Charlie Chan at the Circus

All 14 Chans go to the circus and the fun starts from the very beginning. But you know Charlie must find a case there, too. Charlie sleuths while enjoying the circus and number one son Lee (Keye Luke) gets into everything in a vigorous way, including some romance with a cute contortionist.

This film has more entertainment value than most other Chan films in my opinion. Featured are the talented Brasno dance team, trapeze action, a lot of circus animals and loads of circus atmosphere.

You also get several crooked subplots, an ape on the loose, good Chan aphorisms and a briskly directed, fast-moving film in general. Its great to see all 14 Chans in an outing with a fun atmosphere- you can't help but enjoy "Charlie Chan at the Circus".

This is not 'just' one of Charlie Chan's fascinating, intricate murder cases, but it's also set in very special surroundings: a circus show - and the circus atmosphere here is presented so wonderfully genuine that it really fills every circus fan with nostalgic feelings...

The whole Chan family (14 altogether...) have been invited to see the show by the circus' co-owner Joe Kinney; but not without a reason: he wants to show Charlie some threatening letters he's received. But before the show's even ended, Kinney is found murdered in his wagon - mysteriously bolted from the inside... And Charlie very soon finds out that it could have been almost any member of the circus ensemble who'd have liked to see him dead: he was a mean cheat who threatened to take away his co-owner's shares because the circus wasn't doing too well, he was rude, cruel and PRETTY unpopular with all his staff; and besides that, he was a reckless womanizer who simply used to drop his girl when he'd found another one.

And that was also the case with Nellie Farrell, whom he pushed off to the wardrobe department when he became sweet on trapeze artist Marie - but in the fight for his money, more things come to light: Kinney had been married to Nellie, according to a marriage license the police find in his safe. But Marie knows otherwise; and she promises to tell as soon as she'll have finished her trapeze act - that fact alone automatically makes our hair raise while we're awaiting her daring stunt that she always does without a net...

An incredible amount of suspense and a plot that demands a lot of our 'little gray cells' mixed with a fair amount of humor (son number one, Lee, who never can resist flirting, tries to impress a Chinese contortion artist...) - an unforgettable hour of entertainment and excitement, just like those good old-fashioned circus performances!

Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) shows up to the circus with his rather large family. He got complimentary tickets from co-owner of the circus, Joe Kinney who wants to talk to Charlie about some threatening letters he has received.

Before Kinney can talk to to Charlie more about it, he is found strangled and the circus gorilla is blamed.

Kinney was not popular with the circus performers and was abusive to the animals. So there are lots of other potential suspects apart from the frenzied ape.

'Number One Son' Lee (Keye Luke) seems to be more enchanted with the contortionist Su Toy.

Charlie Chan has to take a break from the family and his holiday to help solve the case. The two performing midgets and a trapeze artist gives this a circus feel.

The mystery is deepened as Kinney was unlikeable, he was in a dispute with his co-owner and might also be secretly married. So his widowed wife might inherit his half of the circus.

Entertaining and also humorously silly. The solution to the mystery makes a monkey out of the whole audience.

Fans of the Charlie Chan films should see this film for one reason in particular--it's a very rare chance to see the entire huge Chan clan in a single film. In most Chan films, there are one or two of the Chan children along to "help"(?) their father. However, here there are all twelve plus Mrs. Chan--a real rarity and proof that Charlie had interests other than police work!

The film is set at a circus where there is a mysterious murder--supposedly perpetrated by an ape! However, things don't add up and it's up to Charlie and his romantically challenged oldest son, Lee, to solve the crime. Along the way, you'll see midgets, tall guys, trapeze artists and the like--all providing an unusual and welcome backdrop to the investigation. Practically everything works well, though in 1930s fashion, there is an ape that is obviously just some guy in a gorilla costume (so I'll deduct a point). A bad cliché, but otherwise a great and exciting film--as are all the Chan films starring Warner Oland (the series, unfortunately, sagged a bit after his death).

This is a diverting, pleasantly enjoyable Charlie Chan film with WARNER OLAND as CHARLIE CHAN AT THE CIRCUS. In this outing, he takes his entire family to the circus while they're all on vacation and has to put up with the fumbling assistance of #1 son KEY Luke, who serves as comic relief.

Even more so than in most Chan entries, every utterance from Oland sounds like a Chinese fortune cookie--non-stop. And none of them sound authentically Chinese. That's the main quibble I have with the screenplay. But for the most part, it moves at a fast pace while it examines a group of suspects, all of whom had a motive for wanting the murdered man (the financial manager) out of the way.

The circus dancing team of midgets GEORGE and OLIVE BRASNO opens the story with some neat ballroom dance steps, but most of the plot focuses on an angry ape locked up in his cage but sometimes set loose. The murderer even makes it appear that the ape might have been responsible.

The only attempt on Chan's life comes from a poisonous snake that his son dispatches with a shotgun. Other than that, he's never in any real danger and that's where the plot falters slightly.

Meantime, we hear lots of his clichés and they don't sound very Oriental: "Size of package does not indicate quality within." "Give man plenty of rope and he will hang self." "Troubles rain on man already wet." And when he has a plan to catch the murderer, he says: "Silent witness sometimes speaks loudest." Enjoyable stuff for any mystery fan of the Chan series, but the material is all too familiar even for most Chan fans.