Having just completed a successful investigation for the British Government, Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) finds himself confronted by a frantic Pamela Gray (Drue Leyton) who urges him to help clear her brother of murder. Paul Gray's only appeal has been rejected, and he faces execution in three days if his sister fails to convince Chan to take the case. Adding to Chan's concern is the belief of Paul Gray's attorney Neil Howard (Ray Milland) that Gray is guilty, and that does not bode well for his relationship with Pamela, to whom he is engaged to be married.
Paul Gray's alleged victim was Air Force Captain Hamilton, the hunt secretary for Geoff Richmond, and a weekend guest at the Richmond summer estate in Retfordshire; the victim's body was found in the stable. Chan makes his entrance in rather uncommon fashion, climbing through the window of Pamela Gray's guest room at the Richmond home, having been rebuffed by a suspicious butler when he came calling in the normal manner. Practically crashing a Richmond dinner party in progress, Chan gathers all the party members who had testified at the original Gray trial. Two of the dinner guests relate how they heard Hamilton and Gray quarrel strongly on the evening of the murder. Some time later, Gray was seen walking from the direction of the stable where the victim was found. With time a factor, the detective intends to recreate the crime - "No time to expose lies, must expose truth."
Upon first entering the stable, a horse reacts quite violently until calmed by the stable groom named Lake. This curious fact was never mentioned at the trial, and is the first real clue Chan has to work with - no one heard any commotion from the stable on the evening of the murder, suggesting that the horse was familiar with the murderer. This casts some suspicion on Lake, until Lake himself is found dead in what appears to be a suicide. However Chan convinces the local constable Sergeant Thacker that a bullet in the forehead would not have been possible unless fired with a thumb. Lake's dead hand held a pistol, but with his right index finger on the trigger.
Another curious fact not brought up at the trial was Hamilton's penchant for inventing gadgets. Chan learned of this by interviewing a major of the Royal Air Force at the Farnwell Aerodrome. It seems Hamilton had a scheme for silencing warplanes, those plans having been stolen by the murderer. With a motive now firmly established, Chan is convinced that the plans are at the Richmond home, and cleverly engages Geoffrey Richmond's help in searching his study. Alone with Chan, Richmond sees an opening to remove the detective from the scene, as he is now perilously close to revealing the real murderer. Not to be outdone, Chan had already prepared to expose Richmond, with the local police stationed outside the study to make their apprehension at the appropriate time.
As far as Charlie Chan mysteries go, "In London" is one of the better ones. With Warner Oland in his second outing as the Chinese detective, it's a cleverly told story, revealing clues in a well thought out manner and leading the viewer down a number of different paths before the murderer is finally revealed. The formidable list of suspects included the new hunt secretary Jardine, the previously mentioned stable groom, and suspicious butler Phillips (revealed to be Captain Seton, a military intelligence plant in the Richmond home), along with Paul Gray himself. Repeated references to the number of hours left before Gray is to be executed adds to the suspense, with Gray contemplating his gruesome fate with only four hours to go before the case is finally solved.
It was the very next Charlie Chan film that introduced other members of the Chan family to the screen. "Charlie Chan in Paris" brings Keye Luke aboard as Number #1 Son Lee. In an interesting scene from "London", Charlie Chan warmly looks at a picture of his family in the hotel room he occupies; the family count in the picture shows eleven offspring, with an additional single baby picture that could be number twelve. The very early Chan films establish a strong continuity, and the growing family size is referred to often. It's these little nuances that make the Chan series of films as interesting for me as the mysteries they tell.
Paul Gray's alleged victim was Air Force Captain Hamilton, the hunt secretary for Geoff Richmond, and a weekend guest at the Richmond summer estate in Retfordshire; the victim's body was found in the stable. Chan makes his entrance in rather uncommon fashion, climbing through the window of Pamela Gray's guest room at the Richmond home, having been rebuffed by a suspicious butler when he came calling in the normal manner. Practically crashing a Richmond dinner party in progress, Chan gathers all the party members who had testified at the original Gray trial. Two of the dinner guests relate how they heard Hamilton and Gray quarrel strongly on the evening of the murder. Some time later, Gray was seen walking from the direction of the stable where the victim was found. With time a factor, the detective intends to recreate the crime - "No time to expose lies, must expose truth."
Upon first entering the stable, a horse reacts quite violently until calmed by the stable groom named Lake. This curious fact was never mentioned at the trial, and is the first real clue Chan has to work with - no one heard any commotion from the stable on the evening of the murder, suggesting that the horse was familiar with the murderer. This casts some suspicion on Lake, until Lake himself is found dead in what appears to be a suicide. However Chan convinces the local constable Sergeant Thacker that a bullet in the forehead would not have been possible unless fired with a thumb. Lake's dead hand held a pistol, but with his right index finger on the trigger.
Another curious fact not brought up at the trial was Hamilton's penchant for inventing gadgets. Chan learned of this by interviewing a major of the Royal Air Force at the Farnwell Aerodrome. It seems Hamilton had a scheme for silencing warplanes, those plans having been stolen by the murderer. With a motive now firmly established, Chan is convinced that the plans are at the Richmond home, and cleverly engages Geoffrey Richmond's help in searching his study. Alone with Chan, Richmond sees an opening to remove the detective from the scene, as he is now perilously close to revealing the real murderer. Not to be outdone, Chan had already prepared to expose Richmond, with the local police stationed outside the study to make their apprehension at the appropriate time.
As far as Charlie Chan mysteries go, "In London" is one of the better ones. With Warner Oland in his second outing as the Chinese detective, it's a cleverly told story, revealing clues in a well thought out manner and leading the viewer down a number of different paths before the murderer is finally revealed. The formidable list of suspects included the new hunt secretary Jardine, the previously mentioned stable groom, and suspicious butler Phillips (revealed to be Captain Seton, a military intelligence plant in the Richmond home), along with Paul Gray himself. Repeated references to the number of hours left before Gray is to be executed adds to the suspense, with Gray contemplating his gruesome fate with only four hours to go before the case is finally solved.
It was the very next Charlie Chan film that introduced other members of the Chan family to the screen. "Charlie Chan in Paris" brings Keye Luke aboard as Number #1 Son Lee. In an interesting scene from "London", Charlie Chan warmly looks at a picture of his family in the hotel room he occupies; the family count in the picture shows eleven offspring, with an additional single baby picture that could be number twelve. The very early Chan films establish a strong continuity, and the growing family size is referred to often. It's these little nuances that make the Chan series of films as interesting for me as the mysteries they tell.