Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

bnwfilmbuff Inspector Duff of Scotland Yard, traveling incognito as a cruise passenger, contacts Charlie during a stopover in Hawaii to enlist his help in apprehending a strangler that Duff believes is part of his entourage. Before Duff can get out of Chan's office he's murdered and Charlie takes the case as a personal mission. As with many of the Chan mysteries there's a rogue's gallery of suspects (at least 10 by my count) making keeping them all straight somewhat of a challenge. However, the actors making up the suspects are a who's who of the mystery genre headed up by Lionel Atwill and Leo G. Carroll. Also notable were Cora Witherspoon, Don Beddoe, and Leonard Mudie who turned in fine performances and Charles Middleton (Ming the Merciless of Flash Gordon fame) in a somewhat lesser role. And, of course, the overbearing Victor Sen Yung, who I was rooting for Charlie to just throw overboard. Dismissing Yung's nonsense, this is a fine if very complex mystery. And I admit that it took a couple of viewings to understand the finish. Still it's enjoyable especially for Chan lovers.

Hitchcoc There's a strangler on the loose. An old friend comes to see Charlie but stands by a window and gets himself strangled. Charlie, feeling guilt over this because the man had come to see him, vows to find the killer. This gets him on board a cruise ship where more people are being dispatched this way. Of course, Number One Son shows up, and mostly gets in the way. As is usually the case, there are bodies here and bodies there. There is the typical listening at the porthole because people talk so loud. There is the Number One Son getting arrested, mistaken for the strangler. There's the scene where everyone is in a room when the lights go out (I've seen that at least four times) and, of course, someone gets away or a piece of evidence is taken. Leo G. Carroll shows up. He was a regular supporting actor in many films of the time. I always remember him as the nonplussed Cosmo Topper in the old TV show of the fifties. Anyway, this is fun with little new to offer.

blanche-2 From 1940, "Murder Cruise" sports a nice cast, with Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan, Sen Yung as his son Jimmy, Leo Carroll, Lionel Atwill, and Cora Witherspoon, who is very funny.Charlie seems to have a tough time with this one -- after his friend from Scotland Yard is killed, he joins a cruise from Honolulu to San Francisco to help find a suspected murderer. There are no less than four more.The murderer is obvious the second he's introduced for reasons having nothing to do with the plot.Inspector Duff has been on a case case undercover. He's a passenger on a cruise ship going on a world tour from New York. One of the passengers was strangled the first night. Duff joined the cruise in Liverpool, and he is sure the criminal is on board, and he's afraid that he will strike again. You can say that again - he strangles Duff right in the office while Charlie takes a call about another of the passengers being murdered.Jimmy shows up, naturally, and gets into all kinds of trouble. Charlie puts up with it, Toler's Chan always being on an even keel and exhibiting dry humor.Very enjoyable. The young Chan, Willie, is played by Layne Tom, Jr. Tom is on a 2006 interview about the Chan films and became a very well known architect, dying at age 87.Good fun.

Lechuguilla The killer in this story appears to be a beggar, a person with a white beard, glasses, black pointy hat, and black coat. The beggar relates in some way to one of some ten suspects. In actual practice, there are about six or seven genuine suspects, since a few of them can be easily ruled out."Murder Cruise" is one of the better films in the Charlie Chan series. Production values trend above average. And the B&W lighting is quite effective.My only real complaint is the film's plot. At a certain point, the viewer can fairly easily identify the killer, despite the fact that the underlying mystery is complex and clever. It's one of those whodunits wherein the murderer is relatively easy to spot, but the motive and underlying story are rather opaque. A slight change in the plot could have prolonged the suspense a bit longer.The story's ending is amusingly hokey. The killer tries to strangle one last victim, and the woman screams and screams. Rather than killing her quickly, the murderer talks to her long enough for the police and Charlie Chan to arrive in time to save her.Despite a plot that is a bit too revealing too soon, "Murder Cruise" is an enjoyable whodunit. If only all the Charlie Chan movies were this high in quality. In the words of Charlie Chan ... "Thank you so much".