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Manawatu Times, Volume 61, Issue 11, 14 January 1936, Page 12

STATE THEATRE. Tho last screenings take place to-day of Jane Withers in "This Is the Life," and Shirley Temple and the baby stars of Hollywood in "The Pie Covered Wagon.” To-morrow, “Charlie Chan in Shanghai,” Enthralling Adventure Film. Charlie Chan has never been so perilously close to death, nor so shrewd or amiable a Chinese detective as Warner Oland makes him seem in the new film based on the Oriental sleuth's adventures, “Charlie Chan in Shanghai," which opens at the State theatre to-morrow. Again playing an-enemy of crime whose barbed epigrams and Oriental wile outwits tho cruder strategy of his foes, Warner Oland proves the nemesis of a band of opium smugglers who have defied the secret service of two nations.

Oland's exciting adventures begin almost from the. moment he sets foot in Shanghai. His first problem is to find tho murderer of the English secret service man who had sent for him. From Irene Hervey, the Englishman’s niece, he receives clues that set him on the trail of the smugglers. Then Russell Hicks, who purports to be an American federal agent, joins Oland in tho pursuit.

In the course of the film, Chan’s life is often attempted. Circumstantial evidence points to Charles Locher, Miss Hervey’s fiance, as be criminal, and he is imprisoned but escapes with Miss Hervey’s aid. Finally Olancl and Russell Hicks venture into tiie lair of the smugglers to make a capture. The malefactors are caught after a furious gun battle, but the surprise climax is reserved until after the capture, when. Keye . Luke, playing Chan’s son, arrives with information that changes the eompexion of the entire affair. The romantic problems of Charles Locher and Irene Hervey afford a pleasant contrast to Oland’s pursuit of criminals. While in the supporting cast, Russell Hicks is suave and effective, Keye Luke plays the brash younger Chan with understanding and Frederick Vogeding is a convincing menace.