Charlie Chan in Monte Carlo

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Movie
German title Charlie Chan in Monte Carlo
Original title Charlie Chan At Monte Carlo
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1937
length 72 minutes
Rod
Director Eugene Forde
script Robert Ellis ,
Helen Logan ,
Charles Belden ,
Jerome Cady
production John Stone ,
Sol M. Wurtzel
music Samuel Kaylin
camera Daniel B. Clark
cut Nick DeMaggio
occupation

Charlie Chan in Monte Carlo is a 1937 Eugene Forde directed crime film about a case of the Chinese-born police officer Charlie Chan , invented by Earl Derr Biggers . It is about the feud between rival financiers with extortion and murder, in which Charlie Chan and his son and assistant Lee Chan get caught during an involuntary stay in Monaco . The film was produced by 20th Century Fox with Warner Oland in the title role and Virginia Field and Sidney Blackmer in other leading roles. In the film, Oland played the character of Charlie Chan for the last time before his death and Keye Luke also played the role of "Son No. 1" and assistant Lee Chan for the last time.

action

Charlie Chan and his "son # 1" Lee Chan travel via Monte Carlo to an art exhibition in Paris , for which Lee Chan has a painting. During their stay in Monte Carlo, they meet Jules Joubert, the city's chief of police. That evening, the Chans want to leave the city to catch the train in Nice , but their taxi breaks down. They continue on their way on foot until they see an expensive sports car pull away at high speed, leaving another vehicle behind. In it the two find a dead man. Two arriving gendarmes misunderstand the scene due to Lee Chan's poor French and believe that the Chans were responsible for the man's murder.

After their return to Monte Carlo, the Chans are released by the authorities. An investigation that has been initiated reveals that the dead man's name is Renault. He was as Bankbote with metallurgical bonds worth one million US dollars on the way to Paris. The bonds he transports belonging to Victor Karnoff are missing. It is also discovered that three bonds were offered for sale on the same day by Al Rogers, a barman at the Hotel Imperiale , a bank in Monte Carlo.

Charlie and Lee Chan later recognize the expensive sports car in front of this hotel and learn that it belongs to Evelyn Gray, who lives in the Hotel Imperiale . She meets Jules Joubert and Charlie Chan in the company of Paul Savarin, a stockbroker and bitter rival of Karnoff. Although she admits she stopped by the car, Evelyn Gray says she fled in fear when the Chans arrived because she thought they were the killers. Joubert learns that Karnoff's chauffeur Ludwig, who drove Renault, was in league with Savarin. Initially, Joubert suspects Ludwig to have committed the crime, but soon learns that the driver's body was found in a swamp near the car.

The next day, Karnoff's wife, Joan, confesses that she stole the three bonds from her husband's room and had asked Al Rogers the night before to return the three bonds she had given him earlier. Rogers had given her until noon to pay him the value of the $ 25,000 bond.

At breakfast the following morning, Evelyn Gray promises Karnoff's secretary, Gordon Chase, who has fallen in love with her, that she will never see Savarin again and that Savarin will mean nothing to her. After Chan learns that Evelyn Gray lives in luxury with no apparent support, and that Joan Karnoff pawned jewelry for $ 25,000 that morning - the value of the three missing bonds - he and Inspector Joubert go to Rogers for them interrogate. When they finally arrive in his room, they find him dead with an open suitcase with Karnoff's stolen bonds. Joubert concludes that Rogers committed suicide and the case is closed, while Chan argues that the evidence shows otherwise.

Charlie Chan and Police Commissioner Joubert visit Karnoff's house, where they also meet Joan Karnoff, Paul Savarin, Gordon Chase and Evelyn Gray. Joan Karnoff admits that Rogers, whom she married seven years earlier and who she believed divorced her, blackmailed her. For this reason she would have given him the three ironworks bonds, but stole them back from him when she heard from her brother, Gordon Chase, of her husband's intended multi-million dollar deal. Chase had then put the bonds back for his sister undetected.

Chan has Lee Chan bring the suitcase with the bonds to find out that it is locked. When he asks Karnoff for the key, Gordon fetches it and opens the lock. Chan then announces that Gordon Chase is the killer, as the suitcase was found in Rogers' room with no damage to the lock and the only keys to it were in the possession of the messenger Renault and Karnoff's secretary Chase. When other incriminating facts are brought forward against Chase, who admits the crimes, he berates Evelyn Gray for whom he stole from Karnoff so that she could lead her rich lifestyle. When Gordon Chase felt there was a danger of being discovered, he murdered Rogers and made it look like Rogers had committed the crimes.

Thereupon Chase, who swears revenge against Evelyn Gray, escapes from an open window, but is run over by a passing car and killed. Joubert finally advises Evelyn Gray and Paul Savarin to leave Monte Carlo. Now that the case has been completely closed, Police Chief Joubert says goodbye to Charlie Chan and Lee Chan, who are picked up again by the taxi with which they initially broke down and which in turn drives up with a misfire.

background

The film, directed by Eugene Forde and premiered in the United States on January 31, 1938, was the last film produced by 20th Century Fox in which Warner Oland played the title role before his death on August 6, 1938. Although filming for a new film entitled Charlie Chan at the Ringside began in January 1938 , production was discontinued after Oland left the location on January 17, 1938. Instead, the story was filmed with Peter Lorre as the Japanese-born private investigator Kentaro Moto in the film Mr. Moto and the Gamble ( Mr. Moto's Gamble , 1938), in which Keye Luke played the second lead role as Lee Chan.

After Olands death, Sidney Toler took on the role of the detective for the first time in Charlie Chan in Honolulu (1938). With Victor Sen Yung as "son no. 2" Jimmy Chan, a new assistant was put at his side, so that Keye Luke was also called " Son No. 1 ”and assistant Lee Chan last appeared in this film in the series.

This film of the Chan series was co-produced for the first time alongside John Stone by Sol M. Wurtzel , who was also the producer of the Mr. Moto series with Peter Lorre. The original story was again written by Robert Ellis and Helen Logan, while Charles Belden and Jerome Cady rewrote the script .

As art director worked Bernard Herzbrun with which, in the Academy Awards in 1939 for the Oscar for Best Production Design for the film Alexander's Ragtime Band was nominated (1938). Herschel McCoy , who was nominated for an Oscar for best costume design in both 1952 and 1954 , was responsible for the costumes . Harry M. Leonard , who was nominated for the Oscar for the best special effects at the 1946 Academy Awards, also worked as a sound engineer .

Quotes

As in the other films in the series, Charlie Chan emphasizes his work with quotes that are reminiscent of Chinese proverbs . The always polite and calm-looking Chan thanks him as usual with a “Thank you so much” ('Thank you so much'). In addition, his “contradiction, please!” ('Contradiction, please!') Often appears when he wants to express his differing views.

Assistant and son Lee Chan, in particular, often receives instructions and allusions in proverbs.

Chan's other sayings in this film include:

  • "Humble presence is of no more consequence than one drop of rain in cloudburst"
  • "In the future, the tongue of a hanged man reminds of him more often than the hangman's rope" ('In future remember tongue often hangman quicker than rope')
  • "Questions are key to door of truth"

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