JohnHowardReid Associate producer: John Stone. Executive producer: Sol M. Wurtzel. Copyright 22 October 1937 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation. New York opening at the Central: 18 September 1937 (ran one week). U.S. release: 22 October 1937. 6,125 feet. 68 minutes.SYNOPSIS: A gangster's moll is murdered at the Hottentot Club. Charlie suspects foul play.NOTES: Number fifteen of the sixteen pictures made by Warner Oland in the series, and the third of five (four with Oland and one with Toler) directed by Eugene Forde.COMMENT: A lively entry with a great cast that will particularly delight Harold Huber's vast legion of fans. Harold has almost as much dialogue as Charlie himself in this one. In fact, all the players deliver solidly with the one notable exception of the player who is finally unmasked as the killer. Oddly, said player is happily convincing up to that moment but is then totally unable to strike the right murderous attitudes. Fortunately, the rest of the cast line-up more than compensates for this lapse, particularly Louise Henry (a charmingly vivacious catalyst), Joan Woodbury (who performs a torrid dance number with eye-catching dexterity), and the wonderfully perky heroine, Joan Marsh.Director Forde's staging varies from happily out-of-the-box (the cortege of welcoming police cars speeding off to the blaring strains of "Chinatown, My Chinatown"), to the reasonably stylish (Miss Woodbury versus the camera hounds) to the inconspicuously incompetent (a couple of wrong angles here and there that edit none too smoothly).As for the mystery itself, it's not only quite intriguing but fast paced and most lavishly (by "B"-picture standards) presented. Harry Jackson's lustrous photography deserves a special commendation.

mark.waltz One of Warner Oland's last appearances as Charlie Chan was this short and sweet mystery where Charlie happens to be involved in the smuggling of a diary intended to be used for blackmail. The blackmailer (Louise Henry) is all of sudden murdered and Chan must gather all the clues he can to find the killer. As it happens, he was on a cruise ship with the victim, and the diary somehow ended up in his trunk. This gets Number One Son (Keye Luke) involved, which of course, isn't a shining light in pop's eyes. "Does that mean I can go to?", Lee Chan asks his dad. "Unfortunately yes", Oland wryly replies, gathering up enough clues to prepare to uncover the killer amongst a list of sordid suspects (including J. Edward Bromberg, Donald Woods and Leon Ames) before they strike again. Even on their lowest budgets, the Chan mysteries always had some surprises, and this gives plenty of suspense as well before the culprit is named in the dramatic conclusion.

Michael O'Keefe The Oriental sleuth Charlie Chan(Warner Oland) rides a bumpy sea to attend a police testimonial in New York City. A wayward nightclub singer(Louise Henry)plans to collect a tidy sum of money by selling her diary that contains a wealth of information concerning previous criminal activities and naming names. When the chanteuse is murdered, Charlie and Number One Son Lee(Keye Luke)join Chief Inspector Nelson(Harold Huber)in piecing together clues to find the killer. An overzealous newspaper reporter (Donald Woods)and a spunky photojournalist (Joan Marsh) try to make the hunt easier...but do they? This film moves at a good pace and is typically true to the Charlie Chan formula. Other players: J. Edward Bromberg, Douglas Fowley and Joan Woodbury.

classicsoncall "Charlie Chan on Broadway" is somewhat of a misnomer, since most of the New York City action takes place far from the bright lights of the theater district, and instead are presented in the setting of the Hottentot Club, a premier night club run by mobster Johnny Burke (Douglas Fowley). The film begins aboard an ocean liner, where we observe Burke's former flame Billie Bronson (Louise Henry) conceal a package in the Chan luggage; it turns out to be a diary containing information on mob rackets, and there are plenty who would pay dearly for it. When Billie turns up dead in the Club, along with her shipboard tail Tom Mitchell (Marc Lawrence), the hunt is on for the killer.Keye Luke is on board again as Number #1 Son Lee, and Harold Huber joins the Chan series as Police Inspector Nelson, quick to jump to conclusions based on partial evidence. It's this somewhat annoying aspect of Huber's character that makes one wonder how he became an inspector in the first place. Quite a few characters are placed at the center of the mystery, including newspaper reporter Speed Patten (Donald Woods), photographer Joan Wendall (Joan Marsh), and New York Bulletin Editor Murdock (J. Edward Bromberg). Of course, Burke is a prime suspect, along with henchman Buzz Moran (Leon Ames), but editor Murdock arouses suspicion when he arrives early for an appointment with the murdered Billie, as his newspaper would have the inside scoop on the diary's secrets.With crafty precision, Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) unravels the case based on evidence provided at the Bronson crime scene in mobster Burke's office - a photograph of the murder victim's location with it's effects, and the subsequent discovery of missing elements from the photo. They include a napkin and the key to the Chan hotel room! All of this sleight of hand casts suspicion on the main suspects - both Burke, and his current girlfriend and nightclub dancer Marie Collins (Joan Woodbury), who believes Billie's return from self imposed exile is a threat to her relationship with Burke.The final revelation of the killer's identity is typical of Chan films - reporter Speed Patten is involved in the mob rackets, and his access to the other suspects places him at the center of the action. The diary has enough information to put him and his cronies away for a long time, and ultimately, it does, as the Oriental Detective lays out the missing pieces of the case for the viewer.Warner Oland would go on to portray Charlie Chan only one more time for an adventure in Monte Carlo, before his untimely death shortly after from bronchial pneumonia. His health problems appear to have taken their effect on Oland's performance in this film, in which he appears less animated and jovial than in some of his prior efforts.