The Charlie Chan series has been constantly aired on local TV & cable channels over the last 30 years, but this entry is rarely screened, perhaps due to a mild epithet or several ethnic slurs contained in the dialogue. In any event, it is one of the most amateurish productions of the entire series, which says a lot considering over half of the episodes were produced by Poverty-stricken Monogram Studios; this one's a Fox Production.
Chan (Warner Oland)gets to stay in his homebase in Hawaii instead of venturing to the mainland and is involved with an investigation of an actress slain in the midst of a film being made on the island. Turns out that this crime has ties to an unsolved murder in Hollywood three years earlier. Suffice it to say that Chan solves both crimes in pedestrian fashion, with little of the charm and wit prevalent in other entries.
Chief reason for tuning in is the presence of Bela Lugosi as Tarneverro, a phony fortune teller who fancies himself as a detective of sorts. Bela had few opportunities to play straight roles & it's interesting to watch him attempt something other than a wacked out mad doctor. Lugosi's "Dracula" co-star, Dwight Frye, also pops up, as a butler for the slain actress. Even Robert Young ("Marcus Welby") has a small part.
Poorly staged and exceedingly awkward in places, "The Black Camel" survives as a curio, at best. For Chan completists only!
Chan (Warner Oland)gets to stay in his homebase in Hawaii instead of venturing to the mainland and is involved with an investigation of an actress slain in the midst of a film being made on the island. Turns out that this crime has ties to an unsolved murder in Hollywood three years earlier. Suffice it to say that Chan solves both crimes in pedestrian fashion, with little of the charm and wit prevalent in other entries.
Chief reason for tuning in is the presence of Bela Lugosi as Tarneverro, a phony fortune teller who fancies himself as a detective of sorts. Bela had few opportunities to play straight roles & it's interesting to watch him attempt something other than a wacked out mad doctor. Lugosi's "Dracula" co-star, Dwight Frye, also pops up, as a butler for the slain actress. Even Robert Young ("Marcus Welby") has a small part.
Poorly staged and exceedingly awkward in places, "The Black Camel" survives as a curio, at best. For Chan completists only!