Charlie Chan on Broadway (1937)

Absolutely Fantastic

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

A nightclub singer with a diary full of other peoples' secrets gets bumped off and her diary is stolen. Charlie Chan gets to work investigating all the suspects with (mostly unwanted) help from "Number One Son" Lee. This is a fun entry in the series helped by a great cast. Keye Luke is a treat, especially in his scenes with the lovely Toshia Mori. Each of the Chan films he was in is better just by his presence. Harold Huber plays the obligatory baffled police inspector. Donald Woods, J. Edward Bromberg, Joan Marsh, Leon Ames, Marc Lawrence, and Douglas Fowley all offer good support. Lon Chaney, Jr. has a quick cameo. Avoid reading too much about this one before you see it or the identity of the killer might be spoiled for you. I was taken by surprise!

Nightclub singer Louise Henry returns to New York as it turns out with Warner Oland and number one son Keye Luke on the same boat. She hung around with a lot of criminal types like Marc Lawrence, Douglas Fowley, and Leon Ames and reputedly kept a diary of events that could mean long stretches in prison if she turns it over to law enforcement. Excellent reason for people wanting to do her harm.In addition to Warner Oland investigating to help Inspector Harold Huber of the NYPD, reporter and photographer Donald Woods and Joan Marsh are trying to scoop each other to please city editor J. Edward Bromberg who has a big interest in this case.I'm kind of divided in terms of my feelings about Charlie Chan On Broadway. On one hand the eventual perpetrator of both Henry and then Lawrence's homicide fits quite logically when you remember the sequence of events. But the casting will throw you off.Oland and Luke do some good work here helping clear up a pair of homicides of some people society won't miss unless you're a fan of Henry's singing.

Warner Oland and Keye Luke star in "Charlie Chan on Broadway" in this 1937 film also featuring Donald Woods, Joan Marsh, Louise Henry and Harold Huber. Chan (Oland) is on board ship with #1 son Lee (Luke). A woman (Henry) in another cabin hides something in one of Chan's drawers. Therein lies the plot hole - how is that Chan or Lee didn't find it? Assuming they never went into that drawer, which had unpacked clothing in it, wouldn't they have found it when they packed? Anyway, the woman turns out to be Billie Bronson, whom the mob got out of town because she knew too much. Now she's back, this time with her diary, and everybody wants it. Murders are the result, and Chan and Lee are on the case.There's not much of Broadway in this film except a couple of shots of Times Square, but it's fun nonetheless. Oland is a good Chan; he's younger than Sidney Toler, another Charlie, and Keye Luke is very likable as Lee.These movies are politically incorrect today, but they're entertaining and a great reminder of what ethnic populations had to endure if they were involved in films or even watching them. Despite some remaining problems, and there are some, things have improved.Good movie, fast moving.

The title of this Charlie Chan flick is a misnomer because Broadway doesn't play a part in this film. Yes, we are in New York City for part of the story, but the scene isn't Broadway but "The Hottentot Club."This Chan story has the normal assortment of interesting characters. It didn't think Charlie's proverbs were up to snuff in this one but his repartee with Number One Son (Keye Luke) was fun to hear, as always.Louise Henry, a woman who has a diary that everyone is after in this murder-mystery, has one of the prettiest faces I've seen in a Chan movie. However, on the opposite side, Harold Huber as "Inspector Nelson" is one of the more annoying ones I've seen.Overall: good, and another in the series that I am still hoping to see on DVD.