Hitchcoc I really enjoyed this. Our irrepressible detective finds himself at the home of an old friend who is trying to locate her son who disappeared years ago. While it is unlikely he is alive, her connections to the spirit world through a couple Mystics and her ouija board tell her otherwise. Charlie, respecting the workings of the occult from his Oriental heritage, isn't sure the young man is dead. Well, interestingly enough, he turns up one day, only to be killed at a seance. This throws the whole issue of inheritance into a tizzy. The old lady would be disinherited and her children affected. There are four or five suspects but no evidence. Charlie must set some kind of trap to draw out the culprit. While I pretty much had this figured out way ahead, I still enjoyed it. Mainly, because I wanted to see how he played his cards. By the way, there is some pretty good CSI work done here.

binapiraeus Now, I may be biased, but IMO "Charlie Chan's Secret" is one of the VERY best movies of the whole series. It masterfully mixes supernatural experiments, complete with Ouija-boards, mediums, séances in darkened rooms with ghastly 'apparitions' with a very REAL murder case - where the culprit finally isn't too hard to find out for an experienced crime fan; but it's the AMTOSPHERE that counts.And without being a horror movie, this unique film has some exceptionally scary moments for which many a 'real' horror movie could certainly envy it. On the other hand, though, there's also the clear, logic reasoning of Charlie Chan and his co-star, Henrietta Crosman as Mrs. Lowell, who is a fervent believer in the communication with the dead, but also shows quite remarkable guts! The murder victim is millionaire Allen Colby, who'd been away for years, but suddenly turns up again - much to the chagrin of his aunt's (Mrs. Lowell's) family, who had hoped to inherit his fortune, as well as to Mrs. Lowell's trusted psychic couple, which has already earned quite a nice sum from their obviously faked séances. Then there is janitor Ulrich, who'd hated Crosby ever since he'd seduced his daughter and then dropped her like an old glove, and the poor girl committed suicide, and Colby's lawyer and trustee Phelps... So, as we see, there are QUITE a lot of suspects to choose from! But since Charlie realizes that he'll never get a confession out of any of them, he decides to catch the murderer red-handed - and for that purpose, he applies a VERY clever trick: his 'secret', as the title suggests...This movie REALLY holds you in its spell from the first to the last moment - and when there are moments without the creepiness of dark séance rooms in the old house especially prepared for those procedures, or the even darker secret passageways behind its walls, there are surprisingly welcome comical sequences provided by the ever-scared butler Baxter (Herbert Mundin)... Hollywood entertainment at its VERY best!!

malvernp "Charlie Chan's Secret" (1936) is unique. Its predecessor is "Charlie Chan in Shanghai" (1935)---which featured Keye Luke in his usual role as Number One Son. All the remaining Warner Oland films in the series up to his final entry, "Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo" (1938), also had Keye Luke in the cast. However, "Charlie Chan's Secret", as others have pointed out, does not have Keye Luke on board. Rather, his "place" was taken (sort of) by the comic British actor, Herbert Mundin. Why did Keye Luke not appear in this film? Everyone seems to have missed him.In the new DVD of "Charlie Chan's Secret", the extended commentary on the film fails to explain the cause of Keye Luke's absence-----only the fact that he does not show up in the film.Is it possible that Keye Luke's void could be due to the fact that he was loaned by Twentieth Century Fox to Warner Brothers Studio around the same time to appear in the small but pivotal supporting role as Paul Muni's son in the classic Pearl Buck epic "The Good Earth" (1937)? Such loan out arrangements were not uncommon between studios in this period.In any event, "Charlie Chan's Secret" survives his absence very nicely and emerges as a solid entry in the series with its own particular charm and entertainment value. But it does illustrate how the chemistry between Warner Oland and Keye Luke was very special and without doubt one of the greatest strengths of the "Charlie Chan" films.

ccthemovieman-1 I always enjoy listening to Charlie Chan quote his famous proverbs, or friendly digs to his kid or helper and I always appreciate his wonderful manners. Charlie's parents certainly taught him how to say "please," "thank you" and respect other human beings. He always carries himself in a gentlemanly manner. Mr. Chan never gets mad, just never loses his temper no matter what happens. He takes everything in stride.I mention all of this because those were the main attributes to this story - his manner. Missing were two key ingredients that make Charlie Chan films fun to me: his kid (whoever he or she might be) and the humor. This story didn't have any of Charlie's kids helping him and they were missed. It just wasn't the same without Number One Son either helping him or getting in his way. Also, where was the comedy? That, too, was sorely missed.That isn't to say I still didn't enjoy the movie; I did, but it wasn't as much as most of them. I did appreciate the ending which was clever but not confusing. The story was fair-at-best, and sometimes all these occult-type themes get tiresome, at least when these séance scenes get silly, as they did in this film. Still, some parts will get your attention, such as a missing man suddenly showing up at the reading of the will, and then moments later being killed!Overall, a more serious "Chan" story that fans of "B" horror flicks might enjoy more than those of us who want a little humor and kinship along with our Charlie Chan fables.