Charlie Chan In London/Charlie Chan In Paris

Charlie Chan in London (1934)

Runtime: 79 minutes

Directed by: Eugene Forde

Starring: Warner Oland, Drue Leyton, Ray Milland, Mona Barry, Alan Mobray

From: 20th Century Fox

Charlie Chan in Paris (1935)

Runtime: 72 minutes

Directed by: Lewis Seiler/Hamilton MacFadden

Starring: Warner Oland, Mary Brian, Thomas Beck, Erik Rhodes, Keye Luke

From: 20th Century Fox

Here's another two-fer from me. This is courtesy of the local library, which actually has a decent amount of these old films. I saw both last night as they are quick watches that aren't too long. First, London, then Paris, courtesy of my Letterboxd reviews.

An untapped resource for me that I finally started using again was going to the local library and for free, picking up an older film to watch. They happen to have a decent amount of old Charlie Chan films and as I've never seen any of the films based on the character from the old Earl Derr Biggers novels, I figured I should try it out and I got the two earliest films they had that starred Warner Oland. Sure, Oland is from Sweden and he's definitely not Chinese in real life, I understand how Hollywood was back then and even in the 1980's you have white people doing the “Yellowface” act.

The title of this film is indeed accurate; the detective is in the jolly old UK. He's there to finish another case but suddenly he's asked to assist in another case. This one revolves around a man convicted of murder who is about to hang in 3 days and his sister asks Mr. Chan for help, so he goes to a hunting club and right before and during a foxhunt he has to try and figure out who the killer is, who of course is there and they do more killing.

While the character acts and speaks in a stereotypical “Wise Oriental Man” manner who often speaks in wacky metaphors and sayings, at least the character is a hero who uses stereotypes to his advantage and isn't a sap. He has to deal with wacky over the top characters (one of which was played by a young Ray Milland), which at least added some color to this sometimes creaky tale.

For what it is-a light mystery film-it's good.

Last night I also watched this Charlie Chan film, which is directly after his adventures in London and he says he's on vacation in Paris but it's actually a front for his real mission, which is investigating a bank fraud. It may not sound exciting, but various murders happen in Gay Paree, which oddly is a world where you don't hear much in the way of French accents, much less French actually be spoken. It's more fun than watching a space opera and have it be about the taxation of trade routes...

This is light entertainment which at least is entertaining to watch. It's not too long and you have Warner Oland (who also did a nice job here) as Chan be a stereotypical yet fun character to watch, he of the wacky and “wise” phrases. Donuts and donut holes are a theme; don't ask, it'll make sense if you've seen the movie. You also get the Apache Dance, something that I hadn't heard of before but it is fun to watch. No, it has nothing to do with Will and Carlton on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Adding a human element to things is the introduction of Charlie's eldest son, who helps out his pops. He is played by Keye Luke, who at least is a legit Chinese man. As I am used to him being an old man in films like Gremlins, seeing him as a 30 year old was jarring at first.

Oh, and even back then the Catacombs of Paris were well-known.

I'll return tomorrow night.