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Reviews
Charlie Chan in Reno (1939)
Hits The Jackpot!
An entertaining film as Charlie heads over to Reno to help a friend. Mrs. Bentley would have been interesting to hang around with for a while. The film drags in a couple of spots but only briefly. I personally didn't find the Tombstone' character to be all that funny. Other than Charlie's sons,the attempts at humor in the Chan films tend to fall flat. Eddie Collins is annoying as the cab driver and it's nice to see Charlie put him in his place. Phyllis Brooks gives a good performance as Ms. Wells. I love the way Pauline Moore speaks and acts in this film. Iris Wong is great as usual.The interplay between Charlie and his #2 son is priceless!
City in Darkness (1939)
Most Unfortunate Film
A dreary, boring film from the usually entertaining Charlie Chan series. Harold Huber dominates the film and Charlie merely stands around most of the time. It might have been different if Huber was funny, but he just comes across as annoying. Huber's character and Chan do not mesh well either. The film really misses #1 or #2 son. The plot isn't well spelled out and is not that interesting nor are the characters involved. There was potential here with the backdrop of WWII, but it does not get developed. The worst Chan film ever follows what many consider the best Chan film, Charlie Chan at Treasure Island. In fact, the next three Chan films are all excellent. Puzzling as to why they made this clunker.