Charlie Chan at the Circus is the start of a new pseudo-series of Charlie Chan titles. That is, it is historically simple to identify an older trend of Warner Oland’s Chan-sterpieces by a certain commonality of naming. That is, we’ve already seen Charlie Chan In London, In Paris, In Egypt and In Shanghai. With the one-off of Charlie Chan’s Secret, we may now see Charlie visiting various specific venues in place of exotic foreign cities. So now it’s Chan At the Circus, At the Racetrack, At the Opera, and so forth. This reflects the almighty Marx Brothers’ own series of titles with MGM, with classics such as A Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races, and At the Circus. Before you think someone was intentionally copying someone else, keep in mind that A Night at the Opera predates this series of Chan titles by one year, while the other two Marx movies follow Chan’s 1936 banner year by 1937 and 1939, respectively.
Barring any bizarre conspiracy between a bigoted faux-Asian detective and a vaudeville comedy troupe, it is simpler to assume that maybe people just wanted to see movies about operas, circuses and racetracks in the 30s. Perhaps there was some sort of idiotic, short-lived psychological theory that stated you could learn everything you needed about a person by observing him in those three settings. Whatever it is, I’ve just made a big deal out of absolutely nothing.
As for Charlie Chan at the Circus itself, it sort of throws off a stupid little theory of mine. That is, I thought somehow I was controlling the series’ development through my reviews some 75 years later. Sure, the specific problems I noted in the previous Charlie Chan’s Secret do not crop up here, but neither is there an overall improvement of quality. It seems now the Charlie Chan franchise is through steadily improving, having settled upon its upper plateau of quality. And as the series is now truly established, in terms of quality as well as formula, the idiosyncratic elements of Chan movies can truly come out.
The circus is a natural setting for Chan. It’s full of the oddities and grotesqueries that recall horror without specifically demanding it – perfect for a Chan who is rather burnt out on haunted houses at this point. It also offers up enough opportunities for this entry to be the most experimental (formula-wise) of any Chan. We shall examine those in turn.
Things start out with an introduction to Charlie Chan’s entire family, proud pater familias is he. Resolving a question that has plagued me, the brood is counted out “Sesame Street” style – counting Chan, there are a whopping 14 of ‘em! Most thankfully, that includes Chan’s “Number One Son” Lee (Keye Luke, the absolute best thing about this series). It is my theory, so far validated, that Lee appears in every other Chan entry. I can’t quite say why they’re holding him out on us.
So Chan et al are on vacation, simply enjoying the circus – a circus full of all the freaks, clowns, midgets and phony gypsies one would expect. This is the circus at its noblest ideal, Fellini aside, far removed from the rapist carnies of real life. It’s welcome and unique to see Chan in his private life, and not a private eye. For much of this movie, we shall enjoy Chan the civilian, actively avoiding the plotline until it is absolutely essential. This is where the movie falters, quality wise, even while it is a bold movie for a Chan movie. But it does rather broaden Chan as a character, to see him as a real family man rather than a mere plot device.
The instigating murder itself is a long time coming. Indeed, the mystery angle that has long been Chan’s beef and broccoli is somewhat lessened here, because there’s too much fun simply seeing Chan at the circus to bother with such pedestrian concerns. Like so many other lengthy franchises, it seems the Charlie Chan movies are turning to comedy now to spice up some rather rote genre stories. At least, unlike most franchises that play the humor card, Charlie Chan at the Circus resorts to neither camp nor self-parody, but simply character-based comedy. Indeed, given the 1930s date, perhaps the only filmmaker who could employ camp or self-parody was James Whale.
Anyway, while waiting for the necessary murder, let’s meet our cast. There are circus owners Joe Kinney (Paul Stanton) and John Gaines (Francis Ford, sans Coppola), two essentially interchangeable businessmen in hats. There is contortionist Su Toy (rare Japanese actress Toshia Mori), who will receive much unwanted attention from an actively horny Lee – good taste, man. There is acrobatic aerialist Marie Norman (Maxine Reiner), who is sister to the seemingly talentless Louise (Shirley Deane). Now, Louise is one half of the designated lovebird pair, along with nebulously gifted Tom Holt (J. Carroll Naish, an actual eventual two-time Oscar nominee). More and more, this series couldn’t give a rat’s ass about its designated lovebird couple (especially when Chan has above-average human interest this time). These two jerks barely figure into the story, at least as their romance is concerned. All they really do is talk about running away and quitting the circus…Wait, that ain’t quite right!
There is still another new romantic couple, a married duo who largely fulfill the old formula functions of the lovebirds – that is, to be in love and to aid Chan, themselves never true suspects. So why don’t I call this couple the lovebirds? Well, physically it’s obviously Tom and Louise. Also physically, the married lovers are both midgets! Meet Colonel Tim Tiny and his wife Lady (real life married couple George and Olive Brasno)! I genuinely like this pair, so it’s a shame that their stature almost certainly limited their employment (they weren’t even in Freaks). To the movie’s credit, very little of its humor is at the expense of the little people…eh, with one glaring exception. I’ll get to that.
Murder time! Chan has a meeting scheduled with Kinney concerning a series of letters, when they discover him (Kinney) strangled inside his locked wagon. Meanwhile, a mad ape rampages all over the circus, creating havoc. Now, one of the stranger subgenres of the 30s and 40s is the Ape Picture – expressing unfounded fears of the dire Ape Threat that lingers over our heads like a sword of Damocles. Beyond any and all real world evidence, it seems people were genuinely convinced these noble simians were all potential Michael Myerses – in actuality, it’s possibly a metaphor for the Negro, ‘cause these Charlie Chan movies are nothing without their awkward, antique racism. And sure, there’s been at least one good racist ape movie (King Kong), but most of these feature rubber fur suits that make the equivalent google-eyed aliens of the 50s seem sophisticated. A true representative of this genre is something thoroughly unpleasant like Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla…and, er, for some damned reason, Congo in the 90s.
I make a big ass deal out of this noble ape Caesar because he is the one the cops instantly peg the murder on. In genre terms, this has some justification, as ape murders can be traced back to the very first murder mystery of all time – Edgar Allen Poe’s “Murders at the Rue Morgue.” And indeed, by 1936 it was assumed mystery audiences were sophisticated enough to recognize the reference, and thus assume that the ape, like the proverbial butler, for once did not do it.
So I said Chan opts to sit out this mystery, right? Enthusiastically taking his stead as the prime crime solver is son Lee. Now, Lee’s usage in these films is interesting, as a distinct foil to Charlie Chan himself. That is why Keye Luke is far more essential than the one-off comic butlers or whomever. Lee’s thought process is meant to mirror the audience’s. This resolves any issues we might have with Chan’s outrageous detection skills. And so far, I can detect an unmistakable arc for Lee. He keeps getting better and better at these mysteries.
So the investigation is in Lee’s amateur hands, along with police detective Macy (Wade Boteler) – we just know he’ll be basically useless, because he’s a cop in a Charlie Chan movie. There’s no in-film evidence to suggest these guys are on the wrong track, except for the simple fact that they are not the great Charlie Chan. The assorted circus workers themselves seem to agree, for they spend their final night trying to persuade Chan to take the case. Chan is so moved by the midgets’ particular pleas, this he agrees to do – with the movie nearly half over.
At last Chan can move ahead, starting off by interviewing all the suspects – this seem doubly redundant now that it occurs later in the film. The killer seems to agree that things need to speed up a bit, given Chan’s shortened availability, so he goes right ahead and tries to kill Chan…Yeah, that’s prother etty much gonna make it clear it was no ape, eh? Ah, but not if it’s some killer animal. Taking a page from a certain Sherlock Holmes story whose title I forget, the killer slips a poisonous asp through the vents into Chan’s room. Now, venomous snakes are genuinely frightening beasties, so this scene certainly gets to me. Luckily, Chan awakes in time, and turns on his son’s record player – the music charms the cobra, as it dances on Chan’s chest. Aah! That’s still really scary! Then Lee enters and blows the snake’s head off with a pistol! Had it been made in the 80s, this scene would’ve been ridiculous.
That moment of freakish genuine terror over, Charlie Chan at the Circus anticipates Dumbo in a scene of the big top’s erection. See! a panoply of animal stock footage. See! Lee all tied up in knots by a contortionist’s charms. See! a midget smoke a cigar. See! remarkably confused clues lobbed about as regards to a series of real and forged marriage certificates to numerous parties…Wait, huh?! You see, in painting a motive for any character who didn’t already have a vested interest in circus ownership (surely a fine reason for murder if there ever was one), it seems Kinney was quite the up-and-coming polygamist. Hmm, maybe this movie takes place in Utah. By this thread, he was planning to get married to Marie, but was apparently already married to someone I haven’t been aware of yet – Nellie Farrell (Drue Leyton). It’s a lot like “Arrested Development,” with Chan desperately searching for a mysterious “Nellie.” (“We called your sissy cousin Larry ‘Nellie!’”)
As far as the actual murder is concerned, this nonsense about the marriage certificates is a red herring. It is immaterial, but it takes up a lot of the film’s attention. And it’s confusing as hell! In the long run, though, one certificate is missing, and another one was forged (by the lovebirds, of all people…but they are circus folk). But whatever, I know it has little bearing on the final outcome, so I won’t waste my energy on it.
Lee doesn’t realize the unimportance of the marriage certificates, and proceeds to make quite the fool of himself in investigating them. This is where the movie’s comic attitude comes to the forefront. Lee, ever the budding master of unconvincing disguises, cross-dresses himself as a mother with a baby carriage. This is all part of a fool attempt to wander through downtown without drawing attention to himself (since an Asian male would otherwise be a strange and gawk-worthy sight, apparently). And within that carriage is Tim Tiny the circus midget, pretending to be a baby with a stogie. That’s right, I’ve found the entirety of Baby Hermann’s character right here in a B-movie from 1936! And of course Lee’s would-be booty call Su sees them. Hilarity ensues, as they say.
They’re not dropping this goddamn marriage certificate subplot, because at that night’s circus performance, acrobat Marie rants on and on about what she knows concerning the Nellie deal. The fact that she then becomes the traditional “attempted murder” soon afterwards just goes to suggest these certificates might actually be important. Trust me, they aren’t. As for the content of this near death, Marie’s trapeze is shot away in mid-performance, and she plummets to unconsciousness before hundreds of children. There’s only one way to recover from such an event – clowns! Oh yeah, that’ll ease the children’s fears.
Chan starts digging up the real motive behind Kinney’s killing. It seems there was a casino shooting when the circus passed through El Paso, resulting in one dead sheriff (the deputy wasn’t shot, though). Lee is sent to get the shooter’s description from the El Paso PD, while Chan takes advantage of Marie’s tragic injury as a convenient means to lure out the killer.
Oh Chan, you’re so good at luring killers, and in actuality so dismissive of the value of human life! The assembled doctors declare Marie too hurt to be moved to hospital; they’ll have to operate right there in the roach and feces-ridden circus tents! Chan dismisses all the carny extras, setting the stage for the killer to come right along and finish Marie off.
The killer, now seen whole body but identity not revealed by means of a stylish trench coat, releases dignified ape Caesar from his cage, because surely that “mad” ape is gonna go and murder the right person a second time, eh? Lee returns from his side quest, and has himself a nice little rough and tumble slugfest with the killer before the ape’s cage. For the 1930s, Lee’s vigorous action sequences are truly thrilling, and they combine well with the proto-noir cinematography. This is my favorite part of this movie.
Then that ape, so respectful of the killer’s needs, lumbers shrieking into the operation tent and beats Marie to death with a hammer. Ye gods, I’d barely realized it, but this entry is nutbars! The surgeons subdue the ferocious monkey beast, and Chan reveals Marie’s “body” to really be a pile of pillows. Ah, that old ploy, making its fourth or so Chan appearance.
Because these movies increasingly resemble episodes of “Scooby Doo,” Charlie Chan removes the ape’s mask to reveal the true killer – Tom Holt…You know, one of the lovebirds. – WHAT?! They actually did it! A lovebird is the killer! YES! I’ve been asking for this trick since I first got sick of the lovebird characters (that is, the first Charlie Chan film), but I never thought they’d actually do it! Huzzah for that! And you see how I meant this entry really messes with established formula? That’s like making Jim Phelps the bad guy in a Mission: Impossible movie…wait.
Killer captured, Chan launches into an essential part of the Chan formula, a part I’ve barely acknowledge yet. This is Chan’s know-it-all epilogue exposition. That is, howdhedoit? You see, Chan knew the murderous ape (as opposed to the real ape, who is right now supping on delicious bananas in a pile of his own scat – no kidding) was a man, not by observing how ludicrously fake that ape suit is (this movie ain’t that meta), but by chemically examining the ape hair left in Kinney’s wagon. It turns out the hair was from a dead ape. Okay, Chan, sure. Strangely enough, that means those hideous ape suits you find in the worst movies of the 30s and 40s are actually made of ape hair. That’s just nasty!
But what the hell was up with all that marriage certificate nonsense? I mean, that’s why Marie (who’s really now at the hospital, and certainly about to die) was attacked, right? Well…not quite. Somehow, she was aware that Tom was the casino shooter, something Kinney also knew. In fact, Kinney took Tom in to his circus because he knew the man was a wanted murderer – you know, forget everything I said about this being a nice place! But no matter, that forged marriage certificate was somehow meant to discourage Marie, and it was made by Laurie – the other lovebird. So she’s arrested, even though she’s not the killer, ‘cause now that we’ve committed ourselves to vilifying these lovebird people, we might as well go all the way, right? Then Chan makes a joke I do not understand, and the movie ends.
Well, what kind of pithy junk can I say now?...Um, that was weird. It’s rather overcommitted to the hallowed “ape genre,” a genre that was never exactly good. Compared to the semi-horrors from before, this is a weak genre pastiche. Still, the circus makes for an endlessly moody setting, and it affords far more interesting suspects than, well, Paris. We’ll just see if that inappropriate sense of humor stays on, and if Chan’s future venues yield unique adventures…
And now, for no reason, here’s a still from Robot Monster:
Related posts:
• No. 3 Behind That Curtain (1929)
• No. 4 Charlie Chan Carries On (1931)
• No. 5 The Black Camel (1931)
• No. 9 Charlie Chan in London (1934)
• No. 10 Charlie Chan in Paris (1935)
• No. 11 Charlie Chan in Egypt (1935)
• No. 12 Charlie Chan in Shanghai (1935)
• No. 13 Charlie Chan’s Secret (1936)
• No. 15 Charlie Chan at the Race Track (1936)
• No. 16 Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936)
• No. 17 Charlie Chan at the Olympics (1937)
• No. 18 Charlie Chan on Broadway (1937)
• No. 19 Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo (1938)
• No. 20 Charlie Chan in Honolulu (1938)
• No. 21 Charlie Chan in Reno (1939)
• No. 22 Charlie Chan at Treasure Island (1939)
• No. 23 City in Darkness (1939)
• No. 24 Charlie Chan in Panama (1940)
• No. 25 Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum (1940)
• No. 26 Charlie Chan’s Murder Cruise (1940)
• No. 27 Murder Over New York (1940)
• No. 28 Dead Men tell (1941)
• No. 29 Charlie Chan in Rio (1941)
• No. 30 Castle in the Desert (1942)
• No. 31 Charlie Chan in the Secret Service (1944)
• No. 32 The Chinese Cat (1944)
• No. 33 Meeting at Midnight (1944)
• No. 34 The Shanghai Cobra (1945)
• No. 35 The Red Dragon (1945)
• No. 36 The Scarlet Clue (1945)
• No. 37 The Jade Mask (1945)
• No. 38 Dark Alibi (1946)
• No. 40 Dangerous Money (1946)
• No. 41 The Trap (1946)
• No. 42 The Chinese Ring (1947)
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