Charlie Chan at the Olympics

Charlie discovers the body of a pilot who was missing for days following a test flight using a remote control navigation system, which is missing from the plane. Charlie discovers that the killer, Miller, worked at an airplane factory in Honolulu, but is found murdered in his apartment before he can be questioned. The suspects of being the sinister power behind the theft are headed towards Berlin, not only to watch the Olympics, but to sell the remote control unit. Charlie takes the Hindenburg to Berlin and is joined by son Lee (who is entered in the 100m swimming relay) to track down Yvonne Rowland, who was seen in Miller's apartment, and who has contacted Baron Zaraka, dignitary for a warring nation. Knowing that Chan is on the case, Zaraka has Lee kidnapped and will turn him over to Charlie in exchange for the remote control device. Charlie tries to dupe the spies, even though he knows that his son is at their mercy. Very good Chan film that places the emphasis on foreign intrigue rather than mystery (and is able to succeed). Oland does turn in one of his best performances as the character, due to the character's development from the genial detective to the worried parent. The Olympics angle does give an interesting aspect of the film towards today's audiences giving an idea of the athletes back then (and the subtraction of the Nazi influence over the games). The climax to the mystery (which is suspenseful) and the revelation of the killer's motive seems to suggest that the film was trying to bloat the mystery angle of the film more. Rating, based on B mysteries, 7.

... that being that the film is set at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

A plane is doing a test flight with a brand new invention vital to the defense of the United States when the plane disappears. The audience can see inside the cockpit that someone hiding inside the plane overpowers the actual pilot, but the cast is denied this knowledge. Charlie Chan finds the plane with the body of the pilot nearby while on a fishing trip with one of his younger sons. A careful investigation leads suspicions to somebody who is part of the American Olympic team, and thus he has left Hawaii for Berlin. Therefore Chan goes to Berlin himself to continue the investigation. A further complcation is that oldest Chan son Lee is a competitor in the games there.

Set in 1936, there is quite a bit of stock footage of the 1936 Olympic games. There is one shot with the torch bearer running down the stairs with people in the crowd on either side of him clearly performing the Nazi salute. The Berlin police are portrayed as pedantic stumble bums whose hearts are in the right place and who act and dress like the Kaiser is still alive versus the rather lethal group that they had become by 1936 - not a group you'd want to tangle with.

What is really ironic is that Charlie postulates that the radio control device will be sold in Germany to some unnamed group of international terrorists because they feel "safe" in Germany during the games because of the presence of so many people from many nations. It's so interesting to see how the United States and the rest of the world did not take Hitler's Germany seriously until it was almost too late.

In the scene on board the Hindenburg involving CC and 2 other men, look closely at the title of the article in the magazine that the seated man is reading. It's "Think fast, Mr. Moto"!!!

I enjoyed this CC movie for its locations. Opening in Hawaii w/#2 son. On board the ship with #1 son. CC flying in the Hindenburg. And finally the Olympic Stadium. Jonathan Hale, as usual, is just suspicious enough to be a legitimate villain/red herring...(???) The arms dealer, foreign diplomat and the lady w/the white fox fur all add intrigue and deception to the plot.

We also get to check out Warner Oland's physical condition as he jogs with his shirt off for his physical at the movie's beginning.

Another well-directed Warner Oland Chan filmmaking full use of stock footage from 1936 Berlin Olympics and the dirigible Hindenburg. Chan is on trail of stolen aircraft autopilot and killers who will make an attempt on his life and again kidnap No. 1 son Lee. Keye Luke is allowed to play his part without disguise and too much oriental racial humor. Good supporting cast and great shots of the game ceremonies and Jesse Owen in the relay race. For those who want to view more of these games, without Chan, see Leni Riefenstahl's Olympia 1. Teil - Fest der Völker and Olympia 2. Teil - Fest der Schönheit (1938). Continuity with other films suffers when Layne Tom, Jr. is introduced as #2 son Charlie. We have seen much older sons in his family at the circus and we will later see Victor Sen Yung as #2 son Jimmy and even later as Tommy Chan.

This is a good mystery, but once again it is impossible to share in the clues that only Chan can see and from that catch the thief and murderer. `When all players possess suspicious cards, good idea to have joker up sleeve.' Story line is somewhat believable – enough for a good afternoon's watching. Concluding scenes have oriental detective admit he is willing to risk loss of son and self in order to maintain honor and loyalty to United States. One of the best in the series. Recommended.

While Charlie's multi-talented son Lee is traveling by ship to Europe as a member of the US Olympics team, his father searches at home for a newly invented remote control device for planes which is probably on its way to be sold to some obscure foreign power (the political tensions all over the world are already perceptible three years before the beginning of WW II, but the movie doesn't show any affiliation or enmity yet) - and happens to be on the same ship with Lee and his friends, guarded by a 'femme fatale' (Cecil B. DeMille's adoptive daughter Katherine in her probably best role) who arouses the dislike of the young athletes only because she keeps flirting with one of them although he's got a steady girlfriend...

Charlie, in the meantime, has found out the 'traveling route' of the device, and 'overtakes' it, first by plane and then aboard the famous zeppelin 'Hindenburg' (which would crash only a year later). But from the moment on that the athletes (one of whom 'smuggled' it into the country without even knowing it), the spies and the police mingle, there is constant confusion, until Charlie seems to have it safely in the hands of the German police authorities - BUT the spies have got Lee...

From this moment, we really FEEL the agony of Charlie as a father, and his dilemma of handing the important invention over to the spies or risking his son's life - certainly a very earnest and dramatic entry in the 'Charlie Chan' movies, but not without its lighter moments; and besides that, we get a glimpse of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin - a real time document.