Excellent Charlie Chan film with great cast. An insane opera singer escapes from a sanitarium with revenge on his mind. This man, played by Boris Karloff, who is never given his due as a fine actor, had a horrible experience which has left him mad. He wants to sing again. The police are on the lookout for him and Charlie Chan is assisting. William Demarest plays a racist pig of a detective who calls Charlie names like Chop Suey among others. Charlie is ten times as smart as this guy. Meanwhile, at the opera, there are all kinds of intrigues going on. There is a jealous husband, a pair of strange lovers, a young couple who are hanging around for some reason, Charlie's son,who spends most of the movie wearing a helmet as part of the opera chorus along with his fraternity brothers, and a bunch of prima donnas. At the beginning, I thought this was going to be really idiotic, but then Karloff took over and Warner Oland's Charlie, ignoring the racist comments, takes over the case, using wonderful forensics. These are very good B movie mysteries.

Given that Boris Karloff is one of my favorite actors, it's no surprise this is my favorite Charlie Chan movie. Now, of course since Karloff is here, we have to start the movie with an atmosphere akin to that of a horror film. Karloff plays an amnesiac opera singer named Gravelle. He regains his memory and escapes from a sanitarium on a stormy night to go find his daughter, whom he hasn't seen since she was a child. The police are desperate to catch Gravelle, so they call in Charlie Chan (Warner Oland).Oland is pitch-perfect as always. Keye Luke as "Number One Son" Lee gets to have lots of fun running around in costume backstage at the opera, trying to help his father on the case. William Demarest plays a police sergeant jealous of Charlie who makes several bigoted remarks throughout the movie but comes to respect the superior detective by the end. Boris Karloff gives a terrific performance, which should come as a surprise to no one familiar with his work. He's the only actor in the entire series to be able to match Warner Oland's screen presence.Fast pace, interesting setting, great performances, and a particularly nice atmosphere make this an exceptional entry in the always delightful Charlie Chan series. I'm not big on opera but the music written by Oscar Levant for this film is pretty good and adds to an overall excellent production. As I said before, this is my favorite Charlie Chan film and I see by many reviews here I'm not alone. It's definitely a highlight of the series, with a top-notch guest star (Karloff) and an exciting story, helped greatly by the opera backdrop and music.

"Charlie Chan at the Opera" is one of the best of the Charlie Chan series. The 1936 film starred Warner Oland as Chan, Boris Karloff as Gravelle, and Keye Luke as Lee Chan. For this film, Oscar Levant wrote a short opera, "Carnival." It's a very "Phantom of the Opera" type story, with Karloff playing a baritone who 7 years previously was locked in the opera house while it was on fire, in an attempt to kill him by his wife, Lili Rochelle, and her lover, Barelli (Gregory Gaye). He survives, but with amnesia, and is sent to a mental hospital. He is, however, believed dead.One day he sees a newspaper article about Lili (Margaret Irving) singing in town and some of his memory returns. He escapes and goes to the opera house, intending to get revenge. He overpowers Barelli and puts on his costume, which includes a mask. Later, both Lili and Barelli are found stabbed...it's up to Chan to find out if Gravelle is truly the killer.The sets for this film were originally used for the Tyrone Power-Loretta Young film "Cafe Metropole," and the costume worn by Gravelle was worn by Lawrence Tibbett in the film "Metropolitan." The question came up as to whether Karloff, who could sing, was actually dubbed as it is claimed, or whether he did his own singing. Someone on the board made the point, since he could sing, why go and pay someone to dub? Well, put it this way - Dana Andrews was trained as an opera singer and doesn't do his own singing in State Fair.Karloff was most definitely dubbed - he may have been a good baritone but the dubbed voice was a dramatic operatic baritone. If Karloff could have sung like that, he would have been an opera singer.Really fun and enjoyable, with the wise-cracking William Demarest giving good support. Oland was a delightful Charlie Chan, full of energy and a twinkle in his eye. Highly recommended.

Murder at the opera house; and yes acclaimed detective Charlie Chan(Warner Oland)is available for investigation. Chan along with Number One son Lee(Keye Luke)find odds with the local constabulary Sgt. Kelly(William Demarest). A renown opera singer Gravelle(Boris Karloff)is confined to an insane asylum with amnesia and is assumed to be a murderer. Gravelle manages to escape and is expected to return to profess his quilt or go on a murderous rampage. Chan will ask for a little leniency to trap the real killer. Director H. Bruce Humbertone takes strides in making this Chan tale of mystery better than the last. Also in the cast: Margaret Irving, Gregory Gaye, Charlotte Henry and Guy Usher.