Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Derry Herrera Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Derrick Gibbons An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Matho The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

richard-1787 I found this movie pretty flat. And, I confess, I don't like Sydney Toler as much as Werner Oland.But what struck me in this movie was the end, when it is announced that there will be no war, because Neville Chamberlain will meet with Hitler and Mussolini to work out a peace. How short-lived that optimism was. On the last day of August of 1939, Hitler invaded Poland despite England's attempts to negotiate yet another peace, and World War II began.This may not be a great movie, but it is a snapshot of a last moment of optimism before the war began.

binapiraeus Even after watching it a couple of times, this - admittedly unique - entry in the 'Charlie Chan' series still looks like a somewhat strange and a little bit inappropriate mixture of a 'usual' murder mystery and an early WWII flag waver. It starts like a Newsreel about the dramatical political developments in Europe; and it is announced that on September 28, the whole city of Paris has to remain in darkness because of the possibility of a German air strike.The next thing we see is a reunion party of secret agents from WWI, to which M. Romaine, the Prefect of Police, has invited his old friend Charlie Chan; and they drink a toast to peace, hoping there'll not be another war soon...But at the same time, there is a spy ring of an enemy country in full activity: Charlotte Ronnell arranges with sinister Belescu that a cargo full of French weapons manufactured by another enemy spy, Petroff, will sail out the same night to get into the enemy's hands before an embargo will be imposed; but Belescu tricks them, and they're left without the necessary papers. And in another part of Paris, Petroff's innocent former secretary Tony Madero wants to flee the country in order not to be accused as a member of the spy ring, and his wife Marie promises him to get him a ticket and a false passport from shady M. Santelle - but she's got to raise a lot of money, and her only hope is Petroff...... And a few hours later, Petroff is found shot, discovered by his butler Antoine, a veteran from WWI who has just sent his young son to the army; and so, while the soldiers are leaving for a possible war, Charlie and his friend's godson, dopey inspector Marcel (played once more by Harold Huber, who specialized in playing nervous, clumsy Frenchmen) investigate the Petroff murder, looking for clues like a camellia lying next to the body, a smashed window in the cellar, and so on...Somehow, this mixture doesn't work properly - solving a murder case (even if it's connected to a dangerous spy ring) amid the atmosphere of a city preparing for war is simply somehow like losing one's sense of proportion... And when the case is solved, the film takes us back to politics: Romaine proclaims happily that there will be NO war, because Hitler has just invited the French and British Premiers to a conference in Munich! BUT since the film was released in December 1939, the further developments were already known by that time; and so Charlie Chan can utter one of his wise 'foretellings': 'Beware of spider who invites fly into parlor'...

Michael O'Keefe In 1938 the City of Lights becomes a city in darkness as Paris is dimming the lights and pulling down the shades. The city-wide blackout is part of the effort in non-escalation of the Munich Crisis. Leaders of the great powers discuss peace at the very best. The American-Oriental detective Charlie Chan(Sidney Toler)is in Paris for a reunion when his crime detection prowess is called upon. A munitions manufacturer is murdered and his control of selling arms to an unnamed enemy lingers in mystery. Familiar actor Harold Huber plays addled Police inspector Spivak, who manages to second guess Chan throughout the investigation. Charlie's job isn't done until the smuggling stops. A strong supporting cast features: Lynn Bari, C. Henry Gordon, Noel Madison, Dorothy Tree, Leo G. Carroll and Lon Chaney Jr.

bensonmum2 On the eve of war in France, Charlie Chan is visiting with old friends in Paris. When a leading industrialist is murdered, Chan agrees to help out the local police to solve the murder. Chan will have to sift through a web of international intrigue to find a killer.Charlie Chan in City in Darkness was one of the very last Chan films I had not seen. And I can't tell you how disappointed I am in the movie. Briefly, it doesn't have the feel of a Chan film. It's not so much a murder mystery as it is an espionage thriller. And Chan isn't a central character as much as he is a bystander. He just happens to the there. And where was Jimmy? What's a Sidney Toler Chan film without #2 son? It's not the kind of movie I was hoping for.This is the third Chan film I've seen with Harold Huber. His broad, almost comical characters are always a distraction. But in Charlie Chan in City in Darkness he's really out of place. The tone of this film is too serious for Huber's brand of over-acting. Another disappointing facet to this Chan installment.