Good start, but then it gets ruined

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

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

Mary Whitman from Honolulu arrives in Reno for the usual purpose: to get a divorce... She's being taken care of very nicely of hotel owner Mrs. Russell and her social hostess Vivian Wells - but then exactly what everybody tried to avoid happens: haughty young blonde Jeanne Bentley comes over to her table and teases her with the greatest pleasure about the fact that SHE's going to marry Mary's husband. Mrs. Russell orders Jeanne to leave the hotel in the morning - but during the night, she's found stabbed in her room; and Mary bending over her body...Mary's husband Curtis, an old friend of Charlie Chan's (and still not very happy about the divorce), begs him to come over to Reno and help to prove Mary's innocence; because she's quite obviously NOT the only one who hated Jeanne. There's Wally Burke, whom she had rejected and on top of it all humiliated in public, there's mysterious Dr. Ainsley, who seems to share a dark secret from the past not only with Jeanne, but also with Mrs. Russell - and finally, in a ghost town near the city, Charlie digs up Jeanne's ex-husband George! So we've got once again a quite complicated plot with abundant suspects, revelations from the past, and lots of research and deduction work to do for Charlie... But for those with sharp eyes and mind, it IS solvable even before the master sleuth announces the murderer's name! A classic example for a really intricate, but absolutely logical murder mystery, excellently played, suspenseful, but also brightened up with some VERY nice humor, provided chiefly by Jimmy Chan and Jeanne's Chinese maid Choy Wong, who team up to solve the crime their way (and thus making it even more complicated, of course...), the slow-witted Wild West Sheriff (Slim Summerville), and the eloquent cab driver (Eddie Collins, just as comical as in the previous "Charlie Chan in Honolulu" as the animal warden) - this movie certainly has got something for everybody!!

Before Las Vegas exploded in growth after Ben Siegel opened the Flamingo Hotel and it became the gambling capital of the USA, Reno, Nevada was the state's largest city and it's business was divorce and quickie marriages. As sheriff Slim Summerville remarked when the original suspect for the murder is being arrested, one thing she won't have any trouble in finding is a lawyer. They practically grow like cabbages out in the desert.Pauline Moore is in Reno getting a divorce from Kane Richmond and is accused of murdering Louise Henry, the woman set to marry Richmond. She has a scene in the beginning of the film where she makes herself such an obnoxious Miss Thing that half the would be brides and divorcées want to kill her. But it's Moore found over the body and Moore the one looking like she has the motive and opportunity.Of all things Charlie Chan is called by Richmond still concerned for his wife. It turns out that of course Henry had a ton of enemies and acquaintances and a shady past with connections to others in the cast. It's up to Sidney Toler in his second Chan feature to ferret all those out.I have to say some of them come out of left field, still the film is a decent Charlie Chan feature. Although the homicide captain Charles D. Brown is grateful for the help, country sheriff Slim Summerville spends most of the time bewildered by how rapidly the Oriental mind works. He's the comic relief in a good mystery that provides us with only one murder and a foiled attempt at another.

An enjoyable whodunit, this film stars Sidney Toler as the formidable but good-natured sleuth on the trail of the killer of an annoying Reno socialite. Usually, I can guess correctly who the killer is, but this time I was wrong.The story is much more complex than it first appears. And it's not entirely believable. But the puzzle is what's important. The plot includes a nighttime visit to a ghost town, and some genuine humor in the form of a loquacious taxi driver.B&W lighting contributes to suspense, especially at the ghost town. Casting and acting are fine, though I could have done without irritating number two son, Jimmy (Victor Sen Yung). The actors all seem to be having a good time with their roles.Despite a weak story premise, the film gets an overall positive review from me, owing to effective B&W lighting, humor, and a surprise ending. "Thank you so much".

An entertaining film as Charlie heads over to Reno to help a friend. Mrs. Bentley would have been interesting to hang around with for a while. The film drags in a couple of spots but only briefly. I personally didn't find the Tombstone' character to be all that funny. Other than Charlie's sons,the attempts at humor in the Chan films tend to fall flat. Eddie Collins is annoying as the cab driver and it's nice to see Charlie put him in his place. Phyllis Brooks gives a good performance as Ms. Wells. I love the way Pauline Moore speaks and acts in this film. Iris Wong is great as usual.The interplay between Charlie and his #2 son is priceless!