Charlie Chan at the Opera

 

 

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In Charlie Chan at the Opera, you'll see a combination of Phantom of the Opera and the Hunchback of Notre Dame displayed as a Charlie Chan mystery steeped in fine acting and good atmosphere. As the movie opens, an unidentified amnesia patient (Boris Karloff) is compulsively playing the piano while singing opera at a sanitarium. An attendant annoys him by interrupting, but offers the evening newspaper as solace. The photograph of an opera singer, Lilli Rochelle (Margaret Irving), enrages the patient who knocks the attendant out and takes off wearing the attendant's uniform.

Later, Charlie Chan stops by to say good-bye to Inspector Regan before leaving on the night boat to Honolulu. While there, Charlie ruffles Sergeant Kelly's feathers with deductions about the problems the police are having in finding the amnesia patient. They are interrupted by Lilli Rochelle who drops in to report a death threat tied to that night's performance. Charlie and the police agree to attend that performance to keep her safe.

At the opera, it becomes clear that Lilli has been seeing her baritone, Enrico Barelli, much to the annoyance of Madame Barelli and Lilli's husband, Mr. Whitely. All of that turmoil is interrupted when the amnesia patient shows up in Madame Barelli's dressing room, and she identifies him as Gravelle, a baritone who had "died" in an opera house fire. Gravelle claims that someone locked in his dressing room, but he escaped anyway and is just recovering his memory.

As the plot goes on, dead bodies begin to pile up and the police are at a loss to track down the unauthorized people who are wandering through the opera house.

A lot of the appeal of this film comes from the fine acting performances by Boris Karloff and Warner Oland who are supported well with some very funny scenes and gags by William Demarest as Sergeant Kelly and Keye Luke as Charlie's oldest son. Charlie also shows himself to be advanced scientifically as he brings up finger prints with acid and arranges for a newspaper to send a photograph by the equivalent of a fax in the 1930s.

The film is fast moving. It has to be. Charlie wants to make that night boat back to Honolulu so he can see the rest of his family again.

The "Chinese" sayings of Charlie Chan also provide lots of humor. Here is my favorite from the film: "Luck -- happy combination of small accidents" which is offered by Charlie as a face-saving explanation why Sergeant Kelly wasn't able to figure out what was going on.

This is a terrific film that shows the quality of the Charlie Chan series. Set in a theatre showing an opera, Chinese private detective Chan and his son solve a baffling murder mystery with plenty of false leads.

The opera being performed was actually written for the film by Oscar Levant and the recording is still available today. One of the main suspects Karloff seems to have wondered in from a Universal horror film, but it does not detract from the overall quality of the film. It is great fun.

It is not possible today to watch Charlie Chan without seeing some racial undertones. It is worth noting that it is an Asian character who is mentally faster and far more polite than his counterparts that solves the mysteries. He never resorts to violence and is calm in all situations. Rather than being racist, perhaps the films were a slap in the face to those who considered whites to be superior. But it must be said some scenes do jar a bit.

The mystery is played fair. All the clues are there. So go and enjoy it.

Warner Oland played Chan for the thirteenth time and Boris Karloff co-starred in this somewhat overrated film. Music credits were shared with two others by none other than Oscar Levant. Boris Karloff's role was that of an operatic baritone. He actually used his own singing voice. Lee Chan was again played by Keye Luke.

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4.0 out of 5 stars One of the finest in the series
Charlie Chan films are frequently accused of pandering to racial stereotypes. There is a certain truth to this, but Charlie Chan and company were neither more nor less... Read more

Published on Jan 16 2002 by Gary F. Taylor

4.0 out of 5 stars good mystery//great music
This Charlie Chan entry is 1st rate.The racial slurs might offend some people///remember it was made in the 30's//. Read more

Published on Jan 2 2000

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