COOL FLICKS: The Black Camel (1931)

Tarneverro & Chan discover Shelah Fane dead in the pavilion

The Black Camel (1931) is a good case of a screenwriter's sticking too closely to his source material and falling into a trap of his own making. Normally, I am the first one to decry movies that deviate from the original story in film adaptations based on novels, plays or what have you, and I should be happy with this ever faithful adaptation. But here odd choices on what to leave out of the movie make for some head scratching moments.

Granted if you know nothing about the book The Black Camel is an engaging entry in the Charlie Chan series mostly due to the presence of Warner Oland and Bela Lugosi. But there are moments when one wonders what some characters are doing in the story. Who are Rita Ballou and her husband Wilkie? What about Huntley Van Horn? Why are they there? With larger roles in the novel on screen they have been reduced to little more than stage props. Rita has exactly one scene in which she gives an eyewitness account (also in the book) but that's the extent of her role, while the other two have little to do but express indignation. They are bogey characters, ciphers, mysteries more puzzling than the murder of Shelah Fane. The clues so abundant in the book come at the viewer too rapidly and are never discussed at length or in some cases are introduced then completely forgotten. What about that letter stolen when the lights went out? What was in it? Where did it go? Several fascinating scenes of detection are ripped out of the story to make way for quips and poor excuses for comic relief.


Chan & Julie try to piece together the torn photo

One interesting choice is to allow the viewers to see several of the characters monkeying with the evidence. In the novel these scenes are done offstage and Chan must detect them through examination of evidence and questioning of the suspects. Engaging the viewer by allowing us to see Julie and Tarneverro do their business in an effort to protect another person gives the film a modern touch that the traditional, often old-fashioned, source novel does not provide. It also gives the characters more of an active role in the story rather than being confined as subjects of constant interrogation as is the case in the book.

Mantan Moreland thankfully is nowhere in sight. But we do have Otto Yamaoka. There may not be any cringeworthy Steppin Fetchit-like antics but there are just as many embarrassing moments with Yamaoka as the rookie police detective Kashimo running amok, looking for evidence, and destroying a bedroom in less than one minute while "searching" for a photograph. "Boss! Clue? Another clue?" he says to Chan after popping into a scene every ten minutes or so like an obedient Golden Retriever delivering his master his slippers. When Chan dismisses him with insulting remarks ("Can cut off monkey's tail but he is still monkey.") and facetious orders ("Spend more time hunting for nothing to do!") it is more than welcome and Kashimo disappears for the most of the film.

Lugosi, with only two films behind him after his star making performance in Dracula, shows the promise of what could have been an impressive monster-less career on film. It's a shame that directly after this movie he would be cast in Murders in the Rue Morgue and be consigned to a career of nothing but mad scientists, vampires and sinister villains. Though first he appears to be a cad as Tarneverro he has what turns out to be a heroic part in this movie. Lugosi has a commanding presence, a gift for comedy, and a leading man quality not shown off in his later horror and mystery films. His scenes -- especially those shared with Oland -- are the highlight of the movie.



Dorothy Revier vamps it up in 1929
(photo by Walter Seeley)

The other cast members do serviceable work. Dorothy Revier, at one time a popular silent screen actress, is given little to do in her few scenes as Shelah before she is murdered. Her role in the book is larger and we get an idea she is a vain diva who is using her star persona to mask a secret that is terrifying her. Revier conveys her terror in the usual silent era pantomime histrionics and otherwise looks gorgeous in her diaphanous flowing costumes. She really knows how to wear her clothes as they say in the trade. In other words, she lets her costumes do the real acting. Robert Young, looking like a teenager, is appropriately boyish and goofy as Jimmy Bradshaw, the starry-eyed young man in love with Julie O'Neill (Sally Eilers), Shelah's secretary. The only other actor worth mentioning is Dwight Frye in the unbilled role of Jessup. Straight from his turn as the schizoid Renfield in Dracula opposite Lugosi, Frye is cast as the butler (in the book a supercilious septuagenarian) now made into a much younger servant pining for Anna, the maid. In a bizarre twist in the finale Jessup is revealed to be a lunatic allowing for Frye to once again display his skill in portraying a goggle-eyed nutcase.

Despite these quibbles The Black Camel makes for an engaging and entertaining period whodunnit. With Oland as Chan and Lugosi as his rival detective dominating the proceedings the minor faults of  the less talented supporting actors and the silly comic moments with Yamaoka are easily overlooked. But I'd recommend reading the book first before watching the movie.

FFB: The Black Camel - Earl Derr Biggers

Charlie Chan is on the case!

Strange that though he is a member of the Honolulu Police Department there are only two books in the Chan series that take place in Hawaii. One of those (The House Without a Key) is only partially set there. The Black Camel (1929) is the fourth book in the Chan series and the only one which is set exclusively in Hawaii. It is also the first book in which we meet Chan's family. Well, his wife and four of his eleven children to be specific. Where the other seven kids have gone is never mentioned. For the record those four kids are named Rose, Evelyn, Henry and Barry. Barry is a baby in this book and is named after movie actor Barry Kirk who appeared in the novel Behind That Curtain. There's some hardcore Charlie Chan trivia for you! File that away for this year's Challenge to Reader Trivia contest. There's only one other website that goes into detail about the Chan children as described in the books.

But I digress...

Shelah Fane, stunning movie actress, is on her way back to Hawaii after a trip to Tahiti where Alan Jaynes proposed marriage to her. Before she accepts she must consult with her personal advisor the psychic Tarneverro who is also making his way to Hawaii. During her consultation with the psychic Shelah confesses that she has knowledge of the murder of  actor Denny Mayo, with whom she was romantically linked three years ago and whose murder remains unsolved. Tarneverro cajoles her into revealing she was present at the time of the murder and knows the murderer is here on the island. But was there someone listening on the balcony of their hotel room? Just prior to a dinner party Shelah had planned for all her movie co-workers and friends she is found stabbed in a pavilion not far from her main house. Could her murder be related to Denny Mayo's murder? And is the murderer truly on the island as she confessed to Tarneverro?

Academy Chicago paperback reprint

Charlie Chan is soon on the case and finding clue after clue: among them a cigar stub left outside the pavilion window, a stolen letter from Shelah, a torn photo hidden under a potted plant, a broken diamond pin. There seems to be a plethora of clues with each one incriminating a different dinner party guest. Somewhat against his will Chan finds himself teamed up with the psychic Tarneverro who has shown too much of a personal interest in the murder. It is a battle of wits and detective skills between the two. By the end of the book Charlie will learn the true identity of Denny Mayo's murderer, the killer of Shelah Fane, and several deep dark secrets among the entire cast of characters.

This is one of purest American traditional detective novels you may ever encounter. Tightly constructed with multiple clues presented expertly in a genuine fair play technique it has both a familiar and modern feel to it all.  Familiar in the old-fashioned sense of a supersleuth hunting for clues and modern in Biggers' deft and breezy dialogue. The characters, for the most part, would seem right at home in the 21st century rather than the 1920s. From the opening scenes with a terrified and angst-ridden Shelah Fane meeting with Tarneverro to the timeworn gathering of the suspects in the dining room where Chan has them recreate their seating arrangement at the dinner party The Black Camel has all the ingredients to satisfy a true fan of detective fiction.

In 1001 Midnights Bill Pronzini and Marcia Muller award this book a coveted asterisk marking it as noteworthy in the development of the genre. Marcia Muller, who wrote the entries for Earl Derr Biggers, also says it's the highlight in the Chan series. I have read three of the Chan novels so far and I have to agree with their assessment. For the Hawaiian setting, the tightly constructed plot, the abundance of clues and a neat final surprise you can't beat this book.

Also worth mentioning is the movie version released in 1931. Of the few film adaptations of the Charlie Chan novels The Black Camel is the most faithful to its source material. With the exception of a minor actress all of the characters from the book appear in the movie and all of them retain their original character names. Warner Oland reprises his role as Chan, Bela Lugosi appears as the sinister Tarneverro, and a very youthful Robert Young is cast as the enthusiastic tourism P.R. man Jimmy Bradshaw who also serves as Bigger's typical starry-eyed young lover in a minor subplot. My review of the movie is now posted here.

The Chinese Parrot - Earl Derr Biggers (1926)

I thought this was great fun.  Instead of Hawaii the action moves to the mainland. It opens in San Francisco then moves on to a Southern California desert town called El Dorado.  Biggers has created some very American characters here and his gift for snappy dialogue makes the book all the more enjoyable.  Chan has a much larger role here and as mentioned above is undercover in the role of a Chinese "boy of all work" called Ah Kim who cooks, tends to fireplaces and even acts as chauffeur. He teams up with the son of a jeweler, Bob Eden, to uncover some obvious criminal doings at the home of P. J. Madden, a millionaire intent on buying the valuable pearl necklace.  The most baffling of the events is an apparent murder without a body.  Tony, the African gray parrot of the title, is quite a mimic and in addition to spouting forth Chinese phrases he also squawks out, "Help! Help! Murder! Put down that gun!"  Chan is convinced the bird was a witness to a murder.

Discovery of a missing antique gun with two chambers empty, and an attempt to hide a bullet hole in a wall by covering it with a painting, both support the theory of a murder having taken place in Madden's home.  But just who was killed and where did the body go?  Chan may have two white men as his aides in detection in this book, but it is he alone who will unmask the killer in a great finale where we see "his eyes blaze in anger" while covering the villains of the piece with two guns, one in each hand.

Truly, here is an excellent book not only in the series, but in all of early American detective fiction.

NOTE:  A longer review appears here at Mystery*File, where I am a regular contributor.