''Charlie Chan at the Olympics'' (1937) is possibly the most topical

Charlie Chan Charlie Chan is a fictional Honolulu police detective created by author Earl Derr Biggers for a series of mystery novels. Biggers loosely based Chan on Hawaiian detective Chang Apana. The benevolent and heroic Chan was conceived as an alter ...

film, as it features actual footage from the

1936 Berlin Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

. There is also a scene where Charlie crosses the Atlantic in the '' Hindenburg.'' This is the 14th film starring

Warner Oland Warner Oland (born Johan Verner Ölund; October 3, 1879 – August 6, 1938) was a Swedish-American actor. His career included time on Broadway and numerous film appearances. He is most remembered for playing several Chinese and Chinese-American ...

as Chan and produced by Fox.

Plot

Charlie Chan is proud of his oldest son, swimmer Lee (

Keye Luke Keye Luke (, Cantonese: Luk Shek Kee; June 18, 1904 – January 12, 1991) was a Chinese-born American film and television actor, technical advisor and artist and a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild. He was known for playing Lee Chan, t ...

), being chosen to represent the United States at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. Meanwhile, over the skies of Chan's

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

, the "Hopkins plane" is demonstrating an improvement of remote radio control to the US military. The aircraft is hijacked by a concealed stowaway, the device stolen, and the test pilot murdered. When Chan and his astute second son, Charlie Jr. ( Layne Tom Jr.), identify the stowaway, he finds only the man's body. On the passenger list of the only aircraft to leave Honolulu for the mainland after the incident are Richard Masters (

Allan Lane Allan "Rocky" Lane (born Harry Leonard Albershardt; September 22, 1909 – October 27, 1973) was an American studio leading man and the star of many cowboy B-movies in the 1940s and 1950s. He appeared in more than 125 films and TV show ...

) and Yvonne Roland (

Katherine DeMille Katherine Lester DeMille (born Katherine Paula Lester; June 29, 1911 – April 27, 1995) was a Canadian-born American actress who played 25 credited film roles from the mid-1930s to the late 1940s. The adopted daughter of director Cecil B. De ...

). Masters was the intended test pilot, but injured his shoulder and had to be replaced. He left on the

Pan Am Clipper Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...

to travel to the Olympics himself as a competitor. Perusing the list, Hopkins ( Jonathan Hale) recognizes the name of arms dealer Arthur Hughes ( C. Henry Gordon). Several of the suspects head for Germany on with the US Olympic team. Chan, Hughes, and the inventor Cartwright arrive before them by taking the Zeppelin ''Hindenburg''. Aboard ''Manhattan'', Lee Chan suspects Roland of being an "adventuress". He spots her putting a piece of paper in her book, and Hughes taking it. He confides in fellow Olympian Betty Adams ( Pauline Moore), Masters' girlfriend. When the ship docks, German Inspector Strasser, Chan, and Hopkins go to question Roland, only to find her gone and her cabin rifled. Chan is reunited with his son Lee when the latter sneaks into the cabin through a porthole to play detective. On the train trip to Berlin, Chan learns that Lee saw Roland borrow a camera from Adams. Hughes overhears the pair speculate that the invention was smuggled off the ship in it. Hughes advises Chan to stop investigating, then spots a gun barrel in a passing car and pushes the pair to safety. A shot strikes their compartment window. Later, Hughes arranges for Adams' camera to be stolen, but finds nothing inside. A hotel maid tries to steal the invention, hidden in Adams' candy box, but is foiled by Chan and Strasser. When she runs to the window to warn her accomplices, Charlie substitutes a book for the device without being noticed. Hopkins insists on keeping the candy box in his hotel suite, where he is visited by Hughes. Chan and a policeman break in when they hear gunfire. They find Cartwright on the floor. He claims Hughes accused Hopkins of taking the device to double-cross the stockholders of his company, then after Hughes left, Hopkins took the invention at gunpoint and slugged him. Roland takes the candy box to her employer, diplomat the Honorable Charles Zaraka (

Morgan Wallace Morgan Wallace (born Maier Weill, July 26, 1881 – December 12, 1953) was an American actor. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1914 and 1946, including W.C. Fields' '' It's a Gift'' (1934) Introduction by Arthur Knight where he p ...

). When they discover the substitution, Roland surmises that Chan has the device. Zaraka sends Chan a ticket to the Olympic opening ceremony. While Chan verbally spars with him and Roland, Lee is kidnapped. Chan allows himself to be taken to Zaraka to exchange the device for his son. Hopkins is brought in to verify it is the invention; he does (even though it is an imitation with a radio beacon inside). Satisfied, Zaraka orders his men to dispose of the Chans when Hughes and his men burst in. Hughes threatens to kill Lee if Chan does not produce the real equipment, but the police arrive just in time to rescue the detective. Hopkins is found unconscious from a gunshot in another room. Cartwright accuses Hughes of the shooting, but Chan proves that Cartwright was responsible for that and also the murder of his accomplice back in Honolulu. Afterward, Lee wins the 100 meter swim.

Cast

as Yvonne Roland * Pauline Moore as Betty Adams *

as Richard Masters *

as Lee Chan * C. Henry Gordon as Arthur Hughes *

John Eldredge John Eldredge (born June 6, 1960 in Los Angeles) is an American author, counselor, and lecturer on Christianity. He is known for his best-selling book '' Wild at Heart''. Life and work Eldregde received his undergraduate degree in theater from ...

as Mr. Cartwright * Layne Tom Jr. as Charlie Chan, Jr. * Jonathan Hale as Mr. Hopkins *

as Honorable Charles Zaraka * Frederik Vogeding as Inspector Strasser * Howard C. Hickman as Dr. Burton *

Lee Shumway Lee Shumway (March 4, 1884 – January 4, 1959), born Leonard Charles Shumway, was an American actor. He appeared in more than 400 films between 1909 and 1953. He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and died in Los Angeles, California. Select ...

as Cop (uncredited) *

Wilhelm von Brincken Wilhelm von Brincken (May 27, 1881 – January 18, 1946), also known as Wilhelm L. von Brincken, William Vaughn, William von Brinken, and William Vaughan, was a German diplomat and spy during World War I, who went on to become an American charac ...

as Polizei Officer (uncredited) *

Jesse Owens James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games. Owens specialized in the sprints and the long jump and was recognized in his lifet ...

as himself

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Charlie Chan At The Olympics Charlie Chan films 1937 drama films 1937 films American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films Films about the 1936 Summer Olympics Films directed by H. Bruce Humberstone Films set in 1936 Films set in Berlin 20th Century Fox films 1930s mystery drama films American mystery drama films Seafaring films Films set in Honolulu 1930s American films