Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum (1940)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Lynn Shores

Writer:

John Larkin (writer)

Release Date:

6 September 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Death in the electric chair faces Charlie Chan... at the hands of a murderer twelve years dead!

Plot:

An escaped convicted murderer hides out at a New York wax museum where he hopes to get plastic surgery, which will help him revenge himself on Charlie Chan.

Plot Keywords:

Plastic Surgery | Wax Museum | Charlie Chan | Challenge | Escape

Cast

Sidney Toler	...	Charlie Chan
Victor Sen Yung	...	Jimmy Chan (as Sen Yung)
C. Henry Gordon	...	Dr. Cream
Marc Lawrence	...	Steve McBirney
Joan Valerie	...	Lily Latimer
Marguerite Chapman	...	Mary Bolton
Ted Osborne	...	Tom Agnew (as Ted Osborn)
Michael Visaroff	...	Dr. Otto Von Brom
Hilda Vaughn	...	Mrs. Joe Rocke
Charles Wagenheim	...	Willie Fern
Archie Twitchell	...	Carter Lane
Eddie Marr	...	Grenock
Joe King	...	Inspector O'Matthews
Harold Goodwin	...	Edwards
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Stanley Blystone	...	Bailiff (uncredited)
Jimmy Conlin	...	Barker (uncredited)
David Newell	...	Attorney at Trial (uncredited)
Charles Trowbridge	...	Judge (uncredited)
Emmett Vogan	...	Prosecuting Attorney (uncredited)

Directed by
Lynn Shores

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
John Larkin		writer

Produced by
Ralph Dietrich	....	associate producer
Walter Morosco	....	associate producer

Cinematography by
Virgil Miller

Film Editing by
James B. Clark

Art Direction by
Lewis H. Creber
Richard Day

Set Decoration by
Thomas Little

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jasper Blystone	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Bernard Freericks	....	sound
Harry M. Leonard	....	sound

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Herschel McCoy	....	costume supervisor
Sam Benson	....	wardrobe supervisor (uncredited)

Music Department
Emil Newman	....	musical director

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1940) (USA) (theatrical)
• Key Video (1989) (USA) (VHS)
• Teakwood Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• CBS/Fox (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)

Other Companies

• Panasonic Disc Manufacturing  transfer

Runtime:

63 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA High Fidelity Recording)

Certification:

Australia:G | USA:Approved (PCA #6383)

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The wax head near the mummy case appears to be modeled after Clark Gable.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Inspector Matthews comes in through the museum window, his coat is wet from the thunderstorm outside. Seconds thereafter, although his face still has rain dripping from it, his coat is now dry.

Quotes:

Charlie Chan: Every bird seeks its own tree and every tree its bird.

Movie Connections:

Follows Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo (1937)

A little bit too twisted

The movie was a little bit too confusing to enjoy properly. Lots of suspects, not enough times to know them more, one little bit too clever detective and you have the ingredients for an hour of complicated mystery.

The mood is good for the genre. The action is settled in a wax museum of past criminals. And of course, there's the famous Charlie Chan with his proverbs and witty remarks. Sidney Toler is good in the role of the Chinese detective.

One quote from the movie. When sentenced to be killed on December the 9th, the guy says: «Oh thanks judge, I won't have to do Christmas shopping»!

Out of 100, I gave it 70. That's ** on a four stars rating system.