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      Charlie Chan at the Opera

      Released Jan 8, 1937 1h 6m Mystery & Thriller List
      60% 5 Reviews Tomatometer 72% 250+ Ratings Audience Score The Chinese detective (Warner Oland) and his No. 1 son (Keye Luke) solve murders blamed on an asylum-escaped opera star (Boris Karloff). Read More Read Less

      Critics Reviews

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      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 Michael Szymanski International Press Academy Rated: 1/5 Jun 1, 2005 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 (20) audience reviews
      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 Audience Member Well, I'd never seen a Charlie Chan film, so I wanted to check one out. Short, funny, and clever, it's got witty dialogue and some good laughs. Too bad I think I started with one of his best, because looking at his other films, they haven't gotten the great reviews. Anyway, Boris Karloff is an opera singer who esapes from an insane asylum and makes his way to the opera and some murders start happening. To be honest, most the time while watching this I couldn't help but think of Peter Sellers in Murder by Death, and he nailed the impersonation (well, so did the screenwriters with the sidekick son). I'll probably check out a coule more of the Chan films. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

      Cast & Crew

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      Photos

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      Charlie Chan at the Opera

      Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936) Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936) Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936) Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936) Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936) View more photos

      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
      Distributor
      20th Century Fox
      Genre
      Mystery & Thriller
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Jan 8, 1937, Original
      Release Date (DVD)
      Dec 5, 2006
      Runtime
      1h 6m