VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Michael_Elliott Charlie Chan's Secret (1936)*** (out of 4) Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) is investigating the death of a man but it turns out that he's actually alive. However, shortly after Chan finds this out the man is murdered. By the man really being dead a large group of people will lose out on a sum of money so soon others begin getting murdered to cover something up.CHARLIE CHAN'S SECRET was certainly a major rebound from the previous entry in the series and while there are some flaws here, overall this is a very strong entry into the series thanks in large part to the screenplay, the strong supporting cast and some nice touches by the director. There are some very effective moments to be found in this entry including the ending, which I obviously won't spoil for people who haven't seen the film but it's a great one. Also worth noting is a terrific sequence at the start of the film during a psychic reading where a body appears. How many films from this era featured a psychic reading? Well, this here might be the very best of the bunch.The story itself is quite strong and allows for some pretty good suspects to come into play. Another plus is that the performances are so good with OIand once again hitting a grand slam in the role of Chan. The supporting players are just as good including Henrietta Crosman in the role of the leader of the family. Jonathan Hale is also a stand out as is Rosina Lawrence and Herbert Mundin as a scared butler.CHARLIE CHAN'S SECRET manages to build up quite a few memorable moments making it one of the best in the series.

bkoganbing 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.

MartinHafer The Warner Oland series of Charlie Chan films made by Twentieth Century Fox were among the best of the B-detective series films--with excellent stories and acting as well as a quality level unmatched by the later series by Monogram Studios. So my expectations for this film were pretty high and I am sad to report that this is one of the few failures in the series. The biggest problem is that the usual comedic moments are sadly lacking, as inexplicably, none of the Chan children are here for comic relief. While #1 son (Keye Luke) is probably most people's favorite, I would have been happy if #2, #3, #4, #5 or even Chan's daughter were here to provide some needed fun for the film. In fact, now that I think about it, there were few of the Oland or Toler series films where Chan works alone. As a result, not only is the usual balance not there, but some of the lines and situations usually reserved for the Chan children have either been removed entirely or given to the butler, Baxter--who is a sad replacement indeed.Now as for the plot, while it was original, oddly, it was reused in a later Sidney Toler Charlie Chan film (CHARLIE CHAN IN BLACK MAGIC), as BOTH movies concerned phony psychics and a murder at a séance. It has its moments, but even this plot is a bit ordinary. Not a bad film and certainly worth seeing for fans, but truly a bit of a disappointment.

gftbiloxi Filmed in 1935 and released in 1936, CHARLIE CHAN'S SECRET is the 10th film in the Fox series. It is also a film about which I have changed my opinion over several viewings. I originally felt it was among the weaker Chan films starring Warner Oland; today, however, I would describe it as a truly solid entry.Several years earlier Alan Colby, heir to a major fortune, disappeared and was presumed dead--and elderly aunt Alice Lowell (Rosina Lawrence) inherited the estate. Now, however, it seems that Colby may be alive, and although his resurrection will cost her the family fortune Mrs. Lowell dutifully enlists Chan to investigate the matter. But with a great fortune at stake, murder cannot be far behind.Such earlier Chan films as THE BLACK CAMEL and CHARLIE CHAN IN Egypt introduced an occult edge to the Chan films, and CHARLIE CHAN'S SECRET plays upon this theme to a degree not previously seen in any other Chan film: Mrs. Lowell is a spiritualist who is given to everything from séances to nightly sessions with the Ouija board, and both elements play into the story in a significant way. Although the plot itself is nonsense, the "spooky" elements fill the holes, and the cast--most particularly Rosina Lawrence as Mrs. Lowell and Herbert Mundin as the bumbling butler Baxter--deliver solid and quite often charming performances.Chan films are often accused of being racist, and critics often complain that the actors playing Chan wore "yellowface" make up. The films, however, must be seen within the context of their era. In the 1930s, Hollywood presented most Asian characters as either servile or as Fu Manchu-like entities; Chan was actually just about the only positive Asian character going, and as such the films were tremendously popular with Asian-American audiences of the era.True enough, Chan is inevitably played by an occidental actor, but this was typical of the era, in which star status was considered more important than racial accuracy. Whatever the case, neither Warner Oland or the later Sidney Toler wore significant make-up for the role, and Oland--although a Swede by birth--actually had a strong strain of Asian ancestry in his family tree. But most significantly, while Chan often allows his suspects to dismiss him through their own prejudices, as a character he is always presented in a positive light--and this is particularly true of CHARLIE CHAN'S SECRET, in which Chan is the only Asian character in the film.While I would not rank it along such knock-out Chan films as CHARLIE CHAN AT THE OPERA or CHARLIE CHAN AT TREASURE ISLAND, CHARLIE CHAN'S SECRET grows upon you with each viewing. As noted the plot is weak, but the film is long on charm. It is also one of the few Chan films available to the home market. Most Chan fans should enjoy it.Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer