''Charlie Chan's Greatest Case'' (1933) is an American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was an era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry that occurred between the widespread adoption of sound in film in the late 1920s and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship gui ...

murder mystery 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 the Oriental detective

Charlie Chan Charlie Chan is a fictional Honolulu Police Department, 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 ...

. It was based on the

Earl Derr Biggers Earl Derr Biggers (August 26, 1884 – April 5, 1933) was an American novelist and playwright. His novels featuring the fictional Chinese American detective Charlie Chan were adapted into popular films made in the United States and China. Biogra ...

novel '' The House Without a Key'' (1925). Oland made a series of Charlie Chan films; along with three others, this one is considered to be a

lost film A lost film is a feature film, feature or short film in which the original negative or copies are not known to exist in any studio archive, private collection, or public archive. Films can be wholly or partially lost for a number of reasons. ...

Plot

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

's Waikiki, two brothers, Dan (

Robert Warwick Robert Warwick (born Robert Taylor Bien; October 9, 1878 – June 6, 1964) was an American stage, film and television actor with over 200 film appearances. A matinee idol during the silent film era, he also prospered after the introduction ...

) and Amos ( Frank McGlynn) Winterslip have had a decades-long feud which worsens when Dan announces his engagement to a scandalous, younger woman. When Dan is found murdered in his beachside home,

(

) is called on to investigate. As the list of suspects grows, the case becomes increasingly dangerous for both Charlie Chan and Dan’s nephew, John Quincy ( John Warburton), who seeks to find his uncle’s killer.

Cast

as Charlie Chan * Heather Angel as Carlotta Eagan *

Roger Imhof Frederick Roger Imhof (August 15, 1875 – April 15, 1958) was an American film actor, vaudeville, burlesque and circus performer, sketch writer, and songwriter. Early years Imhof was born in Rock Island, Illinois, on April 15, 1875, to Nichola ...

as The Beachcomber * John Warburton as John Quincy Winterslip * Walter Byron as Henry Jennison * Ivan F. Simpson as Brade *

Virginia Cherrill Virginia Cherrill (April 12, 1908 – November 14, 1996), styled as Virginia, Countess of Jersey between 1937 and 1946, was an American actress best known for her role as the blind flower girl in Charlie Chaplin's ''City Lights'' (1931). Early ...

as Barbara Winterslip * Francis Ford as Captain Hallett *

as Dan Winterslip *

Frank McGlynn Sr. Frank McGlynn Sr. (October 26, 1866 – May 18, 1951) was an American stage and screen actor who, in a career that spanned more than half a century, is best known for his convincing Impersonator, impersonations and performances as Abraham L ...

as Amos Winterslip *

Clara Blandick Clara Blandick (born Clara Blanchard Dickey; June 4, 1876 – April 15, 1962) was an American character, film, stage and theater actress who portrayed Aunt Em in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's '' The Wizard of Oz'' (1939). As a character actress, ...

as Minerva Winterslip * Claude King as Capt. Arthur Cope *

William Stack William Stack (March 5, 1882 – January 15, 1949) was an American actor who began his acting career in Great Britain. Over the course of his career he appeared in over 50 films in the United States and United Kingdom, including such notable fil ...

as James Eagan *

Gloria Roy Dolores Rousse (August 17, 1901 – December 16, 1985)California, Death Index. 1940-1997 atabase on-line Via Ancestry.com. Provo, Utah. was an American film actress who performed under the name Gloria Roy later in her career. Career In May 1922 ...

as Arlene Compton *

Cornelius Keefe Cornelius Keefe (July 13, 1900 – December 11, 1972) was an American film actor. Keefe was born in Boston. He attended Brookline High School and Newton High School. Career Keefe played in ''The Poor Nut'' on stage and was the only member o ...

as Steve Letherbee * Frances Chan as Youngest Chan Daughter

Reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' reviewer wrote, "As far as the mystery of these particular murders is concerned it is not difficult for the audience to decide on the identity of the slayer, but the manner in which Chan makes his deductions is always interesting."

References

External links

* * *
Illustrated Script''Charlie Chan’s Greatest Case'' film details
a
The Charlie Chan Family Home
1933 films Fox Film films American black-and-white films Films set in Hawaii Films directed by Hamilton MacFadden Lost American mystery films 1933 mystery films Films based on American novels Films based on mystery novels 1933 lost films 1930s American films {{mystery-film-stub