Lechuguilla Charlie (Warner Oland) and Number One Son (Keye Luke) investigate a murder at NYC's Hottentot Club. It's a standard whodunit, with half a dozen or so suspects.The problem with this film is that the story is rather slight. The film's runtime is only 68 minutes. And yet, most of the film's first half is filled with plot points that relate only in a peripheral way to the murder. There's the business about Charlie getting seasick aboard a ship. Later, Charlie and his son chop logic over a missing button. At the Hottentot, quite a bit of time is spent on a floor show consisting of a chorus line and a girl who engages in a lengthy dance. The murder investigation doesn't even begin until halfway into the film.The murder plot itself is only mildly interesting, and relates more to city mobsters than to anything having to do with "Broadway". Production design, however, is quite good, at least by Charlie Chan standards. The script is rather heavy on dialogue. And we have the usual Charlie Chan aphorisms.The identity of the murderer is not hard to figure out, owing to poor film direction. Some of Charlie's logic about who the murderer is, is not consistent with the film's plot. And there's very little suspense in this film.Except for the production design, especially at the Hottentot, I found this particular Charlie Chan mystery to be disappointing. The main weakness lies in a meager script that needed more character development and a larger, more complex story.

ccthemovieman-1 The title of this Charlie Chan flick is a misnomer because Broadway doesn't play a part in this film. Yes, we are in New York City for part of the story, but the scene isn't Broadway but "The Hottentot Club."This Chan story has the normal assortment of interesting characters. It didn't think Charlie's proverbs were up to snuff in this one but his repartee with Number One Son (Keye Luke) was fun to hear, as always.Louise Henry, a woman who has a diary that everyone is after in this murder-mystery, has one of the prettiest faces I've seen in a Chan movie. However, on the opposite side, Harold Huber as "Inspector Nelson" is one of the more annoying ones I've seen.Overall: good, and another in the series that I am still hoping to see on DVD.

Mike-764 Billie Bronson returns to New York from Europe to blackmail Johnny Burke (a former flame) with her diary with contains information that the police would love to have in order to put Burke in the slammer. Billie hid the diary in Charlie's luggage and also plans to try to sell the diary to newspaper editor Murdock, while two reporters at Murdock's paper, reporter Speed Patten and photographer Joan Wendell, try to score an exclusive piece with Billie at Burke's nightclub, but after a meeting with Burke and girlfriend Marie Collins, Billie is found murdered in Burke's office. Charlie and Inspector Nelson rush to solve the case (with Lee also trying to work the case much to his father's enjoyment) where they find out that the person who also murdered Billie also stole the diary. Nelson arrests Burke on the circumstantial evidence, but has to turn him free when it doesn't pan out, but Charlie brings all the suspects in to present the murderer. This Chan entry seemed a lot better when thinking about it some time later, maybe one reason why is Huber's character (as well as the actor himself) is annoying as hell. The script plays more like it came from Warner Brothers with the nightclub and gangster motif, but it is good for its genre and film series. The actors playing the suspects are quite good in the portrayals. Rating, 7.

tlg500 This is better than most of the Charlie Chan. It has number one son, Keye Luke. As usual, it has the right mood, but, it also has a plot that actually almost makes sense. It is possible to solve along with Charlie on this one. Definitely, see if you can figure out who did it along with Charlie.