Charlie Chan in London (1934)

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Charlie Chan in London (1934) – E. Forde

Comfort-watching another Charlie Chan entry, #6 out of 16 for Warner Oland, the Swedish actor who ended up type-cast as Asian. Although definitely dated, this first series treats Chan kindly with gentle stereotyping (he often speaks in fortune-cookie riddles) and when his Number One Son shows up in later efforts, there is true affection for his family.  (The subsequent series with Sidney Toler for Monogram features considerably more racist content directed at the comic African American cab-driver Birmingham). Here, Charlie goes it alone. Having just solved another case in London, he is begged to stay by socialite Pamela Gray (Drue Leyton) whose brother is on death row for a murder she thinks he didn’t commit.  Charlie has only 72 hours to prove him innocent by finding the real killer.  Of course, the episode takes place in a British country estate (including fox hunt) and the various suspects are staying for the weekend.  There’s an attempt on Charlie’s life and another murder before all the suspects are gathered together in the drawing room for the final reveal.  But rather than announce the killer outright, Charlie lures them into a trap where they make a move and get caught red-handed in front of the police.  A fine entry, if you like this mystery-by-the-numbers genre.