With three more 'lost' films of the Charlie Chan series in between, this is the second one starring Warner Oland after "The Black Camel" (1931) that we can still enjoy today - and it certainly is another masterpiece of a classic whodunit; and set this time in the 'natural environment' of the genre: England...Just as Charlie Chan is about to leave London to travel home to Honolulu, he's approached by a desperate young lady: Pamela Gray, whose brother Hugh has been found guilty of murder and will be hung in three days... She's just tried to convince even the Home Secretary himself that they're making a mistake, that Hugh is innocent, but he also insisted that the trial was regular and the sentence has to be carried out - quite a direct criticism on the 'institution' of the death penalty there, by the way: Pamela tells the Home Secretary openly that the state is about to 'commit a murder'! But, since everybody else is relentless, her only hope is Charlie Chan; and her fiancée, Hugh's attorney Neil Howard (played by young Ray Milland) - until she overhears the private conversation between Charlie and Neil, where Charlie asks him directly if he believes that Hugh is innocent, and Neil answers 'no'... At that point, Pamela throws her engagement ring at him and tells him she never wants to see him anymore - and now the only one who can save the whole situation is, as usual, Charlie Chan...He investigates at the scene of the crime, the country house of Geoffrey Richmond, whose secretary Hugh was. The murdered man had been a weekend guest, and his throat had been cut at night in the stable near the house; and all the evidence still points to Hugh, although there are quite some other suspicious characters gathered in that old country house - until Charlie (with very little help from the local police: here we've got the typical kind of dumb British country cop, in direct comparison to the clever Chinese...) goes deeper into things, and into danger...A VERY cleverly developed and suspenseful story, in the REAL 'classic mystery' atmosphere of the 30s (had Agatha Christie's novels been made into movies at that time, they would look just about like this one...), perfectly acted and directed - and, as always, with that touch of 'typical' Charlie Chan humor: when the Brits start trying to explain in their 'own' language, Charlie politely reminds them: 'Please - do not understand English; only American!'...Don't miss this movie, it's a CLASSIC piece of Hollywood entertainment!

"Someone here in this room is murderer". And with those seven words, Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) proceeds to unravel the story's mystery and identify the killer, in typical whodunit protocol. In this particular story, the sister of a death row inmate appeals to Chan for help. But time is not on their side, as the brother is scheduled for execution in a matter of hours.The puzzle solution is one of the better ones in the Charlie Chan series. The killer was not even in my top tier of suspects. The surprise revelation ups my opinion of this film. However, I will say that the plot does not reveal the motive for the murder until near the end. So one could argue that the writers were not playing fair with the audience. And there's one plot point that's not explained at all. Suspects are well-defined, and not too many or too few ... seven, if I recall correctly.Casting is all right, I guess. But the acting is a bit overdone, especially the young actress who plays a bug-eyed hysterical maid. Production qualities are above average for the series. Lighting is especially effective.Costumes are lush, not surprising since the setting is a wealthy English estate where the main entertainment is a fox hunt. But those expensive fur wraps the ladies wear are enough to make me wish the poor animal would come back to life and strangle the lady to death; a justifiable homicide, if you ask me.As the polite Chan would say ... thank you so much.

Chronologically it's the 2nd Chan film extant after Black Camel, 4 others remain lost - Charlie is either getting into his stride in this or had already done so previously! The formula was in place, all they had to do from now on was reprise it with variations a couple of times a year. Whenever on TV in the past it always appeared murky to me but the copy I've just seen was pristine, with an astonishingly clear soundtrack.Paul Gray is incarcerated in Pentonville for murder but in a few days time is to hang – his sister believes him innocent, and apparently so does Charlie as he postpones his voyage to Honolulu to help them out. When arriving at the country house in Retfordshire where the deed was done he finds himself up against a wall of suspicious British stereotypes, ranging from Cockney idiots and brusque snobs to out and out racists, which of course he continually uses to his advantage in his unravelling of the case. And he unravels it perfectly, with a plethora of marvellous aphorisms and red herrings, but as so often had to happen also with a fool-the-murderer-into-finally-exposing-him/herself denouement.Swedish Warner Oland gave a wonderfully urbane performance as usual as the Chinese detective. Sadly as time goes on it's shown less and less on TV, partly because the schedulers who may not want to offend Chinese sensibilities also prefer to show violent and deviant films to the public instead, and partly because the public want it that way too. Hunt a copy down and revel in it!

CHARLIE CHAN IN London is a good example of a well-produced, lower budget "B" film from Fox studios in 1934. Three earlier films seem to be lost, so this is the first in the line-up that remains today. As such, it stars Warner Oland, Swedish by birth, as the Chinese detective, Charlie Chan. Today's film historians grant Oland much credit for creating the screen persona of Chan. This film lends support to their belief. Oland presents Chan as a detective who looks for even the smallest of clues in his search to find the killer. His euphemisms during the hunt are so engaging that they draw the viewer in even closer until, by the end of the film, one is convinced that Chan is without peer in his chosen profession.CHARLIE CHAN IN London also stars Drue Layton as the distraught woman who pleads with Chan to save her brother from execution for a murder she believes he never committed. Layton only made ten films in her entire career. She is well cast in this one.Ray Milland supplies the star quality as Layton's fiancée. Milland bear's that quality of sincerity that characterized him in later years.Not to be overlooked is that fine British actor, Alan Mowbray. Mowbray excelled at comedy and, in fact, became quite a favorite with audiences of the 30s and 40s. This is an example of his earlier work where he excelled in straight dramatic roles.The action takes place in a British mansion. Included in the goings-on is a fox hunt, an attempt on Charlie's life, and other events guaranteed to keep the audience guessing. Missing is Charlie Chan's number one son, Keye Luke. Luke makes his first appearance in the next production, CHARLIE CHAN IN Paris.Twentieth-Century Fox pulled these programs from their broadcast schedule because of the political pressure exerted by today's Asian-American actors in Hollywood who object to a non-Asian playing an Asian character. Accordingly, you will not find CHARLIE CHAN IN London, nor any other Chan film for that matter, on your television set. It's a shame, for this is an authentic piece of motion picture history. However, CHARLIE CHAN IN London can be purchased as a DVD release from Fox in the retail stores. This motion picture is well worth the purchase price.