Unlike many of the Charlie Chan films, this one had quite a few excellent actors in supporting roles. Among the stellar cast are Charles Middleton, Lionel Atwill and Leo G. Carroll, so already at the outset this film had a big advantage. Fortunately, this is not all it had going for it, as the plot was exceptional--making it among the best of the Sidney Toler films about the great fictional detective.
The film is set mostly aboard a cruise ship where, naturally, a murder occurs. A detective investigating a strangling maniac is killed and naturally other murders occur throughout the film. What makes this interesting, though, is that the murders vary and several times 'red herrings' are tossed in to confuse the viewer. Much of the reason this worked well is that unlike the average Chan film, this one is about ten minutes longer--and so the audience naturally thinks the film is finished when there are still a couple surprises to come. As a result, you can't help but see this film as a notch above the typical B detective series film.
The film is set mostly aboard a cruise ship where, naturally, a murder occurs. A detective investigating a strangling maniac is killed and naturally other murders occur throughout the film. What makes this interesting, though, is that the murders vary and several times 'red herrings' are tossed in to confuse the viewer. Much of the reason this worked well is that unlike the average Chan film, this one is about ten minutes longer--and so the audience naturally thinks the film is finished when there are still a couple surprises to come. As a result, you can't help but see this film as a notch above the typical B detective series film.