DKosty123 This is a very good entry in this film series. Relatively short at less than an hour and a half, it seems a likely setting to the last section of the Marx Brothers Night At The Opera without the Comedy. The regular cast of Warner Oland and Keye Luke are joined by a very active William Demarest and the great suspect escaped from a mental institution - Boris Karloff. Spoiler, much like a later movie Karloff did with Abbott and Costello, Boris Karloff's Gravelle character is used much the same way. In this one, Karloff appears to sing Opera and sounds like he can, and play the piano. It is not often that happens in any movie.Kitti and Lilli Rochelle= Charlotte Henry & Margaret Irving, and Mme. Anita Barelli -Nedda Harrigan are the ladies of the cast and 2 of them sing too. One of them is the murder victim.Charlie Chan is under the dead line seriously while working this one a he is risking running late for his transportation back home. Lee Chan as Luke is credited in this one, is of some help but a usual is mostly 1 step behind famous father.The writing is solid here and it does not hurt that one of the script writers also has a credit for 1925's silent film version of Ben Hur. Like most Chan films, the plot is easy to follow, there are more than one red herrings in this script, and Chan provides much wisdom and skill sorting out the clues ahead of Luke and Sgt Kelly(Demarest).There are references to China in this one, though after reading the Nazi's banned this film in Germany in 1936, it is not real easy to see why they did.

utgard14 Given that Boris Karloff is one of my favorite actors, it's no surprise this is my favorite Charlie Chan movie. Now, of course since Karloff is here, we have to start the movie with an atmosphere akin to that of a horror film. Karloff plays an amnesiac opera singer named Gravelle. He regains his memory and escapes from a sanitarium on a stormy night to go find his daughter, whom he hasn't seen since she was a child. The police are desperate to catch Gravelle, so they call in Charlie Chan (Warner Oland).Oland is pitch-perfect as always. Keye Luke as "Number One Son" Lee gets to have lots of fun running around in costume backstage at the opera, trying to help his father on the case. William Demarest plays a police sergeant jealous of Charlie who makes several bigoted remarks throughout the movie but comes to respect the superior detective by the end. Boris Karloff gives a terrific performance, which should come as a surprise to no one familiar with his work. He's the only actor in the entire series to be able to match Warner Oland's screen presence.Fast pace, interesting setting, great performances, and a particularly nice atmosphere make this an exceptional entry in the always delightful Charlie Chan series. I'm not big on opera but the music written by Oscar Levant for this film is pretty good and adds to an overall excellent production. As I said before, this is my favorite Charlie Chan film and I see by many reviews here I'm not alone. It's definitely a highlight of the series, with a top-notch guest star (Karloff) and an exciting story, helped greatly by the opera backdrop and music.

Spuzzlightyear Another day. another Charlie Chan mystery. This time, Walter Orland is paired up with Boris Karloff, an interesting combo to be sure, as Chan tries to figure out who bumped off a pair of philandering opera singers(!!) Boris Karloff is, of course, prime suspect #1, as he is cast here as a crazed opera singer who just escaped from the looney bin lusting for revenge on the people who tried to kill him in an opera fire many moons ago! This one is a bit strange with it's premise, so therefore it's fun as Chan tries to make sense of it all. Karloff looks to be having a ball in this strange casting as an opera singer, he lip syncs horribly. I think he knows his fans know it, so just adds to the fun.

MartinHafer The famous Charlie Chan series of the 1930s starred Swedish actor Warner Oland as the main character. Yes, I understand that having a non-Chinese man playing Chan is NOT politically correct and they SHOULD have had a Chinese guy play the detective as well as play him less stereotypically, but considering this is the 1930s and the films are still entertaining, this is something the viewer is just going to have to overlook. In the 1940s, the series would continue with other non-Asians (Sidney Toler and then Roland Winters) as well as move from glamorous Twentieth Century Fox to poverty row Monogram Studios--where the production values would drop considerably and racial insensitivity would increase dramatically! Since this is one of the earlier Fox Charlie Chan films, it is a definite step up in quality and entertainment.The film starts with Boris Karloff in a mental institution playing the piano and feeling pretty contented for a patient. It seems he was there due to amnesia and had been in the hospital for over a decade. However, out of the blue, he recalls who he is and attacks an attendant and escapes. With headlines such as "Dangerous Maniac Escapes", everyone seems to be worried that Karloff will go on some sort of killing spree, though why a previously harmless guy would suddenly run amok and start killing is beyond me! Anyway, he eventually arrives at the opera house where he hides among in the building like the Phantom of the Opera. At the same time, the company's diva receives a death threat and Chan is brought in to investigate. Well, even the world's greatest detective isn't perfect, as pretty soon this woman assumes room temperature (dies)! Where the movie goes from there and how Karloff fits into it all is a real treat since it's handled so well. Also, just because the story takes place at an opera house does not mean the film is stuffy or packed with opera! Watch it and see how well the series was occasionally written and how it goes when there is a good "villain" like Karloff to add to the film.