gridoon2018 Though maybe a trifle too long, "Murder Cruise" is a superior entry in the "Charlie Chan" series. I noticed at the start that the script is based on an actual novel written by Earl Derr Biggers and not just on the character of Charlie Chan that was created by him, and indeed this is a nice thick mystery with a whole lot of suspects and multiple twists (and double-twists). There is a strong cast at work, with some recognizable names like Lionel Atwill and Leo Carroll playing two of the suspects; on the women's front, there is the lively Cora Witherspoon and the gorgeous Marjorie Weaver. Number 2 Son is more helpful (if still somewhat clumsy), and more likable, than usual in this entry. The shipboard settings add some spice to the proceedings. My favorite Chan line: "To speak without thinking is to shoot without aiming". Ain't that the truth! *** out of 4.

Hitchcoc There's a strangler on the loose. An old friend comes to see Charlie but stands by a window and gets himself strangled. Charlie, feeling guilt over this because the man had come to see him, vows to find the killer. This gets him on board a cruise ship where more people are being dispatched this way. Of course, Number One Son shows up, and mostly gets in the way. As is usually the case, there are bodies here and bodies there. There is the typical listening at the porthole because people talk so loud. There is the Number One Son getting arrested, mistaken for the strangler. There's the scene where everyone is in a room when the lights go out (I've seen that at least four times) and, of course, someone gets away or a piece of evidence is taken. Leo G. Carroll shows up. He was a regular supporting actor in many films of the time. I always remember him as the nonplussed Cosmo Topper in the old TV show of the fifties. Anyway, this is fun with little new to offer.

blanche-2 From 1940, "Murder Cruise" sports a nice cast, with Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan, Sen Yung as his son Jimmy, Leo Carroll, Lionel Atwill, and Cora Witherspoon, who is very funny.Charlie seems to have a tough time with this one -- after his friend from Scotland Yard is killed, he joins a cruise from Honolulu to San Francisco to help find a suspected murderer. There are no less than four more.The murderer is obvious the second he's introduced for reasons having nothing to do with the plot.Inspector Duff has been on a case case undercover. He's a passenger on a cruise ship going on a world tour from New York. One of the passengers was strangled the first night. Duff joined the cruise in Liverpool, and he is sure the criminal is on board, and he's afraid that he will strike again. You can say that again - he strangles Duff right in the office while Charlie takes a call about another of the passengers being murdered.Jimmy shows up, naturally, and gets into all kinds of trouble. Charlie puts up with it, Toler's Chan always being on an even keel and exhibiting dry humor.Very enjoyable. The young Chan, Willie, is played by Layne Tom, Jr. Tom is on a 2006 interview about the Chan films and became a very well known architect, dying at age 87.Good fun.

SanteeFats In this Charlie Chan movie you find Chan trying to solve the mystery of several strangulation murders that occur during an ocean cruise put on by a doctor of dubious repute. Charlie Chan's number two son is along as a help(?) and provides a humorous aspect. There is also the black driver, who plays the stereotypical black man in this film era. Stupidly funny but not erudite. Several suspects show up and are cleared one by one until Charlie solves the case and the guilty party is found out and taken into custody. This is a typical Charlie Chan movie with several people as suspects and Chan's logic leads to the solution. Of course with good writing that is par for the course.