Charlie Chan in Paris (1935)

From 1935, "Charlie Chan in Paris" was considered one of the lost of the series, but a print was found.Years and years ago, when I first discovered the Chan films, the TV station I watched at the time showed Sidney Toler films. I like Toler in the role -- he had a world-weary way of saying his lines, his Chan was deliberate, and his kids drove him nuts. Oland brings different qualities to the role, and he's a delight - very upbeat, more active, and in this one anyway, Lee Chan (Keye Luke) was a welcome addition to him, not a bother. He really radiates a special warmth.Part of the energy difference is due to age -- Oland was about 12 years younger than Toler when he began the series.In this story, Chan goes on vacation to Paris, but it's just a cover. He's there to investigate a forgery that seems to emanate from one particular bank that is selling bonds. He has someone there, Nardi, working undercover, but she is murdered shortly after the film starts.Good film, and somehow, even working in a studio, the film manages to create a dark and mysterious atmosphere.Enjoyable. I know they are not politically correct, but I do love the Charlie Chan films.

I'm plowing through a boxed set of Fox's Charlie Chan movies with Warner Oland and maybe that's a mistake. Charlie Chan movies like banana splits. Best to have only once in while.Charlie Chan is supposed to be investigating some bank fraud and, inevitably, a couple of murders in Paris. Aside from some stock footage of the Champs and mostly French names you wouldn't know it was Paris. Of course I knew it wasn't Paris immediately. In a café, there is a close up of a man putting out his cigar in an ash tray -- and the ash tray doesn't say Cinzano.In this same café, I think, we get to see what the French call an Apache dance. Some low-life dancer with a Gaulois hanging on his lip gets to throw around a woman like a tiny blond doll. He flings her away. Kicks her a little. Lights a match by scratching it on her shoe. Yet she comes crawling back every time and clings to his leg. This is the way it should be, the way nature intended, with the man as master. It was certainly that way in my house, and a most harmonious arrangement it was. I made all the decisions. I decided to carry out every order my wife gave me. I even made a firm decision to have her kick me around once in a while after I found I'd gotten to like it.Okay, that's a little off the track but, really, what is there to say about this movie? Well, it introduces Enumerated Son Number One, Keye Luke. And then, umm, yes, the final scene takes place in a spooky Paris sewer where improbable bullfrogs congregate.Eric Rhodes is in this one. He's the dignified paid correspondent in Fred and Ginger's first starring feature, "The Gay Divorcée," where he's memorable as a not-too-bright Italian -- "Chance is the fool's word for Fate." Or, "Your wife is safe with Tonetti. He prefers spaghetti." Curious to see him lapse into sneering villainy here.It occurred to me that the many fans of Charlie Chan must really love his character and, especially, his aphorisms because, aside from that, there really isn't much substance to the movies. Take away Charlie and Number One Son and what you have is an ordinary B feature with inexpensive sets and stock studio players. Instead of Charlie, you could thrust Boston Blackie into the lead, or the Falcon, or Bulldog Drummond, or Mister Wong, or Mister Moto, or the Green Hornet, or one of the dozens of other B-level detectives that enthralled the kids on Saturday afternoons.

Charlie Chan in Paris is another solid entry in the Charlie Chan series. In this one, Chan is hot on the heels of a gang of bond forgers. The criminals' trail takes him from the night clubs of Paris to the cities famous sewers. And the sewers in Charlie Chan in Paris are as uninviting a place as Chan ever visited. There's a real sense of menace and danger in these scenes. Warner Oland is as good as ever. Ably assisting Chan is son Lee played by Keye Luke. He may not have been the only son to come to his father's aid in the series, but Luke was by far the best, least annoying of the bunch. Unlike later Charlie Chan films where the offspring are there for little more than comic relief, Lee actually helps his father and saves his life on more than one occasion. The rest of the cast is good, but nothing outstanding. The mystery elements of the story are enjoyable. The criminals' identities will keep you guessing up to the very end.I suppose that this is as good a time as any to write about my feelings on the racial aspects and controversy surrounding the Charlie Chan films in recent years. Growing up, I'm not sure if I realized Warner Oland wasn't Asian or not, but it didn't matter. Through Chan, Oland taught honesty, self respect, and the importance of education. He taught this young fan of the importance of accepting all people, regardless of race, including Asians. I think these are good important lessons to learn regardless of Oland's ethnic origins. There's an unfortunate scene in Charlie Chan in Paris where one of the characters attempts to make a joke at Chan's expense by speaking to him in pigeon English. Chan quickly turns the table on him with class and grace and makes the would-be jokester the butt of his own joke. Good going Charlie!

Despite a promising start with the energetic Apache ballet, this film is virtually a retread of CHARLIE CHAN IN London (1934) with its plot about coveted wives, duplicitous subordinates, drunken cronies, young lovers in peril, etc. The plot has possibilities (especially with the introduction of the sinister Marcel Xavier character and his eventual comeuppance) but ends up being less interesting than expected! It's still fun and the lightning pace, ultimately, works to the film's advantage. Furthermore, the introduction of Chan's son as his assistant in the investigation will come to be a trademark of the series.