CHARLIE CHAN AT MONTE CARLO (director: Eugene J. Forde; screenwriters: Jerry Cady/Charles S. Belden/from a story by Robert Ellis and Helen Logan; cinematographer: Daniel Clark; editor: Nick De Maggio; cast: Warner Oland (Charlie Chan), Keye Luke (Lee Chan), Virginia Field (Evelyn Grey), Sidney Blackmer (Victor Karnoff), Edward Raquello (Paul Savarin), Harold Huber (French Police Inspector, Jules Joubert), Kay Linaker (Joan Karnoff), Robert Kent (Gordon Chase), George Lynn (Al Rogers), John Bleifer (Ludwig), Georges Renavent (Renault); Runtime: 71; Twentieth Century-Fox; 1937)
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Warner Oland's final appearance as Charlie Chan is marred because this is one of the weaker episodes in the long running series. The story was too muddled and not too crisply executed. Charlie and number one son, Lee (Luke), are in Monte Carlo for a brief gambling vacation before going to Paris, where the son's art work will be in an exhibition contest. When their taxi breaks down on the way to the train station to catch the train to Paris and they are forced to walk, they come across a luxury car with a dead bank messenger (Renavent), and there's also a missing chauffeur, Ludwig (Bleifer), and a sports car speeding away from the crime scene. Charlie on further investigation finds a rhinestone by the car and footprints in the sand rubbed out.
In the events taking place on the night the murder was committed, Gordon Chase (Kent), the brother of Joan Karnoff (Linaker) and secretary to her wealthy financier husband Victor (Blackmer), learns that $25,000 in securities is missing from Victor's safe. He tells his sister to get it back to him immediately, since Victor is dumping these metallurgic securities on the market to cause financial woes on his main rival Paul Savarin (Raquello). Joan was once married to an American, Al Rogers (Lynn), who has a history as a petty thief back in Chicago and is working as a bartender in the Hotel Imperial. She was never divorced from him and is now being blackmailed for the bonds. In exchange for the bonds, he won't tell Victor. He only wants cash in return for them and refuses to turn them over to her when Joan pleads that she must return them to Victor by tonight. Joan will then pawn her jewelry for the money and gets them to Gordon just in time for her husband to give them to the messenger.
Victor tells them the dead messenger was carrying a million in bonds and accuses Savarin of the crime, but he also says he's not worried because he was insured. They also discover that Rogers tried to sell $25,000 in bonds that were Victor's. Charlie's friend, the police chief, Jules Joubert (Huber), finds the owner of the sports car is Evelyn Gray (Virginia Field), and Charlie discovers it was her rhinestone that fell off her high heel shoe. On a police check, they find Evelyn is a 24-year-old Londoner with no source of income but living in luxury in one of Monaco's best hotels, dressed in furs, and driving an expensive sports car. Upon questioning her, she admits she saw the dead man but did not kill him. Soon a report comes that Ludwig was found dead in a marsh near the crime scene. Charlie and Jules then discover Roger's body when they go to question him, as the murderer tried to make it look like a suicide and left the bag with the stolen bonds in his room. But Charlie notes there are $200,000 in bonds missing and brings all the suspects together to tell them that the one who took those missing bonds and then put them back in Victor's safe, is the killer of three people and is presently in the room.
In the room all the suspects reveal how they could be the murderer: Savarin has been using others to buy info on Victor, and tried to get a flight out of Nice but canceled when he thought he would become accused of the murder. Evelyn is Gordon's girlfriend but is really Savarin's and is using him to get info on Victor, while receiving financial favors from both. It comes down to looking at the blackmail angle and the romantic triangle, and how the wily Charlie puts all the clues together. For comedy, Lee's misuse of French leads to some embarrassing situations and Joubert's choppy English and inflated pride in his bumbling police department leads to some amusing moments.
REVIEWED ON 7/21/2001 GRADE: C
Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews"
http://www.sover.net/~ozus
ozus@sover.net
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DENNIS SCHWARTZ
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