This entry has Charlie Chan on the case of the stabbing death of an actress whose company is shooting a movie in Honolulu.
Besides retaining that early talkie pedigree with people talking with more halting speech patterns than will be common in just a couple of more years, Charlie Chan is a bit different in this one versus the later ones. For one, Charlie can get quite steamed at his incompetent scatter brained assistant, Kashimo where in later entries he has the patience of a saint. He's also not yet portrayed as the world famous solver of crimes. Instead he is just another detective on the Honolulu police force. You even get to see him getting scolded by his superior down at headquarters for his lack of progress on the case. Since Charlie actually lives in Honolulu, there is an endearing scene of him at breakfast with his very large family.
It's too bad that there are three Chan films that are lost between this one and Charlie Chan in London, because somewhere between this entry and Charlie Chan in London the series found its pacing and its voice, as all subsequent entries flow quite well.
Note that Bela Lugosi and Dwight Frye are both in this film, shortly after appearing in Dracula. I'd recommend this mainly for Charlie Chan completists.
Besides retaining that early talkie pedigree with people talking with more halting speech patterns than will be common in just a couple of more years, Charlie Chan is a bit different in this one versus the later ones. For one, Charlie can get quite steamed at his incompetent scatter brained assistant, Kashimo where in later entries he has the patience of a saint. He's also not yet portrayed as the world famous solver of crimes. Instead he is just another detective on the Honolulu police force. You even get to see him getting scolded by his superior down at headquarters for his lack of progress on the case. Since Charlie actually lives in Honolulu, there is an endearing scene of him at breakfast with his very large family.
It's too bad that there are three Chan films that are lost between this one and Charlie Chan in London, because somewhere between this entry and Charlie Chan in London the series found its pacing and its voice, as all subsequent entries flow quite well.
Note that Bela Lugosi and Dwight Frye are both in this film, shortly after appearing in Dracula. I'd recommend this mainly for Charlie Chan completists.