Please don't spend money on this.

Just so...so bad

disgusting, overrated, pointless

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Copyright 5 December 1936 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Palace: 4 December 1936. U.S. release: 8 January 1937. U.K. release: 16 November 1936. 6,175 feet. 68 minutes. Censored to 5,783 feet (64 minutes) in the U.K.SYNOPSIS: Having succesfully wrapped up the race track murder case, Charlie prepares to return to Honolulu. But first he becomes involved in the hunt for a madman who has found his way into the Los Angeles Opera Company during Oscar Levant's "Carnival".NOTES: Number thirteen of the sixteen pictures made by Warner Oland in the series, and the second of three to be directed by Lucky Humberstone (who also directed Sidney Toler in his initial entry, Charlie Chan in Honolulu). Shooting commenced 16 September 1936. This entry gives movie buffs a good look at Nedda Harrigan. Never heard of her? She was married to Walter Connolly from 1923 until his death in 1940. In 1945, she married Joshua Logan. That union lasted until his death in 1988. A stage actress, Miss Harrigan made only fifteen films, but they included The Case of the Black Cat, Thank You Mr Moto, Men Are Such Fools, Devil's Island and Scandal Sheet. Charlotte Henry, of course is Alice in Wonderland, though she was actually twenty years old when she made that movie in 1933. She still seems appropriately under-age in this picture too.COMMENT: Whilst it easily ranks as the most popular of the entire Chan series (thanks mostly to the casting of cult figure Boris Karloff as Charlie's adversary), Charlie Chan at the Opera in at least one significant way rates as the least typical. True, Keye Luke is along to both hinder and assist Pop, and an easily disparaged comic detective (William Demarest) complete with pratfalls has also been cast. Charlie is also allowed a fair quota of his famous aphorisms. What's more, the movie has been lensed on an exuberant budget with lots of action thrills and atmospheric effects in both lighting and sets. But where's the mystery? Gravelle commits all the murders, doesn't he? Well, let me tell you, it came as quite a shock to me to discover (right at the fade-out) that he didn't. Not even one of them. Even the expert compiler of the movie data base credits has obviously been confused by the screenplay's deliberate obfuscations, as he still assigns one murder to the madman even though the screenplay offhandedly explains it away in the last few seconds of the climactic action.Mind you, Frank Conroy often thrusts himself center stage, but he's such an obvious red herring no-one is going to take the slightest notice of him. Besides the movie itself (all but explicitly) shows us Gravelle actually committing the crimes. (Oddly, the VHS cover features a head shot of Oland and a still of Oland with Conroy, but no picture of Karloff at all). Another problem is that the opera itself proves something of a distraction. I'm not referring to the off-stage scenes. Or even to the menace Karloff so slickly infiltrates into his portrait of Mephistopheles. All this material is fascinating. I mean the singing. Good stuff, but it's obviously not Karloff's voice. Humberstone directs with precision. It's all very slick and highly professional. In fact his work is as polished as an "A" picture. But that's also a bit disappointing. He never really lets himself go, as he does so excitingly in C.C. at the Race Track.

This is a very good entry in this film series. Relatively short at less than an hour and a half, it seems a likely setting to the last section of the Marx Brothers Night At The Opera without the Comedy. The regular cast of Warner Oland and Keye Luke are joined by a very active William Demarest and the great suspect escaped from a mental institution - Boris Karloff. Spoiler, much like a later movie Karloff did with Abbott and Costello, Boris Karloff's Gravelle character is used much the same way. In this one, Karloff appears to sing Opera and sounds like he can, and play the piano. It is not often that happens in any movie.Kitti and Lilli Rochelle= Charlotte Henry & Margaret Irving, and Mme. Anita Barelli -Nedda Harrigan are the ladies of the cast and 2 of them sing too. One of them is the murder victim.Charlie Chan is under the dead line seriously while working this one a he is risking running late for his transportation back home. Lee Chan as Luke is credited in this one, is of some help but a usual is mostly 1 step behind famous father.The writing is solid here and it does not hurt that one of the script writers also has a credit for 1925's silent film version of Ben Hur. Like most Chan films, the plot is easy to follow, there are more than one red herrings in this script, and Chan provides much wisdom and skill sorting out the clues ahead of Luke and Sgt Kelly(Demarest).There are references to China in this one, though after reading the Nazi's banned this film in Germany in 1936, it is not real easy to see why they did.

"Charlie Chan at the Opera" is an unique entry in the long running series. It was the only film in which a major star (Boris Karloff who was at the peak of his popularity) played opposite star Warner Oland. In fact the opening credits show "Warner Oland vs. Boris Karloff".Karloff plays a former Opera star Gravelle, who escaped a theatre fire designed to murder him only to become an amnesiac who has been languishing in an asylum for the past seven years. By chance he sees a newspaper heralding a new opera with a picture of the leading soprano. This triggers a memory in Gravelle's mind. He escapes the asylum and goes to the Opera house where he hides out.It turns out the star, Lilli Rochelle (Margaret Irving) and second baritone Enrico Barelli (Gregory Gaye) have been carrying on under the suspicious eye of Barelli's wife Anita (Nedda Harrigan). Gravelle reveals himself to Anita and vows to replace Barelli in the Opera to gain his revenge on Lilli whom he believes was responsible for the attempt on his life .Meanwhile Charlie Chan (Oland) and number one son Lee (Keye Luke) have been brought in to help capture Gravelle by Inspector Regan (Guy Usher).A young couple Phil Childer (frequent Chan co-star Thomas Beck) and his girl friend known only as Miss Kitty are trying to get in to see Lilli. As Gravelle plots his revenge two murders take place and naturally Gravelle is suspected. Charlie and Lee gather the evidence and piece together the mystery.The opera sequence, "Carnival" was written specifically for this film by the legendary Oscar Levant. And no, that's not Karloff singing, his voice was dubbed. William Demarest who would go on to major character parts in "A" features, plays the bumbling Sgt. Kelly here.Karloff as usual, added a measure of mystery to the film and although he had few scenes with Oland did raise the bar for the villains of the series. Karloff had appeared in the earlier "Chan" film "Behind That Curtain" in 1929.

Given that Boris Karloff is one of my favorite actors, it's no surprise this is my favorite Charlie Chan movie. Now, of course since Karloff is here, we have to start the movie with an atmosphere akin to that of a horror film. Karloff plays an amnesiac opera singer named Gravelle. He regains his memory and escapes from a sanitarium on a stormy night to go find his daughter, whom he hasn't seen since she was a child. The police are desperate to catch Gravelle, so they call in Charlie Chan (Warner Oland).Oland is pitch-perfect as always. Keye Luke as "Number One Son" Lee gets to have lots of fun running around in costume backstage at the opera, trying to help his father on the case. William Demarest plays a police sergeant jealous of Charlie who makes several bigoted remarks throughout the movie but comes to respect the superior detective by the end. Boris Karloff gives a terrific performance, which should come as a surprise to no one familiar with his work. He's the only actor in the entire series to be able to match Warner Oland's screen presence.Fast pace, interesting setting, great performances, and a particularly nice atmosphere make this an exceptional entry in the always delightful Charlie Chan series. I'm not big on opera but the music written by Oscar Levant for this film is pretty good and adds to an overall excellent production. As I said before, this is my favorite Charlie Chan film and I see by many reviews here I'm not alone. It's definitely a highlight of the series, with a top-notch guest star (Karloff) and an exciting story, helped greatly by the opera backdrop and music.