Tuesday, October 02, 2012

Movie review - Chan#9 - "Charlie Chan in Shanghai" (1936) ***

Visiting the old country acts as a tonic for the Charlie Chan series - this entry is one of the brightest, full of pace, strong acting, and atmosphere. I admit I'm a sucker for movies set in 30s Shanghai though (even if there aren't many Asian actors in it - even the cops are British and American). 

This is really a chase story - Chan runs around Shanghai looking to bust an opium ring while assassins try to knock off him and his mates. A young Jon Hall pops up as a handsome man who you just know is a goodie because he's handsome and there's a nasty FBI agent who beats up subject so you know he's bad, but it spanks along, there are some neat assassination attempts, and Warner Oland is in strong form.

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