''Charlie Chan at the Circus'' is the 11th film produced by Fox starring Warner Oland as

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 ...

. A seemingly harmless family outing drags a vacationing Chan into a murder investigation. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

Duncan Cramer Duncan Cramer (1901–1980) was an American motion picture art director active from 1929 to 1971. He headed the Art Department of 20th Century Fox Studios, and is credited for the sets of more than a hundred films and television series. Cramer an ...

Plot

Charlie Chan takes his wife and twelve children on an outing to a circus after receiving a free pass from one of the owners, Joe Kinney. Kinney wants Chan to find out who is sending him anonymous threatening letters. Nearly all of the circus workers are suspects since Kinney is very unpopular. However, when Chan goes to meet him during the night's performance, he finds the man dead, seemingly killed by a rampaging gorilla who somehow escaped from his cage. Lieutenant Macy takes charge of the investigation, assisted by Chan and his overzealous eldest son Lee, who also takes the opportunity to (unsuccessfully) romance Su Toy (

Toshia Mori Toshia Mori (トシア・モリ) (January 1, 1912–November 26, 1995) was a Japanese-born American actress who had a brief Hollywood film career during the late 1920s and 1930s. Born as Toshiye Ichioka (市岡俊恵) in Kyoto, Mori moved to the ...

, credited as Shia Jung), the

contortion Contortion (sometimes contortionism) is a performance art in which performers called contortionists showcase their skills of extreme physical flexibility. Contortion acts often accompany acrobatics, Circus (performing art), circus acts, street ...

ist. On Chan's advice, Macy lets the circus continue to its next stop, with the trio tagging along. During the train ride, an attempt is made to murder Chan with a poisonous

cobra COBRA or Cobra, often stylized as CoBrA, was a European avant-garde art group active from 1948 to 1951. The name was coined in 1948 by Christian Dotremont from the initials of the members' home countries' capital cities: Copenhagen (Co), Brussels ...

. Then someone tries to break into the circus's safe, but nothing is missing. Macy finds a marriage certificate inside, showing that Kinney supposedly married circus wardrobe lady Nellie Farrell in Mexico. However, Kinney's fiance Marie Norman claims that she can prove Kinney was not in Mexico on the day indicated on the certificate. Before she can prove it, during her act, someone shoots one of the ropes of her

trapeze A trapeze is a short horizontal bar hung by ropes, metal straps, or chains, from a ceiling support. It is an aerial apparatus commonly found in circus performances. Trapeze acts may be static, spinning (rigged from a single point), swinging or ...

swing and she falls to the ground, seriously injured, but still alive. A doctor is summoned. Chan states that Marie is too badly hurt to move, so the doctor must operate on the spot. Chan asks everyone to keep quiet and clear the area, so as not to cause a potentially fatal distraction for the medical staff during the delicate operation. Meanwhile, Chan has noticed a newspaper article about a crime committed at a casino on the day of Kinney's alleged marriage. He sends his son to a phone for a description of the crooks involved by the police. When Lee returns, he sees a man slug the policeman guarding the gorilla's cage and letting the ape out again. He struggles with the man but is knocked out. The gorilla reaches the tent where the operation is in progress and tries to cause trouble. The operation is a fake, as is the gorilla. He is shot to death by policemen masquerading as doctors. It is revealed to be

snake charmer Snake charming is the practice of appearing to hypnotize a snake (often a cobra) by playing and waving around an instrument called a pungi. A typical performance may also include handling the snakes or performing other seemingly dangerous ...

Tom Holt in a costume, trying to pin a second death on the escaped animal. He and Kinney had robbed the casino and hidden out at the circus. However, they had a falling out over the division of the money, leading to Kinney's murder. Nellie Farrell and her brother Dan are also arrested for trying to use a forgery to gain half interest in the circus. Charlie Chan agrees to obtain a lifetime pass to the circus for his family. He sees Lee Chan and Su Toy having some romance together wondering if any future grandchildren will be able to see the circus, too.

Cast

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 ...

Keye Luke Keye Luke (; June 18, 1904 – January 12, 1991) was a Chinese-born American actor, and a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild. He portrayed Lee Chan, the "Number One Son" in the Charlie Chan films, the original Kato in the 1939–1941 ...

as Charlie's Number One Son, Lee Chan *

George Brasno George F. Brasno (December 23, 1911 – August 15, 1982) was an American actor who appeared in a few films through the 1930s and 1940s. He and his sister Olive Brasno were first recognized as a brother and sister little-people singing team i ...

as Colonel Tim, a midget performer at the circus *

Olive Brasno Olive Brasno (October 17, 1917 – January 25, 1998) was a dwarf dancer and actress who was known for her song and dance act with her brother, George. She also appeared in a few films through the 1930s and 1940s. Born in the community of Ol ...

as Lady Tiny, Colonel Tim's midget wife * Francis Ford as John Gaines, half-owner of the circus *

Maxine Reiner Maxine Reiner (March 16, 1916 – June 19, 2003) was an American actress. She was more noted for off-screen marital troubles than for her film performances. Early life and education Reiner was born in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, the daughter of ...

as Marie Norman, an aerialist and fiancée of Joe Kinney * John McGuire as Hal Blake *

Shirley Deane Shirley Deane (born Shirley Deane Blattenberger; March 16, 1913 – April 26, 1983) was an American film actress. Early years Born in Fresno, California, to Jesse H. Blattenberger and his wife Zola (née Redden), she was raised by her matern ...

as Louise Norman, Marie's sister * Paul Stanton as Joe Kinney, the other half owner *

J. Carrol Naish Joseph Patrick Carrol Naish (January 21, 1896 – January 24, 1973) was an American actor. He appeared in over 200 films during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He became a dialect specialist, and was called upon to play character roles of many na ...

as Tom Holt *Booth Howard as Dan Farrell *

Drue Leyton Drue Leyton (born Dorothy Elizabeth Blackman; 12 June 1903 – 8 February 1997) was an American actress and member of the French Resistance. She also was billed as Freya Leigh. Early years Leyton was born in California (or Somers, Wisconsin) but ...

as Nellie Farrell *

Wade Boteler Wade Boteler (October 3, 1888 – May 7, 1943) was an American film actor and writer. He appeared in more than 430 films between 1919 and 1943. Biography He was born in Santa Ana, California, and died in Hollywood, California, from a heart ...

as Lieutenant Macy * Shia Jung as Su Toy, a contortionist (love interest to Lee Chan)

Reception

Writing for ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'' in 1936,

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a re ...

gave the film a good review claiming that "Charlie Chan ��needs no recommendation". Greene noted that as yet the Charlie Chan films had been "always well made and well acted", and that "the new picture is particularly agreeable" due to the audience's introduction to Chan's complete family. (reprinted in: )

References

External links

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''Charlie Chan at the Circus'' Film details
a
The Charlie Chan Family Home
{{Harry Lachman 1936 films American black-and-white films Charlie Chan films Circus films Films directed by Harry Lachman 20th Century Fox films American mystery films 1930s mystery films 1930s crime comedy films American crime comedy films 1936 comedy films 1930s American films