Reviews
Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936)
All-in-One Entertainment
It starts off with a very insane Boris Karloff escaping from an insane asylum amid strikes of lightening; it's a Universal Horror Film of the Mad Scientist type! No, it isn't. He gets to Los Angeles and hides out in the deep recesses of the city opera house. It's the Phantom! No, it isn't. Opera singer is murdered, world famous detective is called in--it's a Charlie Chan Film!
Yep, sure 'nough, it is. It's a mix of styles, but not all at once. You get lots of what you like if you're a fan of old horror, mystery, dark house and detective films.
One of the best. Too bad Oland and Karloff don't get to spend very much screen time together, but each does a very fine job, and make this flick very, very entertaining.
The Black Camel (1931)
One of the best Chans and the earliest extant
This film, taken from one of Earl Der Biggers original novels is one of the very best of the Chans. It is the second of the series, and the first, third, fourth and fifth are lost films. We can see the early Chan only through this film, and we see a very human Chan, rather than the more restrained Chan in the later films.
It also features a near tour-de-force scene by Bela Lugosi in which he, as the fortune teller to the stars Tarnaverro, forces a confession from Shela Fane, a movie star making a film in Honolulu. A confession that he witholds from Charlie Chan...