Murder Over New York

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Robert Lowery, Sidney Toler, and Marjorie Weaver in Murder Over New York (1940)

When Charlie's old friend from Scotland Yard is murdered when they attend a police convention in New York, Chan picks up the case he was working on.When Charlie's old friend from Scotland Yard is murdered when they attend a police convention in New York, Chan picks up the case he was working on.When Charlie's old friend from Scotland Yard is murdered when they attend a police convention in New York, Chan picks up the case he was working on.

Director
- Harry Lachman
Writers
- Lester Ziffren
- Earl Derr Biggers
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.9/10

1.4K

YOUR RATING

Director
- Harry Lachman
Writers
- Lester Ziffren
- Earl Derr Biggers
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
The aircraft used towards the end is a Lockheed Model 10, similar to that flown by Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan on their last flight. This one has had its NC registration number obliterated, and it appears at one time that it may have been used as a military trainer since it seems to have a gun turret mounting ring installed aft of the cockpit and ahead of the cabin door.

Goofs
Charlie asks Jimmy to identify a chemical smell. Jimmy, only an undergraduate student, immediately recognizes the smell of a poison gas invented only months before and gives his father background information on it.

Quotes
Charlie Chan: Number Two Son very promising detective... promise very much, produce very little.

Connections
Edited into Who Dunit Theater: Charlie Chan Murder over New York (2021)

User reviews29

Review

Featured review

7/10

Director Lachman makes use of some distinctive visual touches

Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) is headed to a police convention in New York City when he reconnects with an old colleague on the plane ride. The old friend is now working for British military intelligence in the war effort, and he tells Charlie that he's on the trail of saboteurs after bomber planes. When Chan's buddy ends up murdered, Charlie takes on the case.

This Chan entry, the last of four released in 1940, has a few unusual characteristics. The most obvious is dropping the "Charlie Chan" name from the title. In fact, even in the opening credits Toler's name is listed last. Director Lachman had helmed Charlie Chan at the Circus back in 1936, and his return to the series sees some distinctive visual touches, like a more mobile camera; heavy (if at times corny) use of shadows, with menacing disguised figures lurking behind our hero; and lots of close-ups of actors giving suspicious looks. It's enjoyable if one doesn't take it too seriously, but it can seem almost comical. The cast is good, although Cortez is wasted.