Charlie Chan in Reno

When an old friend's wife, on the eve of their divorce, is accused of stabbing her rival to death, Chan flies by China Clipper to solve the case.

But the scene of the crime, a hotel catering for divorcees, is full of suspects such as Wally Burke, whom the victim had rejected and humiliated in public, the mysterious Dr. Ainsley, who seems to share a dark secret from the past not only with Jeanne, but also with Mrs. Russell.

Matter of fact, there's plenty of suspects, which makes things a mite confusing as is the whole thing about the acid bottle, but maybe it's just me and I am no different from the slow-witted Wild West Sheriff (Slim Summerville) who keeps on saying, "horse feathers," and is the typical useless policeman you find in these mysteries for the sake of humour - the overly eloquent cab driver (Eddie Collins) is another comic relief.

It's a good Charlie Chan entry with the murder happening in the capital of divorce. It's quite fun and engaging with Number two son getting romantic with Iris Wong.

Mary Whitman seems to be a logical suspect in the murder of Jeanne Bentley. After all, she was found standing over the body. And Jeanne was the "other woman" and the reason Mary was getting a divorce. On the surface, there seems to be little doubt of Mary's guilt. But Charlie Chan sees it all quite differently. He sees a hotel full of suspects who wanted Jeanne out of the way. Can he find the real killer before Mary is convicted of a crime she didn't commit?

Sidney Toler's second outing as Charlie Chan is a solid effort and an improvement over his first. I'm not exactly sure how to put this, but Charlie Chan in Reno is just more interesting. The plot, suspects, and setting all appealed to me. The pacing is nice with very few dull moments. I particularly enjoyed Chan's visit to the ghost town. The supporting cast is strong with Phyllis Brooks and Ricardo Cortez being the standouts. And Iris Wong as the dead woman's maid and Jimmy Chan's love interest is a delight. But one thing I really enjoyed about Charlie Chan in Reno is the way the finale is handled. I've often complained about the "cheat" endings of Chan films (and I should probably stop and just accept it as a given), but the ending here is played much straighter than some of the other entries in the series. If you're sharp enough, you actually have a chance to spot the killer before Chan's big reveal. Unfortunately, I am not that sharp.

This very good Charlie Chan mystery was made at 20th Century Fox. At this time the series still had the backing of a major studio and so the production values, acting, script, camera work, etc. were of good quality. Later, when Fox dropped the series and it found a home at Monogram, the Chan films got pretty bad with the look of cheapness in abundance. But, this film had some very good actors, such as Ricardo Cortez, Robert Lowery, and the always funny Slim Summerville supporting Sidney Toler as Chan. There seemed to be just the right amount of comic relief to keep the story moving at a good pace. Later Chan entries would go overboard with comedy with Mantan Moreland and company trying to avert the viewers from realizing what lame plots and bad acting they were watching. Of course, as in all Chan mysteries, there is no shortage of suspects in the case of a murder that is committed on a thoroughly unlikeable woman who seemed to go out of her way to alienate everyone. With several characters having a motive to kill the woman, Chan must sort out the clues and unmask the killer while continually being harassed by an inept (but very funny) sheriff, portrayed by Summerville. Victor Sen-Yung, as number two son, helps out when it counts while enduring the usual number of affectionate insults from his detective father. All in all, this movie is great fun.

Although this story got a bit confusing early on and was impossible to figure out with so many suspects, it still was very enjoyable to watch because of the humor.

Between Charlie's proverbs and just some humorous remarks - many by Charlie's Number Two Son "Jimmy" (Sen Yung) and "Sheriff Tombstone Fletcher" (Slim Summerville) - it's a very entertaining Chan episode. Summerville played a pretty funny lawman.

The movie also had a couple of very pretty women, most notably Phyllis Brooks.

Overall, here's another Chan mystery just crying out for DVD packaging. Hopefully, we'll get it soon.

An entertaining film as Charlie heads over to Reno to help a friend. Mrs. Bentley would have been interesting to hang around with for a while. The film drags in a couple of spots but only briefly. I personally didn't find the Tombstone' character to be all that funny. Other than Charlie's sons,the attempts at humor in the Chan films tend to fall flat. Eddie Collins is annoying as the cab driver and it's nice to see Charlie put him in his place. Phyllis Brooks gives a good performance as Ms. Wells. I love the way Pauline Moore speaks and acts in this film. Iris Wong is great as usual.The interplay between Charlie and his #2 son is priceless!