Charlie Chan in Rio (1941)

Just what I expected

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

The classic whodunnit with all kinds of interesting character actors posing as suspects. A woman is murdered. She has been seen by a psychic-psychologist who uses caffeine and special cigarettes to make her tell the truth about having committed a murder. There are clues all over the place and Chan, his son, and a police detective attempt to get to the bottom of things. While so much of the byplay among a group of socialites is interesting, I can't take my mind off the cigarette thing. No one commenting on this seems to be wary of such a thing. What are these cigarettes? If they don't exist in some context, then the whole plot is, as number one son says, "Hooey!" I was interested to see Truman Bradley appear. He was the host of "Science Fiction Theater" which was one of my favorite shows as a child. Victor Jory is also in this as the aforementioned psychic. Good cast. Good acting. Cigarettes..........

The film gets off to a good start with some nice south-of-the-border music and atmosphere, set in a Rio nightclub. Here we meet the future murder-ee and most of the suspects. Eventually, the plot shifts to a spacious mansion, where a party for the murder-ee brings forth all the nightclub suspects plus a couple of others.The story gives us an interesting puzzle. Despite the large number of suspects, (approx. nine), I correctly guessed the identity of the killer, but for the wrong reason. Clues are rather subtle, which is good. To correctly guess both the murderer and the motivation, a viewer will need to employ his or her powers of inference. A cigarette, a cup of coffee, and the sharp pin of a lady's broach give Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) what he needs to solve the case. But the clues do not explain the killer's motivation.B&W visuals are quite good. But there are no menacing shadows, nor are there other elements that create spine-tingling suspense. Casting is acceptable, as is most of the acting. Prod design is more detailed here than in other Chan films.In addition to lack of suspense, another problem is the presence of some filler scenes involving number 2 son Jimmy Chan. I suppose he's included for comic relief. But he overacts. And I find him annoying.Jimmy Chan aside, "Charlie Chan In Rio" makes for a pleasant way to spend an hour, as the production values and story are pretty good.

As others have pointed out, this is a remake of The Black Camel, which itself was one of the original Chan stories by Biggers. If you've seen the earlier film, then of course you know the twist by which this one is solved - which of course is very disappointing. Were people really not paying attention between the two versions of this story? Harold Huber gets to play a policeman straight this time, which is a big improvement over the usual clowning he was required to do in other Chans. Son Jimmy intrudes on the story too much for me, as usual, but doesn't express the worst of his pop-eyed hammyness in this one. There's not much Rio here, as others have complained, but this is a B movie, not a travelogue. The ladies are lovely, there's a musical number, and Jimmy gets an action scene near the end. All in all, quite good.

Good mystery film about the famous detective Charlie Chan. He's in Rio to put under arrest Lola. But she's murdered before he can arrest her. Interesting murder case follows and like other Charlie Chan's movies, an array of suspects are in the room. Everybody seems to have a perfect alibi.Good performance by Victor Sen Yung who plays Number Two Son. Toler is once again good in the role of Charlie Chan. Funny remarks here and there punctuate the script. Like this one: «This is very exciting». The lady to answer: «So is parachute jumping, but I don't like it».Like other films in the series, lights go out for a second or two and there's one dead person!Out of 100, I gave it 77. That's **½ on a four stars rating system.Seen at home in Welland on VHS. Marko Roy - May 13th, 2001.