Charlie Chan's Secret reminds me a bit of Random Harvest in that it dealt with a man who disappeared and then reappeared to claim the family title and fortune. There was a bit of grumbling when Ronald Colman reappeared in that film, but the Rainer family accepted him soon enough.
That was hardly the case for the heir in this film. Warner Oland first gets involved in the case when the heir is reported lost at sea off Honolulu. Oland then flies to San Francisco to make his report and the heir reappears only to be knifed to death.
His reappearance upset a lot of people or at the very least caused them great inconvenience. Mother Henriette Crossman was a believer in psychics and a pair of them Gloria Roy and Arthur Carew have been operating a con game at her expense. But there's also a daughter and husband, a disgruntled family caretaker, a lawyer and a business manager whose lives would also be upset by a reappearance of the heir. The usual stew of suspects.
Who is not a suspect is Herbert Mundin who was a delightful British music hall performer who played a variety of milquetoast like characters in many Hollywood films. He's the butler and in this film, one where none of Charlie Chan's sons appear, he plays the comic foil for Warner Oland and Mundin is his usual funny self.
A clever Chan ruse unmasks the killer. This is one of the best of Charlie Chan features.
That was hardly the case for the heir in this film. Warner Oland first gets involved in the case when the heir is reported lost at sea off Honolulu. Oland then flies to San Francisco to make his report and the heir reappears only to be knifed to death.
His reappearance upset a lot of people or at the very least caused them great inconvenience. Mother Henriette Crossman was a believer in psychics and a pair of them Gloria Roy and Arthur Carew have been operating a con game at her expense. But there's also a daughter and husband, a disgruntled family caretaker, a lawyer and a business manager whose lives would also be upset by a reappearance of the heir. The usual stew of suspects.
Who is not a suspect is Herbert Mundin who was a delightful British music hall performer who played a variety of milquetoast like characters in many Hollywood films. He's the butler and in this film, one where none of Charlie Chan's sons appear, he plays the comic foil for Warner Oland and Mundin is his usual funny self.
A clever Chan ruse unmasks the killer. This is one of the best of Charlie Chan features.