RyothChatty ridiculous rating

Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

bkoganbing Nightclub singer Louise Henry returns to New York as it turns out with Warner Oland and number one son Keye Luke on the same boat. She hung around with a lot of criminal types like Marc Lawrence, Douglas Fowley, and Leon Ames and reputedly kept a diary of events that could mean long stretches in prison if she turns it over to law enforcement. Excellent reason for people wanting to do her harm.In addition to Warner Oland investigating to help Inspector Harold Huber of the NYPD, reporter and photographer Donald Woods and Joan Marsh are trying to scoop each other to please city editor J. Edward Bromberg who has a big interest in this case.I'm kind of divided in terms of my feelings about Charlie Chan On Broadway. On one hand the eventual perpetrator of both Henry and then Lawrence's homicide fits quite logically when you remember the sequence of events. But the casting will throw you off.Oland and Luke do some good work here helping clear up a pair of homicides of some people society won't miss unless you're a fan of Henry's singing.

bensonmum2 Charlie Chan and #1 son Lee get mixed up with a mysterious woman on board a ship bound for New York. Unbeknownst to Chan, the woman is the former girlfriend of a gangster with information that, if published, could blow the lid off the underworld. She hides a small package in Chan's luggage to make sure it gets to New York safely. Shortly after arriving in New York, the woman is murdered in an office at the Hottentot Club. Can Chan discover the woman's secret and find her killer? Charlie Chan on Broadway is yet another very solid entry in the Chan series. Warner Oland and Keye Luke are as good and entertaining as ever. Plus, anytime I see the names Marc Lawrence or Leon Ames in the credits, I know I'm in for a good time. But the highlight of this one has to be the killer's identity. It completely caught me off guard.BIG TIME SPOILERS – If you've seen enough of the Charlie Chan movies (or any other detective type movies from the 30s and 40s), there are a few absolutes you can generally count on. One of them is that the Chan movies usually feature a young couple in love. While both may come under suspicion at some point in the movie, they are always exonerated by the end to continue their dreamy relationship. That's not the case in Charlie Chan on Broadway. One of the last people I expected – the male half of the ideal couple – is found to be the killer. It really threw me for a loop! END OF BIG TIME SPOILERS Overall, I'm very pleased to have discovered a "new" Charlie Chan film. I look forward to revisiting it many times in the future.

Mike-764 Billie Bronson returns to New York from Europe to blackmail Johnny Burke (a former flame) with her diary with contains information that the police would love to have in order to put Burke in the slammer. Billie hid the diary in Charlie's luggage and also plans to try to sell the diary to newspaper editor Murdock, while two reporters at Murdock's paper, reporter Speed Patten and photographer Joan Wendell, try to score an exclusive piece with Billie at Burke's nightclub, but after a meeting with Burke and girlfriend Marie Collins, Billie is found murdered in Burke's office. Charlie and Inspector Nelson rush to solve the case (with Lee also trying to work the case much to his father's enjoyment) where they find out that the person who also murdered Billie also stole the diary. Nelson arrests Burke on the circumstantial evidence, but has to turn him free when it doesn't pan out, but Charlie brings all the suspects in to present the murderer. This Chan entry seemed a lot better when thinking about it some time later, maybe one reason why is Huber's character (as well as the actor himself) is annoying as hell. The script plays more like it came from Warner Brothers with the nightclub and gangster motif, but it is good for its genre and film series. The actors playing the suspects are quite good in the portrayals. Rating, 7.

admjtk1701 Another really well done, atmospheric, Warner Oland/20th Century Fox Chan film. Although the film has nothing to do with the theater, as some might expect from the title, it is set amid the exotic night life of Broadway of the late 30's. It begins with Charlie and Lee aboard an ocean liner. Then in New York, the Hottentot Club is the main setting along with the hotel Chan and other notables stay at. This captures the mood of New York in the 30's--at least from a Hollywood perspective. The supporting cast is top notch with J. Edward Bromberg, Harold Huber in his best Chan role, Leon Ames, Marc Lawrence, Donald Woods, Louise Henry and Joan Marsh. The script is very clever. The hunt is on for a missing diary that could blow the lid off the mobs. Loads of fun!