Plot
Mary Whitman has arrived in Reno to obtain a divorce. While there, she is arrested on suspicion of murdering a fellow guest at her hotel (which specializes in divorcers).
There are many others at the hotel who wanted the victim out of the way. Charlie Chan travels from his home in Honolulu to Reno to solve the murder at the request of Mary's soon-to-be ex-husband. On arrival in Reno, Chan spars pleasantly with Sheriff Tombstone Fletcher, an old-timer who isn't up-to-date on modern police methods.
No. 2 Son Jimmy Chan's part in the case gets off to a rocky start. Driving to Reno to meet his father, he picks up some "friendly" hitch-hikers who steal his car, strip him to his underwear, and abandon him in the middle of nowhere. He is picked up for vagrancy, and his father first encounters him in a police lineup.
But Jimmy's friendship with a Chinese maid at the hotel later proves invaluable. Choy Wong had hidden a carpet burn in the murder room, fearing she would be discharged for carelessness. But it develops the burn is an unusual one caused by acid. Charlie exposes the murderer by revealing an acid burn on the arm that had been hidden by unfashionably long sleeves.
Chan also exposes the "respectable" Dr. Ainsley as a fortune hunter who had sought to poison one of his female patients for inheritance money.
Charlie Chan is a fictional Honolulu police detective created by author Earl Derr Biggers for a series of mystery novels. Biggers loosely based Chan on Hawaiian detective Chang Apana. The benevolent and heroic Chan was conceived as an alternative to Yellow Peril stereotypes and villains like Fu Manchu. Many stories feature Chan traveling the world beyond Hawaii as he investigates mysteries and solves crimes.
Victor Sen Young was an American character actor, best known for playing Jimmy Chan in the Charlie Chan films and Hop Sing in the western series Bonanza. He was born in San Francisco, California to Gum Yung Sen and his first wife, both immigrants from China.
Sidney Toler was an American actor, playwright, and theatre director. The second European-American actor to play the role of Charlie Chan on screen, he is best remembered for his portrayal of the Chinese-American detective in 22 films made between 1938 and 1946. Before becoming Chan, Toler played supporting roles in 50 motion pictures, and was a highly regarded comic actor on the Broadway stage.
Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo is a 1937 American mystery film directed by Eugene Forde and starring Warner Oland, Keye Luke and Virginia Field. The main character is Charlie Chan, a Chinese-Hawaiian detective. This was the sixteenth and final Charlie Chan film with Oland portraying Chan. The film features Keye Luke as Charlie's son Lee and character actor Harold Huber as a French police inspector. It was produced and distributed by 20th Century-Fox.
Charlie Chan in Rio is a 1941 American mystery film directed by Harry Lachman and featuring the Asian detective Charlie Chan. It was the tenth film to feature Sidney Toler as the title character, who is called upon to investigate the death of a suspected murderer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum is a 1940 mystery film starring Sidney Toler as detective Charlie Chan. Revisiting an old case results in fresh deaths.
Charlie Chan in Panama is a 1940 mystery film starring Sidney Toler. It is an unaccredited remake of Jacques Deval's novel "Marie Galante", produced by 20th Century Fox in 1934, directed by Henry King.
Charlie Chan in Honolulu is a 1939 American mystery film directed by H. Bruce Humberstone, starring Sidney Toler as the fictional Chinese-American detective Charlie Chan. The film is the first appearance of both Toler as Chan and Victor Sen Yung as "number two son" Jimmy.
The Trap is a 1946 American mystery crime film directed by Howard Bretherton and starring Sidney Toler and Victor Sen Yung. The main premise is that two members of a show troupe are murdered, and detective Charlie Chan is called in to solve the case.
The Black Camel is a 1931 American pre-Code mystery film directed by Hamilton MacFadden and starring Warner Oland, Sally Eilers, Bela Lugosi, and Dorothy Revier. It is based on the 1929 novel of the same name by Earl Derr Biggers. It is the second film to star Oland as detective Charlie Chan, and the sole surviving title of the first five Chan films starring Oland. The Black Camel marked the film debut of Robert Young.
Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise is a 1940 murder mystery film starring Sidney Toler in his fifth of many performances as Charlie Chan. It is based on the Earl Derr Biggers 1930 novel Charlie Chan Carries On.
Charlie Chan at Treasure Island is a 1939 American film directed by Norman Foster, starring Sidney Toler as the fictional Chinese-American detective Charlie Chan, that takes place on Treasure Island during San Francisco's Golden Gate International Exposition (1939-1940).
Murder Over New York is a 1940 American mystery film directed by Harry Lachman and starring Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan. The cast also features Marjorie Weaver, Robert Lowery and Ricardo Cortez. Chan must solve a murder mystery while attending a police convention. Shemp Howard plays "Shorty McCoy" in an uncredited appearance.
Shadows Over Chinatown is a 1946 American mystery film directed by Terry O. Morse and starring Sidney Toler, Victor Sen Yung and Tanis Chandler. It is the third-to-last film starring Toler as Charlie Chan.
Castle in the Desert is a 1942 film featuring the Chinese detective Charlie Chan. It was the eleventh film to feature Sidney Toler as the title character, and the last made by 20th Century Fox. The series continued with Toler, though under much reduced circumstances, at Monogram Pictures.
The Shanghai Cobra is a 1945 mystery film directed by Phil Karlson and starring Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan.
Black Magic, later retitled Meeting at Midnight for television, is a 1944 mystery film directed by Phil Rosen and starring Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan.
The Chinese Cat is a 1944 mystery film starring Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan.
Charlie Chan in the Secret Service is a 1944 mystery film starring Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan. It is the first film made by Monogram Pictures after the series was dropped by 20th Century Fox, and it marks the introduction of Number Three Son and taxi driver, Birmingham Brown.
City in Darkness, also known as Charlie Chan in City in Darkness is a 1939 American drama film directed by Herbert I. Leeds and starring Sidney Toler, Lynn Bari, and Richard Clark. It is one of the films in the Charlie Chan film series, the fourth starring Toler, and was released on December 1, 1939.
