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Charlie Chan at the Opera

Play trailer Poster for Charlie Chan at the Opera Released Jan 8, 1937 1h 6m Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 4 Reviews 72% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
The Chinese detective (Warner Oland) and his No. 1 son (Keye Luke) solve murders blamed on an asylum-escaped opera star (Boris Karloff).

Critics Reviews

View All (4) Critics Reviews
Diego Galán El Pais (Spain) An entertaining movie that doesn't lack sense of humor. [Full Review in Spanish] Aug 28, 2019 Full Review Ken Hanke Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) So exactly the very definition of a Charlie Chan movie from the era when Warner Oland played the Chinese detective that it's probably the most essential of them all. Rated: 4.5/5 Mar 21, 2012 Full Review Steve Crum Kansas City Kansan Ah so, and it has the best Chan--Warner Oland. Rated: 3/5 Oct 15, 2004 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews It makes for a satisfactory mystery film Rated: C+ May 5, 2003 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (21) audience reviews
Ted B 3.5 stars; Another well-done Warner Oland portrayal of Charlie Chan. I do like this series, along with Keye Luke as Number One Son. A neat, eerie addition of Boris Karloff in a dark character role for this film adds a scariness element. There is a clever throwaway line by the backstage manager saying he "needed everyone to focus on their jobs. He didn't care if Frankenstein's monster walked in the door..." Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/17/25 Full Review Audience Member Acceptable Charlie Chan movie pass time. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member A lunatic escapes from a mental asylum after seeing a newspaper article about an opera production at a nearby theater. The police fail to find him, and Charlie Chan happens to be nearby. The maniac is believed to be a former opera singer supposedly killed in a Chicago opera house fire years ago, with intentions of taking revenge on the opera stars who had locked him in the opera house. But there are feuds and intrigues among the opera cast and crew as well. But the story is not so simple after all. The maniac is at the opera house, but why is he there? For revenge, or for some other reason? The story takes on very unexpected turns before it concludes. Good performances by all, especially by Boris Karloff who plays the maniac without overdoing it, and it is not merely Number One Son who provides comic relief. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review andy f This one is a bit of a plodder and the jokes are a little thin on the ground. Boris Karloff is as awful as ever. Not a bad resolution though which makes a change for a Charlie Chan film! Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member gets a star for having boris karloff Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member In this installment, Charlie Chan is revealed to be an opera fan and he works diligently to find the killer of two singers in the fictitious opera, 'Carnival', composed for the movie by Oscar Levant. Of course nothing is as it seems as is revealed in the end by the wise Chan. Stage manager's comment that the opera will go on "even if Frankenstein walks in" is a cute in-joke referring to Karloff's former starring role. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Charlie Chan at the Opera

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Movie Info

Synopsis The Chinese detective (Warner Oland) and his No. 1 son (Keye Luke) solve murders blamed on an asylum-escaped opera star (Boris Karloff).
Director
H. Bruce Humberstone
Producer
John Stone
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Production Co
Twentieth Century Fox
Genre
Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 8, 1937, Original
Release Date (DVD)
Dec 5, 2006
Runtime
1h 6m