CHARLIE CHAN AT THE OPERA (1937)
Article #688 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 2-1-2003
Posting date: 7-1-2003
Directed by H. Bruce Humberstone
Featuring Warner Oland, Boris Karloff, Keye Luke
Charlie Chan investigates a death threat against an opera singer.
Generally, when a horror star appears in a mystery movie, he turns out to be an obvious red herring. I’m not going to say whether Karloff is one or not, but I will say that the movie does take the care not to make him an obvious one. In fact, the movie seems to take quite a bit of care all around; it looks like a lot of work went into the opera sequences, and the characters are a little more fleshed out than they usually are. Karloff’s definitely is, and his presence is definitely a highlight of the movie, as are Warner Oland’s (in the title role, of course) and William Demarest’s, who makes several appearances as a police detective. The presence of Karloff definitely inspired a bit of the horror touches at the beginning of the movie, and there is of course the seemingly obligatory reference to FRANKENSTEIN that seems to pop up in any non-horror movie Karloff made at the time. There is an amusing sequence where Demarest tries to pick out Keye Luke from among a number of knights in shining armor.
Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings 
Let’s also give props to the estimable Hollywood genius and troubled soul Oscar Levant, who wrote book and lyrics for the staged opera scenes of Carnival, a prominent feature of the film.