TinsHeadline Touches You

ThiefHott Too much of everything

Maidexpl Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

bensonmum2 Charlie Chan at the Race Track is a very solid entry in the series. In this one, one of Chan's old friends is killed on a ship sailing from Australia to Honolulu. The doctor rules the death an accident resulting from a kick to the head by his prize race horse. Chan notices some things that don't quite add up and is able to convince his superiors that the death was not an accident, but murder. Chan is soon caught up in a world of race horses and gambling syndicates as he looks for a killer.I really can't complain about much of anything. The plot here is interesting with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing until the very end. It helps that son Lee Chan is on hand to shine the light of suspicion on all of the characters at every opportunity. Speaking of Lee, Keye Luke is one of the real stars of this episode. Luke was never funnier than in Charlie Chan at the Race Track. Warner Oland is as solid as ever. He probably as more physical moments than in any Chan film I can remember, getting shot at twice and throwing a punch of his own. The supporting cast is generally quite good. I've gotten to where I could watch Jonathan Hale in just about anything - he's always good. The less said about the character Streamline, the better. The sets and costumes (high hats included) look nice, the cinematography sparkles, and the direction is snappy. Overall, a very solid effort.

MartinHafer 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.

tedg I spend a lot of time working with old detective films because I believe them to have contributed to, indeed profoundly changed, how we manage narrative. Some detective films (and those that reference them) are clever or important, fossils that indicate how our imagination evolved. Others are some other agenda wrapped in the detective label. The Chan series started out, I think as a genuinely interesting detective. The idea here was that some "otherness" was in our designated observer on screen. The fellow who unraveled reality for us was something like us, but wiser in an inscrutable way.But the movies quickly became a lowbrow entertainment, which meant jokes at someone's expense. And because of the era, that means a main thread is jokes about race. Its inevitable, since the main device is racial: a white actor playing a superwise Chinese man. There are two secondary devices you will find in most Chan films:— the son (usually a son) is played by a real Chinese man, and lest we forget that the detective is an icon, this Chinese fellow is a buffoon. He sometimes gets things right, but never by intent.— the black man. Often this is the "driver." Here it is a stablehand. His job in the story is always the same, to indicate another fold in the reality of the characters. His demeaned demeanor is bug-eyed, retarded, subservient. He plays someone as iconic as Chan, but at the bottom of the stack, with the otherwise 100% white folks in the "real" story.Oh. The story? Adapted from the Sherlock Holmes tale "Silver Blaze." Swapped racehorses with a "gambling ring" thrown in. I'm curious. Where there ever famous gambling rings like this in real life, or are they just movieland confabulations?Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

putnam7 This is one of my favorites of the Chan series! Keye Luke as Lee Chan gave his funniest performance, in my opinion. His blabbering in Chinese when being led out of Charlie's stateroom; his antics while the fireworks are going off; notice how hard he hits one of the bad guys over the head with the bottle prop - really whacks him! Although I didn't care for the way the "Streamline" character was treated by some of the other cast members, this entry is entertaining! One of Charlie's great quotes - "Frequent spanking when young make rear view very familiar!"