CHINESE DETECTIVE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22833, 18 March 1936, Page 7

CHINESE DETECTIVE

CHARLIE CHAN AT GRAND Charlie Chan hap never been so close to death, nor so shrewd or amiable a Chinese detective as Warner Gland makes him seem in the new film based on the Oriental sleuth’s adventures, “ Charlie Chan in Shanghai,’’ which opens to-day at the Grand Theatre. Again playing an enemy of crime whose barbed epigrams and Oriental wile outwit the .cruder strategy of his foes, Warner Oland proves the nemesis of a band of opium smugglers who have defied the secret services of two nations. Gland’s adventures begin almost from the moment he sots foot in Shanghai. His first problem is to find the murderer of the English secret service man who! had sent for him. From Irene Hervey, the Englishman’s niece, ho 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 the pursuit'. In the course of the film Chun’s life is often attempted. Circumstantial evidence points to Charles Locher, Miss Hervey’s fiance, as the criminal, and he is imprisoned, but escapes with Miss Hervey’s aid. Finally Oland and Russell Hicks venture into the 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 complexion of the entire affair. /■■