I must forewarn, one and all, I love murder mysteries. I am also a huge fan of the Earl der Biggers character, Charlie Chan. They are rather formulaic with their always being a young lovebirds involved in each case. The handsome young man in this one...was Robert Young's first starring role. The cast included Bela Lugosi and Dwight Frye, apparently they had become a tagteam of sorts. Their movie Dracula had come out earlier that year. Bela played a famous mind reader that was in Hawaii on business. We meet Warner Oland, my personal favorite Charlie Chan, casing the mind reader, trying to disguise himself as a Chinese business man. Of course, Bela sees right through the charade and deduces that Charlie is really a policeman...Charlie warns Bela that they don't care for ripoff artists on the islands. Bela tells Charlie that they are both mystics...Chan investigates the past, while he investigates the future. The movie was full of plot twists and red herrings. The direction was crisp and the acting first rate. Though, in today's world of political correctness, the Asian stereotypes would be and are inappropriate...if one can overlook accepted bias' from eons ago...you can enjoy one of the first Charlie Chan's ever made. I believe Charlie Chan Carries On is the first episode of Charlie Chan, portrayed by Warner Oland...this is the second episode and one well worth your time to watch.
Review of The Black Camel
