Admirable film.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

***SPOILERS***A dead beat and not all that hot looking Warner Olan as Charlie Chan died some six months after the film, his last, "Charlie Chan in Monte Carlo" was released does his best to put some life into the movie that ends up with four of the characters in it dead by the time it's finally over. This has to do with Charlie getting involved in a complicated murder & blackmail scheme that you'll need a slide rule and calculator to figure out. Ther's also Charlie's bumbling #1 son Lee, Key Luke, in it trying to show that he's as good as his famous dad in solving crimes messing things up even more then they already are.This all has to do with some $25,000.00 of missing bonds from the safe of Victor Karnoff,Sidney Blackman, who's a part owner of the Monte Carlo Casino that his wife Joan, Kay Linaker, used to pay off her gambling debt. As things soon turned out that lead to some three murders that in fact had nothing to do with Joan's actions who used the bonds to really pay off a blackmailer who threatens to reveal her not being largely married to her husband Victor. There's also the gold digger Evelyn Fields, Virginia Fields, who's using with her blond bombshell charms and good looks to get a number of suiters to rip off over another $1,000,000.00 from Karnoff's safe to keep her living the high life that she thinks she so rightfully deserves.***SPOILERS***With the bodies piling up and time running out, before the movie audience falls completely asleep,Charlie gathers all the people, or murder suspects, together to exposes the killer among them who, no surprise at all, turned out to be one of the hot as a pistol Evelyn's rejected lovers! Not at all brothering to prove his innocence, how the heck could he, the killer makes a run for it,jumping out of a second floor window, and thus saves the state the trouble of trying him by getting himself run over and killed by a speeding automobile. This to the total shock of Victor Karnoff to whom he was not only a good friend but the person who testified for him in not having stolen the some one million dollars in untraceable bonds!

First I am a Chan junkie. I am currently attempting to fill my library with every movie I can find. I received this one with a set of 5 2 weeks ago. I am currently watching the movie for the third time. As current holder of 27 of these movies(on DVD, VHS and internet ) I am a little bias when reviewing as I like to watch these movies on a weekly bases. As for this specific title I rated 6 out of 10 as it is reviewed as a Chan film. The story is a normal one, actors range from good to average. Some of the actors are very well known both in Chan films and other movies. Personnaly I found the movie interesting and very enjoyable to watch. Since this is a early Chan with Warner Oland it was produced by a very well known studio. Production values are considerably better than those from the ones made at the send of the series at Monogram. The script was not bad and the actors were able to make it enjoyable. I have always felt that you are either a Chan fan or not, if you are you will enjoy this movie. If not, you may find it a little slower that some others in the series.

Contrary to many of the reviews, I think this is one of the best Charlie Chan movies and one of my my personal favorites. It's wonderfully escapist, taking place as it does, in a fabled location over 70 years ago.The plot is a bit more sophisticated than many of the Chan films - no cigarettes that cause one to drop dead after one puff or poison gasses fabricated by Hollywood writers. The plot remains true to reality as valuable bonds pass from one set of slippery hands to another causing the murder of two people.The production is stylish and most of the actors do a great job. The hyperactive, super energetic #1 son is only minimally so in this film, however Harold Huber as the chief of police overdoes himself in his brash and noisy performance. He is on camera almost as much as Chan and quickly becomes an irritant. His French accented English is almost as bad as his Brooklyn accented French.Interestingly, all of the French characters speak French in the film - something one might expect in an art house film, but hardly in a B-movie. It certainly lends an air of authenticity but might be detracting to those who have not studied French.Automobiles of the era play a big part in the film, the star vehicle being the gorgeous Rolls convertible that is featured in several scenes. There are many scenes of various cars - from beat-up taxis to limos fit for a king. (Watch the limo that pulls up to Karnoff's villa to pick up the bank messenger.) Also it seems that the police ride around in convertibles in Monaco!

As usual, Charlie and Number One Son are visiting when coincidentally there are murders. This time they seem to have something to do with stolen securities which seem to vanish and re-appear like magic. Unlike many of the films, though, Chan and Son seem to be caught up more in the action instead of passively investigating after the fact.Many of the reviews seem to feel this is one of the weakest of the Warner Oland Charlie Chan films, though I liked it quite a bit and felt it stacked up well with the earlier films from the series. Why did I like it? Well, the stolen bonds angle seemed pretty interesting, Harold Huber (who had just played a New York police inspector in CHARLIE CHAN ON Broadway) was pretty good as a French cop and the film certainly kept my attention. It's not great, but still is a very competent part of a series of excellent and enjoyable detective films and a cut above similar series.