Charlie Chan at the Circus

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.

Filmed and released in 1936, CHARLIE CHAN AT THE CIRCUS is the eleventh film in the Chan series--and although many tend to dismiss it as "only average," it is among my favorites of the Chan films.

This episode finds Chan on vacation on the mainland with the entire family--but when he takes the family to the circus he finds himself embroiled in the murder of the show's co-owner, a man so widely disliked by his co-workers and employees that virtually any one might have killed him. Begged into assisting the investigation by circus performer "Lady Tiny," Chan and number one son Lee join the circus train in an effort to ferret out the truth.

Like most Chan films, the plot is full of holes--but what makes this installment particularly enjoyable is the supporting cast. Son Lee (the ever-enjoyable Keye Luke) finds romance with Chinese contortionist Su Toy (the beautiful Shia Jung) and trapeze footage of Marie Normand (played by real-life trapeze artist Maxine Reiner) offers a glimpse into the circus world of the 1930s that is quite fascinating. Most enjoyable of all, however, are Col. Tim and Lady Tiny, played by popular circus stars and occasional film actors George and Olive Brasno; their sideshow dance alone would make this film worth the effort. It's all a tremendous amount of fun.

Chan films are often accused of being racist, and critics often complain that the actors playing Chan wore "yellowface" make up. The films, however, must be seen within the context of their era. In the 1930s, Hollywood presented most Asian characters as either servile or as Fu Manchu-like entities; Chan was actually just about the only positive Asian character going, and as such the films were tremendously popular with Asian-American audiences of the era.

True enough, Chan is inevitably played by an occidental actor, but this was typical of the era, in which star status was considered more important than racial accuracy. (Other Asian characters are almost always played by actors of Asian heritage, with Keye Luke and Shia Jung cases in point.) Whatever the case, neither Warner Oland or the later Sidney Toler wore significant make-up for the role, and Oland--although a Swede by birth--actually had a strong strain of Asian ancestry in his family tree. But most significantly, while Chan often allows the suspects to dismiss him through their own prejudices, as a character he is always presented in a positive light.

While I would not rank it along such knock-out Chan films as CHARLIE CHAN AT THE OPERA or CHARLIE CHAN AT TREASURE ISLAND, CHARLIE CHAN AT THE CIRCUS is a thoroughly enjoyable entry in the series, and in many respects the film's "old fashioned" qualities (watch out for that wild gorilla suit!) add to the fun. Recommended for Chan fans everywhere.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable Chan vehicle with the ever- adroit Warner Oland carrying off the Chan role this time in a circus venue. Charlie and his large family are out with a free pass enjoying the circus when(to use a cliché) death strikes under the big top. One of the partners and it seems a man virtually no ones likes dies from what appears to be by a rampaging fake -looking ape(sorry, this is even early for George Barrows!). Charlie must determine what could have taken place in this locked box car that might have a different explanation. Along the way we are treated to intriguing circus types - in particular two "midgets" wonderfully played by the brother/sister team of George and Olive Brasno. Some interesting red herrings are delivered as well as the light comedy touches that are customary with a good Chan film: pithy sayings laced with much wisdom, Charlie and his son Keye Luke's wonderful chemistry and humor, and Oland's general pleasant/pleasing portrayal of a man who has twelve children. Charlie Chan at the Circus isn't a great Chan film but it is a very good one and a fun one to be sure. Join 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 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.