the audience - and of course of by Charlie, who's in constant danger... To his good fortune, his 'number 1 son' Lee (Keye Luke, in his first appearance in the series) appears in Paris to assist his father! Another VERY well done classic crime mystery, absolutely worth watching and still fresh after 80 years...

As in, 'Charlie Chan in Egypt', this little gem reeks with early film atmosphere and sustains itself with the wonderful portrayal by Warner Oland. Warner Oland has more stage presence than a dozen actors of today. It's really a shame, for if one generation could really bridge another generation and look at the whole, they might see what a let down the films of today really are.

In one of the few times that another Charlie Chan film made reference to its immediate predecessor, Charlie Chan In Paris notes that Warner Oland is in Paris having picked up a client in London. Fans of the series will remember that Oland was in London solving the murder in a stable on an estate, a fact also specifically mentioned.

The clients who hired Oland are some bondholders who have bought what looks forged bonds from a respected Paris bank. These bonds have flooded the European market and threaten to bring financial panic on the alleged issuing bank run by Henry Kolker.

I have to say that the conspirators really had a clever scheme of forgery and a pretty good method of committing murder to protect the enterprise. Two murders are committed, one of them of John Miljan who has played a slew despicable villains on screen. In fact Miljan is branching out into a racket all his own when he's killed. That other racket though manages to cast suspicion on a false perpetrator.

Charlie Chan In Paris is one of the cleverest films in the Chan series and fans of Charlie should not miss this one.

Charlie Chan in Paris (1935)

*** (out of 4)

Another good entry in the Fox series has Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) working in Paris trying to crack some fraudulent bonds. He receives a warning to leave town but of course he doesn't but the stakes rise when his undercover assistant is murdered.

Up to this point in the series, CHARLIE CHAN IN Paris was without question the best. This is due in large part to the fine performances, a great little mystery and one of the most memorable murder sequences from this period of films. It's clear that the series kept making money for Fox or else they wouldn't have kept making them but it also shows that the studio was willing to treat the series with respect and that includes coming up with a very good screenplay.

The story itself is one that works extremely well because all of the twists and turns are nicely done and help build up a very good mystery. The movie will certainly keep the viewer off guard as we get several suspects but the mystery of the killer is never given away early in the film, which just helps keep you more involved with the plot. Another major plus is that we're given one of the more effective murder scenes from any film around this time. We get a terrific shot of the murderer getting ready to throw a knife into the victim and then we get a terrific shot of the victim screaming as she knows what is about to happen. This sequence is extremely well-shot and highly effective.

Of course, the performances are another major plus with Oland once again doing a terrific job in the lead. He certainly had everything from the walk to the talk down cold and there's no doubt that he could have done this film in his sleep. He manages to bring the character to life and his line delivery, especially on the comedy, is remarkable. The strong supporting cast includes nice work from the likes of Mary Brian, Erik Rhodes, John Wualen and of course Keye Luke who makes his appearance as the #1 son. CHARLIE CHAN IN Paris really succeeds on all levels making it one of the more memorable films of the series.