''Charlie Chan on Broadway'' is a 1937 American

mystery film A mystery film is a film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur Detective, sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means of clues, ...

directed by Eugene Forde and starring Warner Oland,

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 ...

and

Joan Marsh Joan Marsh (July 10, 1914 – August 10, 2000) was an American child actress in silent films between 1915 and 1921. Later, during the sound era, she resumed her acting career and performed in a variety of films during the 1930s and 1940s. Ea ...

.Backer p.113 This is the 15th film starring 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 ...

and produced by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

Plot

While Charlie Chan and his number one son, Lee, are aboard a New York-bound transatlantic liner returning from Germany in their previous adventure ('' Charlie Chan at the Olympics''), they have a run-in with a mysterious woman, named Billie Bronson, who secretes a package in the trunk of the Chans. After the liner docks, Chan and Lee are met at the pier by Inspector Nelson and two rival reporters, Joan Wendall and Speed Patton. Billie, who left the country hurriedly a year ago when sought as a material witness in a political scandal, has returned to "blow the lid off the town". She follows the Chans to their hotel and attempts to regain her package from the trunk, only to be interrupted by Lee. She then goes to the "Hottentot Club", where "candid-camera night" is in full swing, followed by Lee. Already present are Joan and Speed. Billie is mysteriously murdered and Charlie is summoned from a police banquet in his honor. Present in the room with the body are club manager Johnny Burke; club dancer and Burke's girl-friend Marie Collins and the two reporters. While Charlie seeks a motive for the murder, a second body is discovered in his hotel room, the package is missing from Charlie's trunk, and it is realized that it must have contained her diary. Charlie neatly puts together a few scattered clues and then springs a trap to confirm the identity of the killer. Lee's efforts to aid in the investigation earn him two black eyes, one from Johnny Burke and another from the murderer he tackles to save his father's life.

Cast

* Warner Oland as

as Lee Chan *

as Joan Wendall *

Marc Lawrence Marc Lawrence (born Max Goldsmith; February 17, 1910 – November 28, 2005) was an American character actor who specialized in underworld types. He has also been credited as F. A. Foss, Marc Laurence and Marc C. Lawrence. Early life Lawrence w ...

as Thomas Mitchell * J. Edward Bromberg as Murdock *

Douglas Fowley Douglas Fowley (born Daniel Vincent Fowley, May 30, 1911 – May 21, 1998) was an American movie and television actor in more than 240 films and dozens of television programs. He is probably best remembered for his role as the frustrated m ...

as Johnny Burke * Harold Huber as Chief Inspector James Nelson * Donald Woods as Speed Patten * Louise Henry as Billie Bronson * Joan Woodbury as Marie Collins *

Leon Ames Leon Ames (born Harry Leon Wycoff;U.S. Federal Census for 1910 for Fowler, Center Township, Benton County, State of Indiana, access via Ancestry.com January 20, 1902 – October 12, 1993) was an American film and television actor. He is best rem ...

as Buzz Moran *

Eugene Borden Eugene Borden (born Élysée Eugène Prieur-Bardin, March 21, 1897 – July 2, 1971) was a French-American actor, active in Hollywood from the silent era until the mid-1960's. Born in Paris, he immigrated to the United States as a teenager, and e ...

as Louie *

Creighton Hale Creighton Hale (born Patrick Wills Fitzgerald; May 24, 1882 – August 9, 1965) was an Irish-American theatre, film, and television actor whose career extended more than a half-century, from the early 1900s to the end of the 1950s. Career Hale ...

as Reporter (uncredited)

References

Bibliography

* Backer, Ron. ''Mystery Movie Series of 1930s Hollywood''. McFarland, 2012.

External links

* * *
''Charlie Chan on Broadway'' Film details
a
The Charlie Chan Family Home
Charlie Chan films 1937 films 1937 drama films American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films 20th Century Fox films Films directed by Eugene Forde 1930s mystery drama films American mystery drama films Films scored by Samuel Kaylin 1930s American films English-language mystery drama films {{mystery-film-stub