Warner Oland is Charlie Chan in "Charlie Chan at the Circus," a 1936 entry into the series. This time Charlie brings his wife and 12 kids to the circus and runs into murder.While Lee Chan (Keye Luke) is off trying to romance the pretty contortionist, the co-owner of the circus asks Charlie to look into some threatening letters he's gotten. Then the man is murdered, and it turns out that even though he gave Charlie 14 free passes to the circus, he's not beloved. The man had enemies including his own partner, a snake charmer, and a gorilla! Very entertaining, and one of the things neat about the film is the presence of the Brasnos, a brother and sister midget team, who play Colonel Tim and Lady Tiny. The Brasnos were vaudevillians and successful enough that Olive Brasno could turn down the role of a munchkin in The Wizard of Oz because she was too busy with their act. They bring a lot of charm to the film. As a bit of trivia, Olive lived to age 80 and died within two days of her husband of 38 years.Warner Oland is a terrific Chan, much livelier and more cheerful than Sidney Toler and less sarcastic (though I like Toler's characterization and lots of those episodes). Keye Luke as Lee is always delightful. The circus atmosphere made for a fun atmosphere. This is one of the better films in the series.

Earl Derr Biggers' super sleuth Charlie Chan(Warner Oland)takes his wife and 12 offspring to the circus for some fun and relaxation. Director Harry Lachman lets Chan loosen up a bit and slips in some softness with the detective and his kids enjoyment of the circus. Then of course there is the amusing dealings with Charlie and his over-zealous Number-One-Son Lee(Keye Luke). The mystery starts when a disliked co-owner of the circus is murdered and there are multiple possible suspects...the other co-owner, a snake charmer, a wardrobe seamstress and even a gorilla, yes gorilla. My favorite scene is the Chan brood passing by the ticket taker. Other players featured: Francis Ford, John McGuire, Shia Jung, Paul Stanton, George Brasno, Maxine Reiner and J. Carrol Naish.

Average Chan fare at best, with good circus atmosphere but not much of a mystery. Too many of the suspects remain under-developed such that figuring out the culprit never really takes hold, while the plot itself remains more confusing than intriguing. There is some charming by-play between number one son Keye Luke and a winsome circus contortionist, along with a surprisingly fine turn by non-professional Olive Brasno, a real circus midget. The dance number with her equally diminutive brother shows how little size matters to the well-coordinated. The acrobats are also fun to watch, particularly the hanging-by-her-heels trick. However, the notorious man-in-a-gorilla-suit has a central role which cheapens the production, especially since this one appears to have a pronounced beer belly. All in all, a good setting helps liven up a rather poor script.

Even the most dedicated of sleuths likes an occasional day off and Warner Oland as Charlie Chan wanted just such a day to spend with his family at the circus. But it actually turns out that one of the partners who owned the circus had hired him to look into some veiled threats he'd been receiving from unknown sources. So the Chan family, all 14 of them, go to the circus and wouldn't you know it, the guy who hires Charlie winds up murdered. And Charlie's got a whole circus full of suspects. Oland enters the case at the behest of the performers, especially two midgets played by George and Olive Brasno. The police are holding the circus up until the murder is solved, but that in itself will bankrupt the show if they miss scheduled dates.It was nice to see Charlie on a family outing even if he couldn't escape the need for his services. As usual Keye Luke is the bumptious number one son who Charlie has to keep dispensing fortune cookie wisdom all the time to. This is a good, if average entry in the Charlie Chan series.