Charlie Chan in Paris
Charlie Chan in Paris | |
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Directed by | Lewis Seiler |
Written by | Earl Derr Biggers Philip MacDonald |
Produced by | John Stone |
Starring | Warner Oland |
Cinematography | Ernest Palmer |
Music by | Samuel Kaylin |
Distributed by | Fox Film Corporation |
Release date |
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Running time | 70-72 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Charlie Chan in Paris is the seventh film produced by Fox with Warner Oland as Charlie Chan. Long thought lost,[1][2] it is now available on DVD as part of Twentieth Century Fox Home Video's "Charlie Chan Collection, Vol. 1".[1]
Plot
Chan is on his way back from completing the London case—they always mentioned the previous case—to go on "vacation" to Paris, but this is just a way to make people think that he is innocently there. He is on a case for some London bankers and customers who say that some bonds from the Lamartine Bank in Paris are forged, so they hired Chan to solve the case. The suspects Chan meets include; Max Corday, a local artist who wants to reap the financial rewards of fame; Albert Dufresne, the assistant to the bank president who is living beyond his means; Henri Latouche, a bank officer who has access to financial bank records; Yvette Lamartine, the daughter of the bank president who is determined to recover old love letters from the bank vault; and Marcel Xavier, a crippled and blind beggar and "crazed World War I veteran who thinks that the bank is cheating on him and wants his money.
After various murder attempts on Chan and other killings, including that of his assistant, Nardi, and the ex-boyfriend of Yvette. Chan realizes that the murders were staged by Xavier. But it turns out not to be the case.
The murderer was Xavier, but he is actually not real; he has alternately been played by both Corday and Latouche; with Latouche appearing as Xavier when Corday was with Charlie, and Corday appearing as Xavier when Charlie meets Latouche at the Bank. Chan takes young Victor Descartes with him to find Xavier, and while they search Corday's and LaTouche's lair where they have been printing the counterfeit bonds, Latouche (as Xavier) arrives. Chan and Descartes kill the lights, and Latouche shoots at Chan's flashlight, apparently hitting him. But Chan has mounted it on a broomstick to decoy Latouche, and Descartes is able to capture Xavier/Latouche. Then the police arrive (summoned by Chan's son Lee), giving Chan a chance to explain how Corday and LaTouche created alibis for each other by alternately playing Xavier.
Cast
- Warner Oland as Charlie Chan
- Mary Brian as Yvette Lamartine, Mr Lamartine's daughter, engaged to Victor Descartes
- Thomas Beck as Victor Descartes, Mr. Lamartine's ward, who is going to take over the bank
- John Miljan as Albert Dufresne
- Erik Rhodes as Max Corday, a sketch artist
- Murray Kinnell as Henri Latouche
- Keye Luke as Lee Chan, Charlie's #1 son
- Henry Kolker as Mr. Paul Lamartine, the current head of the Lamartine Bank and father of Yvette
- Dorothy Appleby as Nardi, Charlie's agent in Paris, who is killed before he can ask her questions
- John Qualen as Consierge
References
- ^ a b Dave Kehr (June 20, 2006). "New DVD's: Charlie Chan". The New York Times.
- ^ Charlie Chan in Paris at AllMovie