When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

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

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

When an old friend's estranged wife is accused of murdering an evil woman, Charlie finds himself in Reno on the case. Of course, Jimmy can't keep his nose out of things and borrows his friend's car to go to Reno. On the way his car is stolen, as are his clothes. Everything now takes place in a posh hotel with Slim Summerville as an uninspired Western sheriff who has no respect for our Mr. Chan. Ms. Whitman, the accused, was found standing over the corpse and has been charged with the murder. Still, there are many other suspects, people who had reason to kill her. On is her husband, who works at a mine. Another, a slick doctor, who seems to slim his way out of any charge brought against him. One always has to weight the value of Charlie's son because he is impulsive and often on the make. Here he enlists the help of a lady's maid to investigate. The problem with him is that while he often finds interesting things, he is also a loose cannon, jumping to false conclusions. Charlie seems awfully tolerant of him. There are times here when I find too much tongue in cheek stuff. Still, it's vintage Charlie Chan and I was glad to see that none of his other kids got involved here.

Sweet but sorrowful Pauline Moore arrives in Reno for her divorce. At the hotel she quickly meets Ricardo Cortez, suave doctor, and Phyllis Brooks, a kind of "social director" at the hotel, who urges her into the lounge for a drink. Also on the scene are Robert Lowery, earnest young socialite, and Kay Linaker, a more serious-minded guest—and the vulgar and tipsy Louise Henry, the would-be future husband of Moore's current spouse, who manages to insult all of the other characters within the space of about two minutes. Not surprisingly….The nasty woman is shortly thereafter found murdered in her room. Pauline Moore is—unfortunately for her—found standing over the still-warm body; on the plus side for Moore, however, is her old friendship with the great Charlie Chan—who on hearing of her arrest immediately drops everything in Honolulu (he has been working in the police lab on an Easter egg) and flies over to Nevada to assist. He is accompanied by Kane Richmond, Moore's estranged—yet basically solid—husband.It's a nice ensemble cast, a good mix of suspects. Keeping an eye on them all is Sheriff Slim Summerville, who goes by the name of "Tombstone," is suspicious of everyone, and is pretty much clueless. He is good comic relief, as is— Sen Yung, back as Jimmy Chan, now a student at USC who borrows a car and sets out for Reno when he gets word that there's a case on. Along the highway, he gets highjacked and loses his car and his clothes….And one of the funniest scenes in the Chan series has got to be the moment when Jimmy, picked up by the cops, walks out under the lights in a police lineup wrapped in a blanket—and his recently-arrived pop is in the audience with the Reno chief.Once released, Jimmy has a cute romance with hotel maid Iris Wong. "Does honorable father think you're too young to smoke?" she asks as he (amateurishly) lights up a cigarette. "Oh no, I'm no kid," Jimmy insists. "I help him solve his cases." Of course, he has a few ideas on this case as well….Sidney Toler is fine at the center of it all, bantering with suspects, flattering the sheriff, tut-tutting Jimmy. Eventually, he gathers all of the suspects together for a climactic scene that is quite suspenseful and nicely satisfying.Very enjoyable. It may be a formulaic series entry—but at this point they sure had the formula down right.

This holds up well as a good Charlie Chan mystery, with a lot of suspects and fairly involved plot. Toler is very good in one of his early outings as Chan, and the Reno, Nevada background is a different type of location than the usual exotic, foreign setting. The supporting players are good ,and the whole thing is tightly written and directed.My only complaint is with Eddie Collins as the talkative cab driver, who is meant to be annoying, but succeeds a little too well. His character belongs to a type of Thirties humor that doesn't hold up well with the passage of time. Such irritating characters turn up frequently in a lot of Depression era films, and have to be accepted as part of the period, along with wise guy reporters, hardboiled cops, tough dames and grouchy editors . My tolerance for this type of individual in real life no doubt has something to do with it.This is a minor complaint about a pretty good film. Enjoy it as a good Charlie Chan mystery, where even the annoying characters are a part of the fun.

After a poor start with "Charlie Chan in Honolulu", Sidney Toler made a good come back with this, his second Chan film. This one is set in the divorce mecca. It has a particularly effective, atmospheric sequence in a ghost town. Ricardo Cortez is good in a supporting role. And Sen Yung is fun as Jimmy. Toler was just warming up for his masterpiece, the next film in the series, "Charlie Chan at Treasure Island."