This is without a doubt the worst Charlie Chan movie I have ever seen. Harold Huber as Inspector Spivak was horribly annoying. He had about ten times the amount of lines that Sydney Toler had, which is why I say this is barely a Chan film. It's bad enough the producers felt that this film needed comic relief, but to have that comic relief be so dominant is a travesty. Aside from Huber's grating performance, the rest of the movie kind of plods along, filling time until Huber comes back to dominate. YUCK!
It was nice to see that the review from Variety (Nov. 22, 1939) didn't like this movie. The following is a quote from that review: "Direction is inadequate, further hampered by poor story material. Attempts to provide Huber with comedy as a jittery police novice are ineffectual. The audience is never presented with sufficient interest in the murder or culprit, and the mystery just unwinds without much attention."
The fact that so many people on IMDb gave this a 9 or a 10 rating sickens me. Watching this movie was a complete disappointment.
It was nice to see that the review from Variety (Nov. 22, 1939) didn't like this movie. The following is a quote from that review: "Direction is inadequate, further hampered by poor story material. Attempts to provide Huber with comedy as a jittery police novice are ineffectual. The audience is never presented with sufficient interest in the murder or culprit, and the mystery just unwinds without much attention."
The fact that so many people on IMDb gave this a 9 or a 10 rating sickens me. Watching this movie was a complete disappointment.