Charlie Chan in City in Darkness (1939) certainly ranks as one of the oddest movies in the series. Although it was palmed off on the public as "Charlie Chan in City in Darkness" and sold as a mystery thriller, this entry is actually a knockabout comedy. Chan is a subsidiary character whose principle job is to feed lines and bits of business to Harold Huber, who not only has more lines than Toler (and more than twice as many words) but more scenes including that delightful episode in which Harry Fleischmann picks him up and then throws his double down the stairs, not once but twice! Chan is not only forced to stand on the sidelines while Huber runs rings around him, but is up-staged by three comic thieves as well. True, Chan has a few timely words, does a bit of detecting and even foolishly dispenses with Huber's assistance for a scene in which he is nearly killed by Leo G. Carroll and Lon Chaney. All the same, Charlie Chan in City in Darkness will certainly disappoint Chan fans.

I really like Harold Huber, I really do. He was one of the best character actors of the 1930s until his passing in the 1950s. He was even really good and great in his previous Chan roles and also in the Mr. Moto films in supporting roles. But here...WOW. Director Herbert I. Leeds also previously helmed the Mr. Moto entry "Danger Island" the same year. The buddy relationship in that film with Peter Lorre and Warren Hymer worked there perfectly because the movie never lost focus that MOTO was the main character and the chemistry between Lorre and Hymer clicked beautifully. It seems like Leeds was attempting the same for Sidney Toler and Harold Huber but Huber's comedy is overbearing, really unfunny and completely out of place. Huber is basically the main character of the film and is given free rein to go wild while Toler is left to clean up the mess (bless you for being a trooper with this, Mr. Toler). And the absence of Victor Sen-Yung in favor of Huber's bumbling annoyance is another mark against this one. Another problem is that the murder victim isn't that interesting, nor are a good amount of the suspects who have their own sneaky self- interests to hide. Whenever the Chan films emphasized espionage rather than the basic murder mystery, the results were a largely mixed bag but here, it's a real slog to sit through. Not even Lon Chaney Jr's brief presence was enough to enjoy. The historical aspect of the rising European tensions on the eve of World War Two make this film interesting from that perspective but the potential to make the usual fun popcorn Chan movie went down the drain with Huber being pushed to the forefront. Avoid this one.

I found this movie very scary. I was not born in war times and never experienced what my parents and their families went through.There are lots of characters in this movie. It starts with a woman trying to buy papers to ship out ammunition from France to it's enemies. It shows leaders taking bribes and helping the enemy. The Nazis are invading a lot of countries in 1938 and Mussolini from Italy is supporting Hitler.The people in France are told to draw their blinds and curtains at night because attack airplanes from Germany can see the lights. Street lights are not turned on and cars travel in the dark. If a person's house lights are on or seen from the street they will get fined. This shows war times, gas mask needed but like today the leaders get a chance to celebrate and party like there is no war going on. Chan knows one of the top leaders in France and has drinks and dinner with a group of other men.A few murders take place. Fake passports are sold, tickets to leave France are given to the highest bidder by people using the hard times to get more money from scared people. The movie was informative about war. I did not the like the head man that played Marcel who was a police investigator. He was stupid and too loud. The writers made him try to be funny but he overdid his part and got more attention then Charlie Chan played by Sidney Toler.If for nothing else watch it and learn about a country under attack by another country. I hope I don't have to experience this in the US. It does make you think about it if our freedom is taken away. So to me this is a wake up call we must have a strong military to protect us and people in office in government do their job to keep our country safe and free being our enemies.

On the eve of war in France, Charlie Chan is visiting with old friends in Paris. When a leading industrialist is murdered, Chan agrees to help out the local police to solve the murder. Chan will have to sift through a web of international intrigue to find a killer.Charlie Chan in City in Darkness was one of the very last Chan films I had not seen. And I can't tell you how disappointed I am in the movie. Briefly, it doesn't have the feel of a Chan film. It's not so much a murder mystery as it is an espionage thriller. And Chan isn't a central character as much as he is a bystander. He just happens to the there. And where was Jimmy? What's a Sidney Toler Chan film without #2 son? It's not the kind of movie I was hoping for.This is the third Chan film I've seen with Harold Huber. His broad, almost comical characters are always a distraction. But in Charlie Chan in City in Darkness he's really out of place. The tone of this film is too serious for Huber's brand of over-acting. Another disappointing facet to this Chan installment.