''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 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 ...

. 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 the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Duncan Cramer.

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 (としあもり) was a Japanese actress who had a brief career in American films during the late 1920s and 1930s. Born as Toshiye Ichioka (としえいちおか) in Kyoto, Mori moved to the United States when she was 10. Early lif ...

, 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 on to its next stop, with the trio tagging along. During the train ride, an attempt is made to murder Chan with a poisonous cobra. 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 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 or metal straps 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 flying, an ...

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 the day of Kinney's alleged marriage. He sends his son to phone for a description of the crooks involved from the police. When Lee returns, he sees a man slug the policeman guarding the gorilla's cage and let 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 dangerou ...

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 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 (, Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Cant ...

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 Old ...

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 Maxine Frances Reiner was from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daught ...

as Marie Norman, an aerialist and fiancée of Joe Kinney * John McGuire as Hal Blake * Shirley Deane 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 credits during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Naish received two Oscar nominations for his supporting roles in the films '' Sahara ...

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 Toshia Mori (としあもり) was a Japanese actress who had a brief career in American films during the late 1920s and 1930s. Born as Toshiye Ichioka (としえいちおか) in Kyoto, Mori moved to the United States when she was 10. Early lif ...

as Su Toy, a contortionist (love interest to Lee Chan)

Reception

Writing for ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'' 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 English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

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

* * * * {{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