Sometimes I check out part of a series simply because it's a long series. I knew going in that no one would revive the fake Chinese man in my lifetime. But some entries, including these two on one disc, enjoy pretty high IMDb ratings to this day, so there had to be more to them than yellowface humor.
The same-year flicks are so similar that I hardly care to go into their differences. One involves a serial strangler aboard a ship to Hawaii. The other involves a plan for wartime sabotage at the Panama Canal. Both problems, of course, come to the attention of the titular literary detective, herein played by Sidney Toler.
Fortunately, there can be only so much room for ethnic mockery when the main guy is brilliant. He may use broken English, but not much gets by him. He has a tendency to speak in epigrams, no doubt meant in imitation of Confucius. Incidentally, his young adult son, Jimmy (Victor "Hop-Sing" Sen Yung), gets pretty clownish in his half-successful efforts to help his dad, but it hardly seems insulting, because he acts 100% American.
The style of mystery reminds me a bit of Agatha Christie. Characters show diverse, often exaggerated behaviors, and all suspects are assembled for the big reveal. Unlike Hercule Poirot, however, Chan never relies on stereotypes to follow leads; he's bigger on objectivity.
The audience gets more glimpses of the culprits than Chan does. This made me fear a Columbo-like structure that leaves no challenge for the viewer. Thankfully, we don't learn that much ahead of time, and the prime suspect keeps changing with new information. I never could catch up with Chan until his explanations.
The atmosphere varies a little, allowing elements of comedy, adventure, and even thriller. At the same time, it can't help but betray a formula. No wonder they made so many CC movies in so short a time. It's almost a TV series with episodes slightly longer than an hour apiece.
In light of this, you could be forgiven for not just letting them run together in your mind but forgetting the bulk of what you saw. I figure that's how it was for many contemporaries, coming to eat popcorn and kill time without any lasting benefit. If that's what you feel up for, go right ahead.
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