SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Bergorks If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

bigverybadtom Chan's Number One son is a participant in the American swimming team during the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Meanwhile, Chan is in Hawaii with a toddler son, also interested in being a detective, though they are on a fishing trip. But they soon get mixed up when a remote-controlled (full-sized) airplane crashes, its pilot murdered, and its top secret control circuit stolen from it. It winds up being taken to Europe and Chan and company follow it. Members of the Olympics also get involved.There are several subplots involving intrigues among the Olympic team, which involve Number One son and muddy the chase of the stolen robot-who is involved, and who can possibly be guilty. The very efficient German police are involved, but obviously foreign spies are after the device-who to trust?Historical note: In 1937, there was still uncertainty as to who Hitler was and what he intended, not everyone seeing him then as evil-he was even named Time magazine's Man Of The Year shortly before. Also, Chan did ride the Hindenburg zeppelin, and you see a brief shot of it, swastika included, and Jesse Owens and his Olympic victory did get shown in the movie. Even Charles Lindbergh went to Germany to admire how Hitler brought it back to life. It would not be until the 1938 Kristallnacht that the world would unmistakably discover the true nature of Hitler's regime.

Hitchcoc Of course, the 1936 Olympics is best known in American annals as the one where Jesse Owens (the non Aryan) embarrassed Hitler's boys by wiping the floor with them (of course, the racism in this country continued). An American inventor has developed a device for flying battle ready planes by remote control, allowing for fewer losses of life. This device is stolen and brought to Berlin. Through much intrigue, we find that there are a couple of entities that would like to get their hands on it. Charlie's number one son is a competitor in a freestyle swimming event and so is at the Olympic village. Soon, he is caught up in the case (as he always is), putting himself in grave danger. Charlie must work his magic to get things sorted out. It's hard not to have in the back of one's mind that the Nazis are moving through Europe. Good mystery with a patriotic twist.

David Glidden This Charlie Chan flick would be more valuable for its footage than its plot of espionage were it not for one horrifying aspect of the storyline. The 1936 Olympics were Hitler's games, heralding his Aryan racist views. By January 1937, Hitler had abrogated the Versailles Treaty. By August he had opened Buchenwald Concentration Camp. Yet, in this film, Hitler's Berlin police are praised for their efficiency, admired for their interest in protecting American military secrets, portrayed as being respectful toward a Chinese detective, and play a central role in capturing the evil foreign ambassador named Zaraka who seeks the military device in question. Perhaps in 1937 some elements in Hollywood were still undecided about Germany and Hitler? Perhaps those few seconds showing Jesse Owen's great relay race hedged the bet of the Hollywood producers? It is an uncomfortable feature of the film and a sad fact about America in 1937 that Hitler's new Germany had its American admirers.

dbborroughs If you view the Chan films in order there is actually a weird around the world trip that happens. Its almost as if Chan is moving from place to place in one trip. Its clear from the internal details that time has passed between adventures, but at the same time its as if Chan is taking the long way home to Hawaii. This stop is in Germany where Chan is visiting his son who is on the US Olympic team during the infamous Berlin Games. Chan is sucked into the mystery as a favor to one police organization or another, since at this point in the series he was still a detective with the Honolulu police force. Amazingly watching the film one loses ones self in the mystery (which has to do with the theft of a military guidance system) and completely forgets the darkness that would devour the world. Here the Nazi's are the good guys, almost comedicly so. One of the better Chan films is most certainly worth a bag of popcorn and a glass of soda.