Based on the last quarter of an actual Earl Derr Biggers' novel, namely "Charlie Chan Carries On", this re-make, Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise (1940), very capably directed by Eugene Forde, is also a delight, particularly in its 76-minutes Australian release version which Fox has now made available to American viewers for the first time ever.
The movie was cut to 70 minutes for both its original USA release and its American TV airings. Oddly, the cuts were made in the dramatic scenes. All the comedy remained intact, with the result that the film's cleverly engineered pacing was destroyed.
Virgil Miller's atmospheric low-key photography is a stand-out as usual, and the support cast includes such favorites as Lionel Atwill, Leo G. Carroll and Kay Linaker.
To judge from the surviving Spanish version, this is a much more exciting film than the original Charlie Chan Carries On (1931), even though it is missing two of that film's best scenes.
The movie was cut to 70 minutes for both its original USA release and its American TV airings. Oddly, the cuts were made in the dramatic scenes. All the comedy remained intact, with the result that the film's cleverly engineered pacing was destroyed.
Virgil Miller's atmospheric low-key photography is a stand-out as usual, and the support cast includes such favorites as Lionel Atwill, Leo G. Carroll and Kay Linaker.
To judge from the surviving Spanish version, this is a much more exciting film than the original Charlie Chan Carries On (1931), even though it is missing two of that film's best scenes.