Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

H. Bruce Humberstone

Writers:

Charles Belden (writer)
Scott Darling (writer)

Release Date:

21 April 1937 (Denmark)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

A fiendish killer lurks at the opera! Weird! Thrilling! The Master Minds of Crime Match Wits Against Each Other!

Plot:

A dangerous amnesiac escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the opera house to wreak revenge on those who tried to murder him seven years earlier.

Plot Keywords:

Opera | Amnesiac | Opera House | Charlie Chan | Murder

Cast

Warner Oland	...	Charlie Chan
Boris Karloff	...	Gravelle
Keye Luke	...	Lee Chan
William Demarest	...	Sergeant Kelly
Guy Usher	...	Inspector Regan
Margaret Irving	...	Mme. Lilli Rochelle
Gregory Gaye	...	Enrico Borelli
Nedda Harrigan	...	Mme. Lucretia Borelli
Frank Conroy	...	Mr. Whitely
Charlotte Henry	...	Kitty Rochelle
Thomas Beck	...	Phil Childers
Maurice Cass	...	Mr. Arnold
Tom McGuire	...	Pop Morris - Stage Doorman

Runtime:

68 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:Unrated

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Benson Fong, who appears as an extra during the opera scenes, later returned to the series to play Tommy Chan, Charlie's #3 Son.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When they characters are all gathered in the dressing room after the murders and they are questioning Childers, he says he knew Madame Barelli well. What he actually meant to say Madame Rochelle (or Madame Lilli as she was being referred to).

Quotes:

Charlie Chan: Roses and romance like tenor in opera - sing most persuasive love song.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Opera Ghost: A Phantom Unmasked (2000) (V)

Soundtrack:

March Funebre

My First Look At Charlie Chan

This was my first-ever look at Charlie Chan. It wasn't one of his better adventures but I've seen worse, too. It sports a famous guest actor, Boris Karloff, and a semi-famous, if you will, actor in William Demarest.

Demarest plays a cop and his lingo and his prejudices are very early '30s. He couldn't say those lines (cracks about Asians) on film in this day-and-age.

The usual witty and profound Chan proverbs are in here and the usual loyal son (Keye Luke, number one son) is there to help. The ending left me a bit confused. Granted, I was tired when I watched this but Charlie's last-minute explanation and conclusions came so fast they confused me. I'd have to see this at least one more time to understand it. I think this is coming out on DVD soon and I'll get that and watch it again.

I'll always have a fond memory for this since it introduced me to this extremely entertaining film series. I've seen around 20 of them since this one and enjoyed them all.