Charlie Chan at the Race Track

1936
Approved
1h 10m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Frankie Darro and Warner Oland in Charlie Chan at the Race Track (1936)

When a friend of Charlie's is found kicked to death by his own race horse on board a Honolulu-bound liner, the detective discovers foul play and uncovers an international gambling ring.When a friend of Charlie's is found kicked to death by his own race horse on board a Honolulu-bound liner, the detective discovers foul play and uncovers an international gambling ring.When a friend of Charlie's is found kicked to death by his own race horse on board a Honolulu-bound liner, the detective discovers foul play and uncovers an international gambling ring.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.0/10

1.6K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
Warner Oland kept falling asleep during a race track scene, so director H. Bruce Humberstone included a lot of noisy extras in the shot to keep the actor awake.

Goofs
When the climactic race begins, only half of the horses announced (Gringo, Wild Bill, Shrapnel, Gallant Lad, Golden Fleece, Elsie Lee, Avalanche, Hold Away) match the names seen earlier on the odds board (Golden Fleece, Money Maker, Shrapnel, Blue Boy, Court Jester, Gallant Lad, Avalanche, Pico).

Quotes
Police Chief: Charlie, you've a very suspicious mind.
Charlie Chan: Suspicion often father of truth.

Connections
Edited into Who Dunit Theater: Charlie Chan at the Race Track (2021)

User reviews30

Featured review

8/10

very good, with Keye Luke in excellent form

Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) and son Lee Chan (Keye Luke) become involved "At the Race Track," from 1936.

When a friend of Charlie's is murdered by his race horse on board ship, Charlie is asked to investigate when the ocean liner stops in Honolulu. Looking at the horse's stall, Charlie doubts the horse had anything to do with it -- this was a human's doing.

His investigation continues, and Charlie and Lee board ship and travel to Santa Anita raceway to continue their investigation. He soon discovers fraud and a nefarious gambling ring, and he has to ferret out a murderer.

This is a very lively and fun Charlie Chan, with Lee posing as an attendant on the ship to find the typewriter on which threatening notes were typed; and later, at a crucial point, he drives a Chinese laundry truck. Charlie, meanwhile, is shot in the leg and laid up for part of the film.

Some excellent racing footage and beautiful horses are also shown.

It's not perfect. A horse falls, and I absolutely hate seeing that. They would trip them with chicken wire, and it was quite cruel. The second and more egregious thing, particularly by today's standards but I think it might have been embarrassing even then, was the role of the black stable boy, done as a Stepinfetchit type character. Cringe-worthy.

Frankly, I liked it much better when Mantan Moreland came on as Birmingham. First of all, he was hilarious, and secondly, he was treated as an equal. Yes, he had some scenes where he was supposedly afraid of his shadow, but it was better than what is in this film.

Oland is a warmer Chan than Sidney Toler, though both brought a great deal to the role. There is something a little less intimidating about Oland.

"Charlie Chan at the Race Track" is very enjoyable, somewhat reminiscent of the Sherlock Holmes story "Silver Blaze" -- so that's probably why the story is so good.