I had fun with this. Like 'Chan in Egypt' and '..in Paris', it's early sound, it's creaky, it's filled w/ some over-acting(dig the scared blonde limey maid), it's slow.
It's also interesting, centered around a involving, well-plotted mystery, and of course, one of the great characters of the thirties-Charlie Chan. This time he's in London to try and save a man on death row, he has 3 days to beat the hangman's noose. He does, but barely.
I enjoyed watching Oland work. I have no problem w/ him as the Chinese detective, though he is quite obviously Swedish. (As a fan of Charles Bronson, I know-you can see Chuck playing scads of Apaches or Mexicans in his earlier movies. He was Lithuanian. I don't see the difference, to be honest-if it's okay for Bunchinsky to play Apache Warrior #2, it's okay for Oland to play Chan, you know?) The bad guy you won't spot that early on, either. I thought that the suspense was well handled, heck they even trot out the red-herring 'Butler did it' routine, the gathering all the likely suspects into one room, etc etc. Hits all of those clichés head on. And knows what to do with them, too.
Do check this out if you are a fan of the series, or mysteries from the era.
*** outta ****
It's also interesting, centered around a involving, well-plotted mystery, and of course, one of the great characters of the thirties-Charlie Chan. This time he's in London to try and save a man on death row, he has 3 days to beat the hangman's noose. He does, but barely.
I enjoyed watching Oland work. I have no problem w/ him as the Chinese detective, though he is quite obviously Swedish. (As a fan of Charles Bronson, I know-you can see Chuck playing scads of Apaches or Mexicans in his earlier movies. He was Lithuanian. I don't see the difference, to be honest-if it's okay for Bunchinsky to play Apache Warrior #2, it's okay for Oland to play Chan, you know?) The bad guy you won't spot that early on, either. I thought that the suspense was well handled, heck they even trot out the red-herring 'Butler did it' routine, the gathering all the likely suspects into one room, etc etc. Hits all of those clichés head on. And knows what to do with them, too.
Do check this out if you are a fan of the series, or mysteries from the era.
*** outta ****