Ted B
3.0 stars; One of the first Charlie Chan movies. It was a fun movie that explored Charlie's large family, which led to much of the humor. The movie featured real circus acts, which were entertaining. It was a true mystery movie, with a clever method of conducting the murder, which Charlie, of course, solved in the end. Overall, a very entertaining movie.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
12/26/24
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Audience Member
A mildly entertaining period B Picture but there's no real mystery for the audience to solve as with most of these Chan four-reeler's. Our Oriental Sleuth basically picks the clues out of thin air toward the film's conclusion, but presenting a real whodunnit was never the writer's or producer's objective anyway.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
06/02/24
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Audience Member
I had read about Charlie Chan's character in a magazine, but never saw any movies until I happened to find them at a local library. I picked this one at random and wondered how it would be.
Chan, at least in this movie, has quite a few children, and he gets free passes to the circus for all of them from the circus's co-owner, But it wasn't a gift; said co-owner had received a number of threatening letters which he wants Chan to investigate. But soon afterward he is somehow murdered inside a locked wagon, and Chan discovers the man is disliked by many of the circus people. The circus also must travel to another destination, and it seems that some of the circus staff have shady pasts.
The mystery seems almost incidental to the story, for Number One Son tries to hit upon a lady contortionist who scorns his affections, and we see real midgets, animals, and trapeze artists, presumably to show this is a real circus. Okay as a mystery, but it's also of interest if you want to see how circuses during the 1930's actually were.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/22/23
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Audience Member
another good entry in this detective/crime series
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
01/21/23
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Audience Member
Charlie Chan at the Circus (1936)
The movie starts out with Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) and the whole famn damily (13 kids and the wife) in toe visiting the circus. Inspector Chan had been given free tickets by Joe Kinney (Paul Stanton), one of the two owners of the circus, who wants to talk with Charlie about some threats on his life. Naturally he's killed off before being able to tell him about it in detail, leaving Charlie and number 1 son, Lee Chan (Keye Luke) to figure it out using their usual powers of deduction.
Joe wasn't a very well liked boss and there's no shortage of suspects, including a very angry ape who could have killed him. The circus is in real financial trouble if they can't keep moving and putting on shows. A little couple Tiny (Olive Brasno) and Tim (George Brasno) have talked Charlie into investigating this with the help of the local police Lieutenant Macy (Wade Boteler) and Lee, who is infatuated with the beautiful Chinese-American contortionist, Su Toy (Shia Jung).
Maybe an interesting factoid; the actor who played one of the suspects, the snake charmer, Tom Holt (J. Caroll Naish) would later play Charlie in the New Adventures of Charlie Chan, the short-lived TV series in 1958.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
01/16/23
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Audience Member
I used to watch the Mystery Movie on Channel 38 on Saturday nights with my Dad (who invariably fell asleep). The Rathbone & Bruce Sherlock Holmes pictures, Peter Lorre as Mr. Moto, and of course Charlie Chan. Dad prefers Sidney Toler but I think I like Warner Oland best. Here he is solving a mystery at the circus with his 12 kids (headed by number one son Keye Luke) along for investigation. Not the most compelling of mysteries but not bad once it gets going and Charlie even gets to construct a trap for the killer. Of course, in movies like this, you have to see a guy in a cheesy ape suit. Still, these "mystery movies" give my brain a salve after a long week.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
02/04/23
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