Charlie Chan in Reno (1939)

To me, this movie is perfection.

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

A Masterpiece!

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Pauline Moore comes to Reno staying in a hotel specializing in divorces owned by Kay Linaker in which Phyllis Brooks is the social director. Pauline is divorcing husband Kane Richmond, who is engaged to be married to Louise Henry. While at the hotel lounge, Henry is escorted by Ricardo Cortez to Moore's table to rub her nose in the fact that she is marrying her husband. Robert Lowery, also present during the confrontation, is stunned that Henry is engaged since he thought that Henry was his girl. Brooks is jealous that Cortez is escorting Henry since she has a thing for him! Later that evening Moore is found in Henry's room standing over Henry's dead body. Charlie is enlisted by Richmond to fly with him to Reno to clear his wife of the murder. It's hard to believe but the plot gets even more complex and convoluted the more the movie goes on! Sen Yung falls for Iris Wong, in the role of Henry's maid, and the two of them hinder more than help the investigation. Aside from the aforementioned actors and actresses who were marvelous, Slim Summerville is wonderful as the local sheriff who is always several steps behind Chan in the investigation. Charles D. Brown as the Chief of Police and Sidney Toler keep a lid on the insanity and were very good also. The ending will remind you of a Thin Man finale. Very enjoyable entry in the series.

When an old friend's estranged wife is accused of murdering an evil woman, Charlie finds himself in Reno on the case. Of course, Jimmy can't keep his nose out of things and borrows his friend's car to go to Reno. On the way his car is stolen, as are his clothes. Everything now takes place in a posh hotel with Slim Summerville as an uninspired Western sheriff who has no respect for our Mr. Chan. Ms. Whitman, the accused, was found standing over the corpse and has been charged with the murder. Still, there are many other suspects, people who had reason to kill her. On is her husband, who works at a mine. Another, a slick doctor, who seems to slim his way out of any charge brought against him. One always has to weight the value of Charlie's son because he is impulsive and often on the make. Here he enlists the help of a lady's maid to investigate. The problem with him is that while he often finds interesting things, he is also a loose cannon, jumping to false conclusions. Charlie seems awfully tolerant of him. There are times here when I find too much tongue in cheek stuff. Still, it's vintage Charlie Chan and I was glad to see that none of his other kids got involved here.

This holds up well as a good Charlie Chan mystery, with a lot of suspects and fairly involved plot. Toler is very good in one of his early outings as Chan, and the Reno, Nevada background is a different type of location than the usual exotic, foreign setting. The supporting players are good ,and the whole thing is tightly written and directed.My only complaint is with Eddie Collins as the talkative cab driver, who is meant to be annoying, but succeeds a little too well. His character belongs to a type of Thirties humor that doesn't hold up well with the passage of time. Such irritating characters turn up frequently in a lot of Depression era films, and have to be accepted as part of the period, along with wise guy reporters, hardboiled cops, tough dames and grouchy editors . My tolerance for this type of individual in real life no doubt has something to do with it.This is a minor complaint about a pretty good film. Enjoy it as a good Charlie Chan mystery, where even the annoying characters are a part of the fun.

After a poor start with "Charlie Chan in Honolulu", Sidney Toler made a good come back with this, his second Chan film. This one is set in the divorce mecca. It has a particularly effective, atmospheric sequence in a ghost town. Ricardo Cortez is good in a supporting role. And Sen Yung is fun as Jimmy. Toler was just warming up for his masterpiece, the next film in the series, "Charlie Chan at Treasure Island."