It was in "Charlie Chan in Shanghai", two films prior, that we learned Chan's age at 60. In "Charlie Chan at the Circus", we see the prolific Chan family in it's entirety as guests at the Kinney and Gaines Combined Circus. Charlie's offspring now number twelve, or as the ticket taker at the circus would offer - "the guy with his own sideshow". Only Keye Luke as Number #1 Son Lee is recognizable; future detective wanna-be's Victor Sen Yung and Benson Fong are at least a couple of years and a number of films away in their respective roles as Number's #2 and 3 Sons.
As in "Shanghai", Chan's vacation is interrupted by business, as circus owner Joe Kinney (Paul Stanton) asks for Charlie's help in investigating some threatening letters he's received. Roundly despised by the circus troupe for his treatment of both performers and animals, it's not long before Chan is investigating a murder, with Kinney providing the corpse. The immediate suspect appears to be Caesar the Ape, released from his cage at an opportune time; but Kinney's body was found inside the circus business trailer, locked from the inside.
It turns out that Kinney led a pretty convoluted life, engaged to circus aerialist Marie Normand after a brief affair with wardrobe lady Nellie Farrell. Farrell and her brother Dan schemed up a phony marriage certificate between herself and Kinney to claim part ownership in the circus. If that wasn't enough, Kinney intended to take over full ownership if partner John Gaines (Francis Ford) couldn't keep up his payments. So there were plenty of suspects who could have wanted Kinney out of the way, having endeared himself to so many.
As Number #1 Son, Keye Luke keeps busy between detective work by trying to romance "The Human Knot", contortionist Su Toy. Also prominent in the story are midget husband and wife entertainers Colonel Tim and Lady Tiny (George and Olive Brasno, actually brother and sister in real life). A particularly funny scene involves Lee and Colonel Tim impersonating a woman and a baby in a stroller, embarrassingly recognized by Su Toy.
By the time Kinney's killer is finally revealed, all of the prior intrigue and revelations prove inconsequential, as Charlie Chan uses Lee's help to uncover a plot by Kinney's animal trainer friend Holt, who was in legal trouble with Kinney at a prior circus venue. It was Holt who was threatening his friend, and masterminding the diversions that pointed to the other suspects. In that respect, "Charlie Chan at the Circus" follows the typical formula for this series, in that the identity of the murderer is never revealed clearly to the viewer until Chan's lucid explanation is offered to wind up the case.
As in "Shanghai", Chan's vacation is interrupted by business, as circus owner Joe Kinney (Paul Stanton) asks for Charlie's help in investigating some threatening letters he's received. Roundly despised by the circus troupe for his treatment of both performers and animals, it's not long before Chan is investigating a murder, with Kinney providing the corpse. The immediate suspect appears to be Caesar the Ape, released from his cage at an opportune time; but Kinney's body was found inside the circus business trailer, locked from the inside.
It turns out that Kinney led a pretty convoluted life, engaged to circus aerialist Marie Normand after a brief affair with wardrobe lady Nellie Farrell. Farrell and her brother Dan schemed up a phony marriage certificate between herself and Kinney to claim part ownership in the circus. If that wasn't enough, Kinney intended to take over full ownership if partner John Gaines (Francis Ford) couldn't keep up his payments. So there were plenty of suspects who could have wanted Kinney out of the way, having endeared himself to so many.
As Number #1 Son, Keye Luke keeps busy between detective work by trying to romance "The Human Knot", contortionist Su Toy. Also prominent in the story are midget husband and wife entertainers Colonel Tim and Lady Tiny (George and Olive Brasno, actually brother and sister in real life). A particularly funny scene involves Lee and Colonel Tim impersonating a woman and a baby in a stroller, embarrassingly recognized by Su Toy.
By the time Kinney's killer is finally revealed, all of the prior intrigue and revelations prove inconsequential, as Charlie Chan uses Lee's help to uncover a plot by Kinney's animal trainer friend Holt, who was in legal trouble with Kinney at a prior circus venue. It was Holt who was threatening his friend, and masterminding the diversions that pointed to the other suspects. In that respect, "Charlie Chan at the Circus" follows the typical formula for this series, in that the identity of the murderer is never revealed clearly to the viewer until Chan's lucid explanation is offered to wind up the case.