csteidler

Charlie Chan visits the circus with the whole family, including Mrs. Chan and twelve offspring ranging from a babe in arms to fully grown son Lee Chan, who is his pop's eager assistant. A fun opening sequence shows the Chan family arriving and taking in the circus posters and barkers before filing into the big tent.

Not surprisingly, a mystery pops up: the circus co-owner is discovered murdered inside the locked circus wagon. Charlie and number one son are quickly on the case. Suspects include the trapeze artist, the wardrobe lady, the victim's business partner, and moody snake charmer J. Carrol Naish.

Warner Oland and Keye Luke are delightful as the father and son detective team. The interplay between them is so good that even the simplest dialog exchanges can be hilarious. ("I'm going with you, Pop." "Contradiction, please. You stay here. Help unpack.")

Also featured in the cast are Wade Boteler as the local cop who is not too smart; George and Olive Brasno as a song and dance team who befriend the Chans and convince them to stay on the case; and Toshia Mori as the circus contortionist who spends most of the picture rejecting Luke's romantic gestures.

Excellent blend of mystery and humor, with an appropriately exciting climax involving the circus gorilla.

Best buddies Douglas Fairbanks Jr. And Guy Kibbee are down and out. Just out of jail, they arrive at the train station hoping to scrounge a meal and possibly catch a free ride to someplace warm for the winter. Fairbanks snatches a stray suitcase in the washroom and extracts a bundle of money and some decent clothes (belonging to drunken Frank McHugh) and they may be in business. First, though....

He strikes up a conversation with dancer Joan Blondell, who really needs $64.50 for a train ticket. Her troupe has a job for her but only if she can get to Salt Lake City on time. Fairbanks figures it's a good deed to share his stolen loot, plus it's kind of fun pretending he's a generous rich guy.

Meanwhile, a black-hatted Alan Hale checks his violin case at the hat check counter, looking very nervous. Distracted, he gets his pocket picked. The hat check ticket falls on the ground, Kibbee finds it, Fairbanks redeems the violin case and takes it to the pawn shop - and discovers just in time that it contains not a fiddle but bundles of cash.

This plot gets kind of wild but is very neatly put together. Good atmosphere and photography add to the fun of this unpredictable comedy-adventure. Kibbee is a natural in his small role as the loyal but somewhat dim sidekick. David Landau is appropriately businesslike as the plainclothes cop scouring the station for counterfeiters.

Blondell is excellent - not too sweet or harsh, mostly understated but full of emotion that you can just about see. Fairbanks too is very good, presenting a bit of swagger but perfectly willing to admit it's mostly bluster.

Suspenseful and exciting, with a few laughs. Very good.

Fresh out of prison, debt to society paid, James Cagney decides to go straight: He always wanted to work for a newspaper so he tells his gangster friends he is out and goes looking for a job.

He gets his chance from Ralph Bellamy, editor of one of those rags that dig up dirt and print the photos that no classy paper would touch. He hands Cagney a camera and a challenging assignment. Cagney gets the photo and the job.

Bellamy drinks too much and fights constantly with publisher Robert Barrat. The shouted rapid-fire exchanges between Bellamy and Barrat are exciting and hilarious.

One day some college journalism students tour the newspaper building and Cagney strikes up a friendship with perky Patricia Ellis, who turns out to be the daughter of cop Robert Emmett O'Connor, who (okay, slight coincidence here) is the cop who arrested Cagney and sent him to prison.

Ellis develops a crush on Cagney but so does blonde office girl Alice White, who is currently Ralph Bellamy's girl but knows what she wants and isn't too shy about getting it. Ellis is the official love interest here but White's character is a lot more interesting.

The plot is lively but pretty standard, with both Cagney and Bellamy eventually finding themselves down and out but with a last chance for redemption. Cagney is really the whole attraction here - although his character is kind of a stinker, his outrageous behavior and that expressive face are irresistible.