Charlie Chan at the Olympics (1937)

Of course, the 1936 Olympics is best known in American annals as the one where Jesse Owens (the non Aryan) embarrassed Hitler's boys by wiping the floor with them (of course, the racism in this country continued). An American inventor has developed a device for flying battle ready planes by remote control, allowing for fewer losses of life. This device is stolen and brought to Berlin. Through much intrigue, we find that there are a couple of entities that would like to get their hands on it. Charlie's number one son is a competitor in a freestyle swimming event and so is at the Olympic village. Soon, he is caught up in the case (as he always is), putting himself in grave danger. Charlie must work his magic to get things sorted out. It's hard not to have in the back of one's mind that the Nazis are moving through Europe. Good mystery with a patriotic twist.

An experimental, top secret plane is hijacked and the pilot murdered. When the plane is found, someone has stolen the new remote control device the plane was carrying. Foreign powers would pay a fortune for such a device. Charlie Chan is on the case and tracks the crooks from Honolulu to a ship carrying Olympic athletes to the games in Berlin. Maybe not the absolute best, but Charlie Chan at the Olympics is a fun addition to the series. I'll keep this to a couple of things that stand out to me. First, the movie looks like a million bucks. The Fox B unit made some fine looking films. Cinematography, lighting, sets, and set design are all quite good. And here, they combined newsreel footage from the Berlin Olympics with scenes they shot in as seamless a way I've seen in a movie from the 30s. It's very well done. Next, The acting in Charlie Chan at the Olympics is fantastic. I really enjoy the all too brief scenes Warner Oland and Keye Luke have together in this movie. Just a pleasure to watch. And I get a kick out of the scenes with Johnathan Hale and John Eldridge. Surely, no on actually talks like that. They sound like they're in a race to see who can spit out lines the fastest. I love it.If I have one negative to say about Charlie Chan at the Olympics it's that the movie is more spy/adventure than murder/mystery. Whether it's Chan, Sherlock Holmes, or Hercules Poirot, I prefer the plots that revolve around a murder more than those that get all tied up in a wartime distractions. I love those scenes where the great detective gathers all the suspects together before making the final reveal. I know this is a matter of personal opinion and taste, but I do rate this movie lower because, for me, the entertainment value isn't as great.

This Charlie Chan flick would be more valuable for its footage than its plot of espionage were it not for one horrifying aspect of the storyline. The 1936 Olympics were Hitler's games, heralding his Aryan racist views. By January 1937, Hitler had abrogated the Versailles Treaty. By August he had opened Buchenwald Concentration Camp. Yet, in this film, Hitler's Berlin police are praised for their efficiency, admired for their interest in protecting American military secrets, portrayed as being respectful toward a Chinese detective, and play a central role in capturing the evil foreign ambassador named Zaraka who seeks the military device in question. Perhaps in 1937 some elements in Hollywood were still undecided about Germany and Hitler? Perhaps those few seconds showing Jesse Owen's great relay race hedged the bet of the Hollywood producers? It is an uncomfortable feature of the film and a sad fact about America in 1937 that Hitler's new Germany had its American admirers.

One of the best of the 1930s Chan films. It is remarkable how all reference to the Nazis was expunged from the scenes of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. The Police are represented as Kaiser-style people rather than members of the Gestapo. I was more familiar with Sidney Toler, but I can see that Oland was a superior actor and much of the slapstick of the later Chans was omitted in the earlier versions. All in all, a well-done effort. The plot really doesn't concern the Olympics aside from being used as a backdrop for the action, but this isn't a problem. There is the usual complement of Chan aphorisms. The early Chan films are also interesting commentaries on the state of technology in the 1930s. Getting across the US by plane is said to take 13 hours, as Charlie races a boat from Honolulu to Germany.