Really Surprised!

Disturbing yet enthralling

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

The title is a partial misnomer: about half of the movie takes place on a ship. The actual horse-racing scenes are well-filmed, but the movie in general is forgettable. The biggest issue is the anonymous supporting cast: it's hard to tell any of the characters apart, and none of them inspire any interest, sympathy, or even antipathy. The exceptions are, of course, Warner Oland, who is solid as Charlie Chan and whose aphorisms are the best quality of the film, and his Number One Son, likably played by Keye Luke. Oland has the single best moment in the film when he says to the culprit, with deadpan seriousness, "You convict self. Thank you so much"! My other favorite Chan line is probably "Suspicion often father of truth". ** out of 4.

Charlie Chan's old friend is murdered after he threatens to break up a racehorse gambling ring. Charlie investigates and finds lots of suspicious characters involved. Seems like every one of the popular movie detectives from the '30s and '40s eventually had a case involving horse racing. This one mixes the horse racing backdrop with that of an ocean liner mystery. This is a lesser but still enjoyable entry in the series. Possibly the "worst" of the Oland Chan movies, which says a lot about how good the series was. Keye Luke is still great fun as "Number One Son" Lee. Unfortunately there is also a cowardly stablehand character named Streamline that will be pretty offensive to modern audiences. Thankfully, he's not in the movie a lot. All of the suspects in this one are slimy. It was hard guessing who the killer was because they all seemed capable of it.

If you've read my title you'll know you're going to hear praise for this Chan entry. You should know this is the one Chan film I could watch over and over and never tire of it. The entire Chan series is great, but this entry is perfect in my view.Charlie's old friend Major Gordon Kent, former owner and promoter of champion race horse Avalanche, is killed after getting too close to a gambling syndicate responsible for his horse's defeat in its latest race. Chan is called in when Kent's ocean liner reaches port in Honolulu. What initially is believed to be an accidental death blamed on Avalanche stomping Kent to death is quickly proved to be murder by the clever Chan. As the ocean voyage continues on to Los Angeles, Chan (along with #1 son Lee) come aboard to try and solve the murder before the horse's next race in California. As Chan closes in on the killer (and the gambling syndicate) his life and the life of his son are put into jeopardy. Despite all this will Chan and son stop the syndicate's ultimate plan from succeeding, and will justice be found for Kent's murder? It all comes to a whirlwind conclusion as Chan finally solves the puzzle and figures out the many angles of this mystery.This entry is such a good one because it contains so many elements of my favorite Chan films. We have Chan and #1 son working as a team, a good portion of the story takes place on a passenger ship, the movie beginning in Honolulu but ending in another part of the world, there are more than one angles involved with the murder only playing a piece of the bigger puzzle, Gangsters, cool action sequences, a great cast and director, a romantic diversion... everything that I have liked about previous entries wrapped up into one, and neatly done as well.For my money, this is the gold of an already great film series. If you like Chan films, or great classic mystery movies from this era in Hollywood, watch this one!

This film begins with Chan in Honolulu giving a forensics lecture to policemen. However, Lee Chan (Charlie's "Number One Son") interrupts to announce that "the big race is about to begin and I've got a hot tip"--at which point all the cops turn on the radio and begin cheering. Oddly, the race is being held in Australia and I find it hard to believe the people in Hawaii would care THAT much! Later, when the horse is on its way to the West Coast of the US, the ship with the horse is met by Charlie Chan since the man who raised the horse has been killed and he was a friend of Chan. Although it appears that he was kicked to death by his prize horse, Charlie quickly deduces that it was murder! It seems that a gambling syndicate is heavily involved in murder and mayhem in an attempt to make a huge haul at an upcoming race and it's up to Charlie to unravel it all and make sure the guilty pay.Compared to other Chan films, this one has a much better plot, though the plot has been used, in part, before. While complex, the plot is quite thrilling and does a lot to help the film. Additionally, the best of the Chan sidekicks, Number One Son ('Lee') is on hand to provide some comic relief and occasional assistance.Excellent acting, pacing and plot--this one is a triple crown winner of a B-movie.