Greenes Please don't spend money on this.

Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Roxie The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

binapiraeus Coincidentially, Charlie Chan meets an old colleague and friend of his, Inspector Drake from Scotland Yard, aboard the plane that takes him to New York for the annual police convention; and Drake reveals to him that he's now in the secret service, and he's been chasing dangerous saboteur Narvo literally all over the world - and he suspects him to have been involved in the crash of a new test plane only a few days ago. And the same night, Drake is murdered at a dinner party given by plane constructor Kirby, poisoned in his library by a newly invented gas (Jimmy, who's once more followed his dad, this time using the World Fair as an excuse, can identify it easily, being a chemistry student) that kills instantly and is usually put into small glass balls that smash easily... So, Charlie deduces that this was also the way the plane was made to crash - and immediately takes over his friend's case, investigating all the more or less suspicious characters who were present at Kirby's dinner party...Once again, Charlie proves a lot cleverer than even 'New York's Finest' (Donald MacBride as the slow-witted Inspector Vance used to specialize in this kind of roles anyway), and as always his psychological tricks work excellently - there's just nothing but oriental finesse to catch a cunning criminal! The whole cast is superb, the case is very intriguing, and of course the jokes aren't missing either (as usual at the expense of poor Jimmy...) - great 40s' murder and spy entertainment which really transfers us back into time!

JohnHowardReid The indomitable Charlie Chan returns in this war-time espionage thriller, which is neither as silly nor as blatantly jingoistic as most movies of its type. Although connoisseurs will experience no difficulty in picking out the master spy, there are not only some diverting plot twists along the way, but the pace is often breath-takingly rapid. Director Harry Lachman indulges his usual penchant for close-ups. True, I don't usually like too many close-ups, but here they are not only astutely composed but dramatically very effective. As usual, Toler is excellent and the support cast first-rate. And it's a pleasant surprise to find Donald McBride's character not only more restrained, but more sensible than usual. However, despite her position on the very top of the support bill, Marjorie Weaver has an extremely small role – about a quarter the size of John Sutton's and he receives no billing at all! Chan's bon mots of Chinese philosophy are fairly amusing and Sen Yung's number–two son is a more effective offsider than usual and is not required to descend to tiresome "comic relief". Production values of course are first class. Miss Valerie wears some wonderfully attractive costumes, while Virgil Miller's photography remains very crisp, despite being often forced to work very close to the actors. Film editing is also remarkably smooth despite the necessity to integrate angles that are not quite suitable for ideal matching. And, as usual, Chan's make-up is faultless,

MartinHafer This film is about a deadly poison that is contained in small glass globes that is used to kill. This is apparently done to hide an espionage ring intent on stealing plans for a new American bomber. Now much of this plot was repeated in other Chan films, THE JADE MASK and THE DOCKS OF NEW ORLEANS. Additionally, it was first used in MR. WONG, DETECTIVE--all had the exploding glass globes--a plot element that obviously has been overused. It was interesting in MURDER OVER NEW YORK, but by these later films it was rather passé.Fortunately, the rest of the film was fresh and the plot worked out very well--with a nifty conclusion where, of course, the culprit reveals himself. However, no plane could fly the way this one did--especially in 1940. Such extreme dives and rapid ascents were pretty silly out of this already obsolete plane.By the way, in a small role as a porter you'll see Frank Coghlan Jr.--the same actor who played Billy Batson in the CAPTAIN MARVEL serial. According to IMDb, Mr. Coughlan is 93 years old and retired from the film industry.

classicsoncall "Murder Over New York" is an entertaining entry in the Charlie Chan series of films, but if you're paying attention, a lot of plot holes reveal themselves to the observant eye. While traveling to New York City for an annual police convention, Chan (Sidney Toler) meets former Scotland Yard investigator Hugh Drake (Frederick Worlock) on the same flight. Now employed by military intelligence, Drake is tracking Paul Narvo and his Hindu servant, suspected for acts of sabotage around the world. Drake believes that by contacting Narvo's elusive wife, he'll be able to pin down the whereabouts of the master criminal.When Drake winds up dead in the library of George Kirby, president of the Metropolitan Aircraft Corporation, Charlie theorizes that he was killed by a recently discovered poisonous gas called "tetrogene", administered via a glass pellet that releases the poison when broken. Summoning Kirby to bring all of his dinner party guests together, Chan and Police Inspector Vance (Donald MacBride) question those in attendance, as one of them may be the killer. Among them are Herbert Fenton (Melville Cooper), a fellow Oxford student of Drake's, actress June Preston (Joan Valerie), unknown to Drake but requested by him to attend, Ralph Percy (Kane Richmond), the chief designer at Kirby's aircraft company, and Keith Jeffrey (John Sutton), Kirby's stock broker. Kirby butler Boggs (Leyland Hodgson) is also a suspect, especially after Number #2 Son Jimmy (Victor Sen Yung) catches him steaming open a cablegram, the contents of which concern Boggs himself.There are some other cleverly planted characters in the proceedings as well. Mrs. Narvo turns up as Patricia West (Marjorie Weaver), and contrary to Drake's suspicion that she might lead him to Narvo, is actually on the run away from her former husband and a disastrous marriage. She's involved with David Elliott (Robert Lowery), principal of a chemical research firm, and thereby a suspect in the tetrogene angle.As with many Chan films, racial comments must be taken in stride with the proceedings. This one offers two glaring ones. When Kirby's black servant is brought in for questioning, he states that he doesn't know anything about Drake's murder, that he's completely "in the dark". Chan's response: "Condition appear contagious".Later, following Inspector Vance's order to round up all the Hindu's in New York, Jimmy Chan comments on their arrival with "They're all beginning to look alike to me." Actually, the scene provides one of the elements of comic relief in the movie, as Shemp Howard impersonates Hindu mystic "The Great Rashid", but is actually uncovered by the police to be con artist Shorty McCoy.Before the movie's over, two more victims fall to the clever Narvo - his confederate Ramullah, and aircraft magnate Kirby himself. To uncover the killer, Chan, in concert with Elliott, arranges for a test flight aboard a newly developed TR4 Bomber after discovering a poisoned capsule planted by mechanics on the plane the day before. Before it can release it's deadly poison, the Brit Fenton catches the falling capsule in mid-air, revealing that he knew about the plant. Arrested and brought in for questioning, Chan asserts that Fenton is not Narvo. The real Narvo reveals himself when he offers a poisoned cup of water to the nervous Fenton, anxious to maintain Narvo's secret. But Chan was clever enough to be wary of such an attempt, and reveals the real murderer - Narvo now in the guise of stock broker Jeffrey, having undergone reconstructive surgery following a car accident.Now for the plot holes. When first investigating Hugh Drake's murder, it was maintained by the police that fingerprints found in the library did not match those of any of the dinner guests. However Jeffrey/Narvo was present at the dinner party. It had already been established that Drake had one non party visitor in the library, chemist Elliott. If the fingerprints really did not belong to Narvo, then making them an issue was pointless.Also, at the end of the film when Narvo offers Fenton the poisoned water, how did he think he would get away with it with everyone there as a witness? But going even one better than that, how would a world traveling saboteur like Narvo have the time and wherewithal to establish himself as a New York City stockbroker, it just doesn't make sense. For trivia fans, a few more points bear mentioning. In the film, Number #2 Son Jimmy is a college student studying chemistry as he comes to "Pop's" aid to solve the case. In the prior Chan film - "Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum" - Jimmy was a law student.The poison gas formula would get reworked in a later Chan film, this time by Monogram with Roland Winters in the Chan role in "Docks of New Orleans". In that story, poison gas is released from shattered radio tubes in similar fashion to claim its' victims.