L'uomo dai due volti

... as he appears as someone who Charlie thinks is at first an intruder in his hotel room, but emerges from the bathroom in a hotel robe, hotel towel covering his hair and face. When he uncovers his face we get his trademark - "Hi Pop!" as Charlie's number one son. This is not only his first appearance in a Chan film, but his first credited film role. Keye Luke is actually in his early thirties at this point, but plays early twenties quite effectively.

But back to the story. Charlie's appearance in Paris is a mystery for about twenty minutes. He makes a call to a colleague who says she has crucial evidence and will talk to him after her dance number at the club. Charlie gets a message soon afterwards saying his reason for being here is known and his life is in danger. There are not the usual red herrings. Instead there is a sinister looking man, a beggar, on crutches, who seems to be making it obvious he is up to no good. Charlie spots him at several places, making his presence known. Why??? Watch and find out.

It turns out all of the secrecy is because some forged bonds have been found in London that were issued by a bank in Paris and Charlie is keeping his investigation under wraps so as to not start a panic. John Miljan is in the cast, and he always played the bad guy, even in MGM shorts, so he is not up to any good here either, but believe me I am not giving anything away by telling you that. He does manage to get the bank president's daughter involved in a scandal in what turns out to be a significant side plot.

Once again Charlie solves the mystery with his sharp powers of observation in this very atmospheric entry. He is very polite considering how Paris law enforcement is acting. At one point, the police are allowing witnesses and passer-bys to trample all over a murder scene, and they are also allowing witnesses to talk amongst themselves rather than isolating them somewhere that is NOT the crime scene.