Warner Oland in "Charlie Chan in Egypt" (1935) - feat. Rita Hayworth & Stepin Fetchit

Description:

Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) goes to Egypt on behalf of the French Archaeological Society to investigate Professor Arnold's (George Erving) excavation of Ameti's tomb, because the artifacts discovered in the tomb have been found in other museums. Once there, however, Chan finds out from the professor's daughter Carol (Pat Paterson), his son Barry (James Eagles), his brother-in-law, Carol and Barry's uncle, Professor John Thurston (Frank Conroy), and Tom Evans (Thomas Beck), who is Arnold's young assistant and Carol's boyfriend, that Arnold has been missing for a month. Tom sends for Dr. Anton Racine (Jameson Thomas), who arrives shortly after Carol hallucinates that she is being menaced by Sekhmet, the goddess of vengeance whose statue was guarding Ameti's tomb. In the basement laboratory, Chan, Thurston and Tom examine Ameti's mummy using an X-ray, and discover not Ameti but Professor Arnold. Thurston then tells Chan that he sold the artifacts to pay off money he had borrowed from Racine. Barry overhears them discussing his father's death and collapses in hysterics, certain that the tomb's curse will kill the entire family. Chan decides to investigate the tomb that night, so with Tom and his helper, Snowshoes (Stepin Fetchit), he sets off, but once inside the tomb, they are frightened off by a vision of Sekhmet. At the professor's autopsy, Chan extracts a bullet. Chan then questions Racine about Mapouchari, a drug which causes hallucinations and death, and which Chan suspects is placed on Carol's cigarettes to trigger her attacks. Barry dies while playing his violin. Later, Chan, Tom and Snowshoes return to the tomb, where they find a secret water passageway. Tom swims to the next room, which is a storage room for Ameti's treasures, but he is shot by someone he recognizes. As he falls, he hits a lever that opens a door between the rooms, and Chan and Snowshoes take him back to the house. Chan deduces that Barry was killed by a tiny vial of the deadly drug, then tells them it was the hidden treasure room which was the motive for the two murders and the attempt on Tom's life. Upstairs, Racine examines Tom, after which Thurston sends Carol to rest. Alone with Tom, Thurston prepares to stab him in his wounds with Racine's lancet, but Chan arrives just in time. Chan explains that the bullets recovered from Arnold and Tom came from Thurston's gun, and the police then take Thurston away. Tom regains consciousness and is enfolded in Carol's loving embrace. A 1935 American Black & White detective mystery film directed by Louis King, produced by Edward T. Lowe Jr., screenplay by Robert Ellis and Helen Logan, based on the character "Charlie Chan" created by Earl Derr Biggers, cinematography by Daniel B. Clark, starring Warner Oland, Pat Paterson, Thomas Beck, Rita Hayworth (billed as Rita Cansino), Jameson Thomas, Frank Conroy, Nigel De Brulier, James Eagles, George Erving, Stepin Fetchit, Paul Porcasi, and Arthur Stone. Released by 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation. This features an early screen appearance by Rita Hayworth, who was at that stage of her career still using her birth name, Rita Cansino. It was Hayworth's first appearance in a "series" picture, also appearing in four others, "Blondie," "The Lone Wolf," "Nero Wolfe" and "The Three Mesquiteers." Stepin Fetchit (1902-1985), born Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry, was an American vaudevillian, comedian, and film actor of Jamaican and Bahamian descent, and the first black actor to have a successful film career. His highest profile was during the 1930s in films and on stage, when his persona of Stepin Fetchit was billed as the "Laziest Man in the World". He parlayed the Fetchit persona into a successful film career, becoming the first black actor to earn $1 million. He was also the first black actor to receive featured screen credit in a film. Fetchit has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1976, despite popular aversion to his character, the Hollywood chapter of the NAACP awarded Perry a special NAACP Image Award. Two years later, he was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame. The 11th of 47 Charlie Chan movies, and the eighth of 16 20th Century Fox Charlie Chan films starring Warner Oland in the title role. The Charlie Chan character was loosely based on a real person, Chang Apuna, a famous and decorated Chinese detective who lived in Honolulu and served the public well for many years. The character was conceived as a reaction against racist anti-asian caricatures like Dr. Fu Manchu; and was very popular for many years; rivaling the success of Sherlock Holmes and Hercules Proirot. Most of the music score was written for and used originally in "Chandu the Magician" (1932). Spooky fun, as Chan investigates strange goings on at an archaeological site. An entertaining movie, if the various ethnic stereotypes are overlooked. One that dedicated fans will not want to miss. The end is fascinating. Recommended, mainly for Oland as Chan.