Saturday, July 12, 2025
CHARLIE CHAN AT MONTE CARLO (1937)
Detective Charlie Chan and his oldest son Lee are in Monte Carlo on their way to Paris where Lee is exhibiting a painting. French policeman Joubert is happy to (literally) run into them and takes them to the casino where he points out Savarin and Karnoff, bitter enemies in business as well as gambling. Gordon Chase, secretary to Karnoff, reveals to Joan, Gordon’s sister and Karnoff’s wife, that $25,000 of metallurgic bonds (the movie's MacGuffins) are missing, and he knows she took them to get out of some trouble. The problem is that Karnoff is sending his bonds by messenger to Paris in a deal to dump them and wreck Savarin. That night, the messenger is found dead in his car on the way to the airport, the bonds gone. Evelyn, Savarin's mistress, was seen near the car and falls under suspicion as does Savarin and, eventually, Al Rogers, a bartender at the casino to whom Joan was selling the bonds. Al also happens to be Joan's secret husband, separated but never divorced. Joubert gets Chan to help him track down the killer. This is the last Chan movie starring Warner Oland, who passed away just months after its release, and it's par for the course. The business with the bonds gets convoluted but the supporting actors make it fun to stick with. Oland and Keye Luke (as Lee) are the central attraction, of course, but just as good are Harold Huber, giving a pleasantly light-toned performance as Joubert, and Sidney Blackmer as Karnoff who walks a nice line between likable and suspicious. Robert Kent is handsome but bland as Gordon; George Lynn as Al is a standout, displaying a bit more personality than Kent in a smaller but important role. Virginia Field as Evelyn and Kay Linaker as Joan are almost interchangeable but they both give adequate performances. Sometimes the reveal of the killer is disappointing if it's a minor character with little screen time but here the reveal is surprising and satisfying. Pictured are Lynn and Linaker. [DVD]
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