Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum (1940)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Absolutely Brilliant!

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Charlie Chan At The Wax Museum opens with a dramatic courtroom escape by Marc Lawrence who has vowed to get Charlie Chan for supplying the evidence that has earned him a trip to old Sparky at Sing Sing. Lawrence books for the wax museum where owner/exhibitor C. Henry Gordon is a plastic surgeon and the place is just a hideout for criminals seeking new faces.As it turns out there is to be a broadcast tonight from the museum where dueling detectives Sidney Toler and former Berlin police detective Michael Visaroff will debate a past crime where Toler feels the wrong man was hanged. It's where Lawrence plans some fiendish revenge on Charlie Chan. But it's Visaroff who winds up dead and Lawrence who spends most of the film in facial bandages also dies. It's another killer with a whole different agenda that Toler and number two son Victor Sen Yung have to find.It's the usual suspect soup at the wax museum, but the film is unusual in that Charlie Chan is the target and nearly gets done in by the killer. That little twist makes Charlie Chan At The Wax Museum one of the best Charlie Chan films in the series.

One of the more interesting in the Charlie Chan mystery series. The honorable Chinese-American detective played by Sidney Toler uses his astute powers of deduction to solve two murder cases at once. A recently convicted killer(Marc Lawrence)hides out Dr. Cream's(C. Henry Gordon)wax museum and house of criminal horrors. The diabolical doctor does plastic surgery in the basement to change the faces of criminals and puts their likeness in his museum. Number Two Son Jimmy(Victor Sen Yung)actually offers some fruitful advice to his "pop" for a change. Chan also helps clear the name of a falsely condemned man by revealing the real killer in an older case. Terrific atmosphere and scenery for a mystery. The strong supporting cast includes: Joan Valerie, Ted Osborne, Joe King, Hilda Vaughn and Michael Visaroff.

Chan (Sidney Toler) investigates mysterious goings-on at "Dr. Cream's Museum Of Crime", which houses wax dummies of famous crime figures. The story puzzle features a murderer whose face has been changed as a result of surgery. Such a silly plot devise is a tad cheap, in that it provides the director an easy way to disguise the killer's current identity.While Chan is inside the eerie museum, at least one murder occurs. And there are roughly nine suspects, a bit much for a film with a 63 minute runtime. Still, the suspect pool provides some interestingly diverse characters.In trying to identify the killer, I guessed wrong. There's really not much to go on in terms of clues. However, some suspicious behavior and a line of dialogue offers a couple of vague hints.A mostly nighttime setting, great B&W lighting, a pronounced echo, and lightning and thunder contribute enormously to the spooky atmosphere.If I could have changed anything it would have been to reduce the number of suspects to six or seven and to focus a little more on their personalities and backgrounds. Also, I would have deleted Jimmy Chan, inserted apparently for comic relief, who is generally just annoying.An average film in the Charlie Chan series, "The Wax Museum", despite the silly plot devise and too many suspects, is enjoyable for its spooky atmosphere and for a story puzzle that's not easy to figure out.

As the movie opens, Charlie Chan finds himself at the sentencing phase of trial he has given evidence in against a criminal named Steve McBirney. After McBirney is sentenced to be executed, he shoots his way out of the courthouse and makes his escape. He heads straight to a wax museum dedicated to figures depicting famous crimes and criminals. The museum is run by Dr. Cream. But Dr. Cream has another profession – he's a plastic surgeon who specializes in making the faces of criminals unrecognizable. Dr. Cream also hosts a regular weekly radio show in his museum dedicated to crime. He invites Charlie Chan to be a guest on the next program. Reluctantly, Chan agrees to appear. But unfortunately for Chan, this week's radio program is a set-up for McBirney to get his revenge against the detective he blames for getting him convicted.If someone would have asked me twenty-five years ago what my favorite Charlie Chan film was, I would have most likely answered Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum. It's got a whole lot to like and a whole lot that appealed to me during my youth. Secret passages, a dark and stormy night, and creepy wax figures all add up to one of the more atmospheric movies in the Chan series. Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum probably comes as close as any of the other Chan films to having actual elements of horror – something I always go for. As an added bonus, #2 son Jimmy is less of an annoyance in this film and actually gives an interesting performance as he helps his Pop with the case. It's really not difficult to see why this movie appealed to me. It's just a fun movie!Well, and unfortunately, my tastes seem to have changed over the past couple of decades. Thanks to the recent R1 DVD release, I was finally able to revisit Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum. And while my 8/10 rating indicates I enjoyed the experience, it wasn't what I remembered. I could cite a number of problems I had with the film, but I'll just go into the most obvious. When it is discovered that someone was trying to use the wired-up chair to electrocute Chan, why doesn't Chan seem more interested in looking into this particular clue? Other than being mentioned in passing a few times, the chair is almost forgotten. Shouldn't Chan have tried to discover more about the chair like who hooked it up to the wires or what Dr. Cream knew about it? Instead, Chan spends his time running around in the dark (both literally and figuratively) trying to find a murderer. Sorry, but it doesn't add up.