Charlie Chan in Honolulu

Audience Reviews

View More

Patric N @RT91103425 3d The first movie with Sidney Toler in the role of Charlie Chan. This movie also introduces Victor Sen Yung as Jimmy Chan, the no. 2 son (a title previously given to the much younger Charlie Chan Jr.) who dreams of following in his father's footsteps and becomes a private detective. While he didn't approve of Lee Chan wanting to do the same, Charlie seems to support Jimmy's efforts to become a detective. An entertaining movie but a bit sillier than previous movie in the series with some weird a humoristic characters. One example is the cowardly lion tamer that Eddie Collins (best remembered for his role as Dopey in Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)) plays, brilliantly, I might add. There is also a little science-fiction with a living human brain in a jar. I find the title of the movie is a bit weird since he lives in Honolulu, a bit like naming a movie "Sherlock Holmes in London". But at the same time, Charlie Chan's movies rarely take place on Hawaii. See more Ted B @Movieaddicted 02/16/2025 2.5 stars. I have the same critique of this as I have of all of the Sidney Toler Charlie Chan series: good on mystery, too much silliness. See more 01/04/2015 The first of the new series (still at 20th Century Fox) with Sidney Toler as the wise detective after Warner Oland's unexpected death. This time, murder takes place on Charlie's doorstep on a freighter docked in Pearl Harbor. But Charlie is distracted with his first grandchild's impending birth - so Number Two Son Jimmy tries to handle the case himself to comic effect. In fact, there is probably too much intended comedy in this outing - the mystery itself almost plays second fiddle to Eddie Collins' drunken clowning and a pet lion wandering around (not to mention Number Five Son getting into trouble too). There are the usual red herrings strewn about to implicate one or more of the sketchily drawn cast of character actors. Still, there is plenty of nostalgia value for dreams of late night TV watching with Dad. See more 02/09/2013 Comedy/ Drama/ Wild Animals/ Murder--Chan clan reshuffled!! See more 10/17/2012 1.5: Hmm. I was prompted to watch these by an article in The New Yorker that I read a year or two ago. I wasn't expecting them to be outstanding, but I was expecting something better than this. I have now seen essentially every Charlie Chan film, or at least all that were made between 1931 and 1947 (29 films). What struck me most is that these really have more in common with a television show than a feature film. Each film is essentially the same except for the "location." I guess it makes sense as they serve essentially the same purpose. One can essentially watch every film on auto-pilot comfortable in the knowledge that one knows exactly which characters will pop up and that everything will be satisfactorily resolved in the end. They are "C" picture at best. Sidney Toler is pretty good; Warner Toland is somewhat acceptable; and the other two one picture no-names are either inconsequential or awful. It is rather ludicrous that they didn't allow an actual Asian actor to play the role, but the portrayal of African-American's is much more heinous. They certainly pale in comparison to just about every other detective picture/TV series I've ever seen. None of the films rate an individual review so this will have to suffice for all 29. See more 08/02/2011 Entertaining, if a bit dated. I'm partial to Warner Oland's Charlie Chan but Toler does a good job. Despite the title, the plot actually takes place on a boat rather than in Honolulu. The characters were amusing. See more Read all reviews

Charlie Chan in Honolulu

My Rating

Read More Read Less WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW POST RATING