MURDER OVER NEW YORK
US, 1940, 65 minutes, Black-and-white.
Sidney Toler, Marjorie Weaver, Robert Lowery, Ricardo Cortez, Donald Mac Bride, Melville Cooper, Kane Richmond, Sen Yung, John Sutton, Leyland Hodgson, Clarence Muse.
Directed by Harry Lachmann.
This is an interesting Charlie Chan mystery, released in 1940 just after the outbreak of World War II but before American participation after Pearl Harbour. While the setting is New York, the theme is international espionage and the testing of new aircraft.
Charlie Chan, working for the government, encounters a friend from Scotland Yard who is found murdered. The host is an aircraft designer, played by Ricardo Cortez, who is also murdered. The suspects are all guests at a reception by the host.
One of those present at the invitation of the inspector was an actress who gives information about the wife of an international spy who travelled with him internationally but then separated.
The main suspect is the international spy whom the Scotland Yard inspector was tracking. His briefcase is stolen.
Quite a number of guests at the party, including a very irritating Englishman, Melville Cooper, who continually objects to being interrogated – and who turns out to be in the pay of the spy.
Charlie Chan does a lot of investigating behind the scenes, with his son, Jimmy getting into all kinds of trouble and false conclusions. There is a lot of revelation of what was going on and Charlie Chan suspicions at the final meeting but there is a great deal of suspense is the audience sees a sinister ball planted on the plane before its test flight. Charlie and his son as well as all the suspects are on the plane which will explode as it makes its descent.
All is explained when the international spy is unmasked, having had plastic surgery and voice change – but not his fingerprints. His wife does not recognise him. At first there is suspicion of the butler who has had a criminal record. There is also a suspect, a chemical expert but he has worked with Charlie to provide a harmless ball instead of the dangerous explosive.
The film reminds audiences of why this Charlie Chan films were so popular.
