Mjeteconer Just perfect...

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

binapiraeus Mae West said in one of her films: 'Keep a diary, and one day it'll keep you...' And that most CERTAINLY goes for the diary of a young lady, Billie Bronson, who's just arrived on the same steamer with Charlie and Lee Chan back in New York after a year - because she had to go in hiding when it was found out then that Billie, who's acquainted with almost all of Manhattan's big-time mob, had kept a very detailed diary about all the ongoings in New York's underworld, which of course, if revealed to the public, would mean the ruin of most of the city's gangsters...No need to say that she's got to hide the extremely explosive - and valuable - little book in a safe place; and since she'd been followed even back on the steamer by a guy who was obviously after it, and since she happened to get acquainted with famous Charlie Chan there as well... what better place could there be than Charlie's hotel room in New York? She manages to place it there - but she doesn't manage to escape her own fate: while obviously bargaining with some of the people mentioned in her diary for a very high price for the evidence, she herself pays the highest price: she is shot in the office of the manager of one of Broadway's famous-infamous nightclubs, the 'Hottentot Club'.Very soon, of course, we get to know a whole bunch of suspects: except for 'Hottentot Club' manager Johnny Burke and his girlfriend Marie, who, as it turns out, had taken Johnny away from Billie, and in addition is the wife of the mysterious guy on the ship, who also keeps on searching for the diary, but is soon murdered as well - in Charlie's hotel room! Then there's newspaper editor Murdock, who also had his reasons for bargaining for the dangerous diary, and his ever-present employees, reporter 'Speed' Patten and photo reporter Joan, and shady Buzz Moran...And this time, after LOTS of dangerous adventures in the 'asphalt jungle', Charlie arranges a real 'classic' gathering of all the suspects in order to reveal the killer...Absolutely PERFECT in every aspect, from the formidable cast to the direction that catches marvelously the atmosphere of old Manhattan 'where the underworld can meet the elite' (like it says in "42nd Street") to the classic, ingenious 'whodunit' story, this is one of Charlie Chan's VERY best, and MOST entertaining cases!

utgard14 A nightclub singer with a diary full of other peoples' secrets gets bumped off and her diary is stolen. Charlie Chan gets to work investigating all the suspects with (mostly unwanted) help from "Number One Son" Lee. This is a fun entry in the series helped by a great cast. Keye Luke is a treat, especially in his scenes with the lovely Toshia Mori. Each of the Chan films he was in is better just by his presence. Harold Huber plays the obligatory baffled police inspector. Donald Woods, J. Edward Bromberg, Joan Marsh, Leon Ames, Marc Lawrence, and Douglas Fowley all offer good support. Lon Chaney, Jr. has a quick cameo. Avoid reading too much about this one before you see it or the identity of the killer might be spoiled for you. I was taken by surprise!

classicsoncall "Charlie Chan on Broadway" is somewhat of a misnomer, since most of the New York City action takes place far from the bright lights of the theater district, and instead are presented in the setting of the Hottentot Club, a premier night club run by mobster Johnny Burke (Douglas Fowley). The film begins aboard an ocean liner, where we observe Burke's former flame Billie Bronson (Louise Henry) conceal a package in the Chan luggage; it turns out to be a diary containing information on mob rackets, and there are plenty who would pay dearly for it. When Billie turns up dead in the Club, along with her shipboard tail Tom Mitchell (Marc Lawrence), the hunt is on for the killer.Keye Luke is on board again as Number #1 Son Lee, and Harold Huber joins the Chan series as Police Inspector Nelson, quick to jump to conclusions based on partial evidence. It's this somewhat annoying aspect of Huber's character that makes one wonder how he became an inspector in the first place. Quite a few characters are placed at the center of the mystery, including newspaper reporter Speed Patten (Donald Woods), photographer Joan Wendall (Joan Marsh), and New York Bulletin Editor Murdock (J. Edward Bromberg). Of course, Burke is a prime suspect, along with henchman Buzz Moran (Leon Ames), but editor Murdock arouses suspicion when he arrives early for an appointment with the murdered Billie, as his newspaper would have the inside scoop on the diary's secrets.With crafty precision, Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) unravels the case based on evidence provided at the Bronson crime scene in mobster Burke's office - a photograph of the murder victim's location with it's effects, and the subsequent discovery of missing elements from the photo. They include a napkin and the key to the Chan hotel room! All of this sleight of hand casts suspicion on the main suspects - both Burke, and his current girlfriend and nightclub dancer Marie Collins (Joan Woodbury), who believes Billie's return from self imposed exile is a threat to her relationship with Burke.The final revelation of the killer's identity is typical of Chan films - reporter Speed Patten is involved in the mob rackets, and his access to the other suspects places him at the center of the action. The diary has enough information to put him and his cronies away for a long time, and ultimately, it does, as the Oriental Detective lays out the missing pieces of the case for the viewer.Warner Oland would go on to portray Charlie Chan only one more time for an adventure in Monte Carlo, before his untimely death shortly after from bronchial pneumonia. His health problems appear to have taken their effect on Oland's performance in this film, in which he appears less animated and jovial than in some of his prior efforts.

pbalos "excuse please," but this is a straight forward top notch mystery with no gimmicks involved. Much of the action takes place in the Hottentot Club and the only dance is of a tropical variety that is more reminiscent of Charlie Chan in Rio or Panama.Warner Oland is at the top of his game playing the famous Chinese detective. Keye Luke, as usual, is excellent. Harold Huber does a fine job as Inspector Nelson and proves less silly than we'd see in future films.This must be considered one of the best.