Watch Charlie Chan at the Race Track For Free

One of my all time favorites.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Copyright 7 August 1936 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Roxy: 14 August 1936 (ran one week). U.S. release: 7 August 1936. 6,300 feet. 70 minutes. SYNOPSIS: A gambling syndicate moves in on a Melbourne Cup winner.NOTES: Number twelve of the sixteen pictures made by Warner Oland in the series, and the first of three to be directed by Lucky Humberstone (who also directed Sidney Toler in his initial entry, Charlie Chan in Honolulu). Shooting from 15 May 1936 through 18 June 1936. Locations filmed at Santa Anita Park, Arcadia, California. COMMENT: For once the screenplay plays scrupulously fair with viewers. Not a clue is hidden away from our sight, to be suddenly produced by the detective at the climactic unmasking of the villain. Everything is played out in front of the audience and often explained, but nonetheless Mr X is most cleverly concealed. Even I didn't penetrate that intriguing business with the fake letters, though Charlie's motive is commendably simple and the actual clue itself is quite prominently thrust before our eyes on no less than two occasions.What's more important, however, is that Race Track can in no way be described as a talk feast. In fact, it emerges as one of the most incident-packed of the whole series. Maybe I missed a few, but I counted two murders, two fires, two shootings, two stunt-filled horse races, one explosion, and at least one hair's-breadth escape. Nor do the writer's stint on supplying Charlie with some typically ready rejoinders, including the following bon mots: "Good wife best household furniture"; "Smart fly keep out of gravy"; "Easy to criticize, more difficult to correct"; "Foolish to seek elsewhere when great treasure hidden under nose"; "Rabbit run very fast, but sometimes turtle win race"; "Truth sometimes like stab of cruel knife."No other actor can match Warner Oland at his best (as here) for smooth charm, convincing Orientalism and delicious delivery. Alan Dinehart (love his hat!), Gavin Muir, Helen Wood and Frankie Darro contribute some fine work in support, and there's a stand-out performance from the cinema's number one seedy ship-steward, John Rogers who has some delightful run-ins with Chan's number one son, Keye Luke. I also enoyed the antics of "Lollipop", the clever monkey who offers more than a comic diversion, but provides Chan (and us) with a vital clue. Keen film buffs will also relish the chance to catch director Lucky Humberstone as the dapper gambler who causes Charlie and son to kidnapped. (And as for Lucky's actual direction, it rates as fast, smooth, ultra-proficient and even inventive. Just look at those swish dissolves). A classy production all around, Race Track rates as deservedly one of the most popular movies in the entire 53-picture series.

Charlie Chan's old friend is murdered after he threatens to break up a racehorse gambling ring. Charlie investigates and finds lots of suspicious characters involved. Seems like every one of the popular movie detectives from the '30s and '40s eventually had a case involving horse racing. This one mixes the horse racing backdrop with that of an ocean liner mystery. This is a lesser but still enjoyable entry in the series. Possibly the "worst" of the Oland Chan movies, which says a lot about how good the series was. Keye Luke is still great fun as "Number One Son" Lee. Unfortunately there is also a cowardly stablehand character named Streamline that will be pretty offensive to modern audiences. Thankfully, he's not in the movie a lot. All of the suspects in this one are slimy. It was hard guessing who the killer was because they all seemed capable of it.

I spend a lot of time working with old detective films because I believe them to have contributed to, indeed profoundly changed, how we manage narrative. Some detective films (and those that reference them) are clever or important, fossils that indicate how our imagination evolved. Others are some other agenda wrapped in the detective label. The Chan series started out, I think as a genuinely interesting detective. The idea here was that some "otherness" was in our designated observer on screen. The fellow who unraveled reality for us was something like us, but wiser in an inscrutable way.But the movies quickly became a lowbrow entertainment, which meant jokes at someone's expense. And because of the era, that means a main thread is jokes about race. Its inevitable, since the main device is racial: a white actor playing a superwise Chinese man. There are two secondary devices you will find in most Chan films:— the son (usually a son) is played by a real Chinese man, and lest we forget that the detective is an icon, this Chinese fellow is a buffoon. He sometimes gets things right, but never by intent.— the black man. Often this is the "driver." Here it is a stablehand. His job in the story is always the same, to indicate another fold in the reality of the characters. His demeaned demeanor is bug-eyed, retarded, subservient. He plays someone as iconic as Chan, but at the bottom of the stack, with the otherwise 100% white folks in the "real" story.Oh. The story? Adapted from the Sherlock Holmes tale "Silver Blaze." Swapped racehorses with a "gambling ring" thrown in. I'm curious. Where there ever famous gambling rings like this in real life, or are they just movieland confabulations?Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

This is one of my favorites of the Chan series! Keye Luke as Lee Chan gave his funniest performance, in my opinion. His blabbering in Chinese when being led out of Charlie's stateroom; his antics while the fireworks are going off; notice how hard he hits one of the bad guys over the head with the bottle prop - really whacks him! Although I didn't care for the way the "Streamline" character was treated by some of the other cast members, this entry is entertaining! One of Charlie's great quotes - "Frequent spanking when young make rear view very familiar!"