Review of The Black Camel (1931) by Art S — 25 Nov 2013
The earliest surviving Charlie Chan picture with Warner Oland seems to be in pretty good shape, with some nice shots of Hawaii. It also has the kind of static staging typical of early talkies -- but this "all the suspects gathered in a room" format became a mainstay of the "whodunnit" picture and most of the Charlie Chan films adhered to the formula.
This one is lifted by the presence of Bela Lugosi (suspect #1 of course) and an impossibly young Robert Young. A Hollywood actress is murdered but another murder three years earlier seems to hold some clues to this one.
A few too many undifferentiated suspects and a hard to solve puzzle don't really diminish the pleasures of the formula, if you are into that kind of thing.
This review of The Black Camel (1931) was written by Art S on 25 Nov 2013.
The Black Camel has generally received positive reviews.
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