Charlie Chan at the Circus (1936)

"Very wise to know way out before going in.", 10 July 2017

Charlie Chan and family are invited to attend a circus performance by one of the owners, Joe Kinney. Kinney wants some help from Chan on some threatening letters he's been receiving. However, when Chan pays Kinney a visit in his trailer, he discovers Kinney's dead body. The killer appears to be a gorilla that briefly escaped from its cage. Chan, however, is not so sure and starts to investigate.

Despite what I'm about to write, I do not dislike Charlie Chan at the Circus. The 6/10 rating means that I consider it a better than average film – not great, but not horrible either. There are several issues I have with this one that that keep me from rating it higher. 1. As I've written before (most recently in a "review" of a Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries episode), I'm not a fan of the circus or movies/TV set in a circus. It doesn't work for me. 2. While I appreciate the use of real circus-type performers, Colonel Tim and Lady Tiny get old real quick. George and Olive Brasno might not be the best actors, but that's not my problem. It's the constant jokes about little people smoking cigars or cooking breakfast that I can't stomach. Once or twice might have been okay, but we see Colonel Tim with and/or offering up cigars in just about every scene he appears. Not funny. 3. BIG SPOILER – The way the film handles the fact that the killer is a man in a gorilla suit and not a real gorilla is ridiculous. The "gorilla" is shot dead, but no one but Chan notices it's not a real gorilla. These people are standing literally inches away from the dead body. Impossible. END BIG SPOILER 4. When watching a mystery, I really enjoy playing along with Chan or whoever the detective might be. But Charlie Chan at the Circus has so many clues that the viewer would have no way of knowing, there's no way you can figure out "who done it". It's cheating. Normally, I give Chan films a pass on this, but with everything else that bothered me, I thought I'd mention it. 5. Lee Chan's hijinks are especially annoying in parts of the film. Going undercover as a woman pushing a stroller with Colonel Tim posing as a baby (complete with cigar, naturally) is plain old stupid.

I realize that everything I've written is negative, but this is still Charlie Chan and I find the series highly entertaining. Despite the numerous issues I have with the movie, I've rated it a respectable 6/10. The movie doesn't work as well for me as some of the others in the series.

6/10