Name: Charlie Chan in Panama
Genre: Crime, Thriller, Mystery, Comedy
Released: 1940-03-01
Duration: 66 min
Rating: 6.8
Cast: Sidney Toler, Jean Rogers, Lionel Atwill, Mary Nash, Victor Sen Yung

Charlie Chan in Panama

One more minute... and the fleet is doomed!

Charlie impersonates an employee of the U.S. government to foil an espionage plot which would destroy part of the Panama Canal, trapping a Navy fleet on its way to the Pacific after maneuvers in the Atlantic.

CrimeThrillerMysteryComedy

DirectorNorman Foster

WritersEarl Derr Biggers, John Larkin

StatusReleased

LanguageEnglish

Release DateMarch 1, 1940

Runtime1h 6m

Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) Collection

Includes: Charlie Chan in Honolulu, Charlie Chan in Reno, Charlie Chan at Treasure Island, City in Darkness, Charlie Chan in Panama, Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise, Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum, Murder Over New York, Dead Men Tell, Charlie Chan in Rio, Castle in the Desert, Charlie Chan in the Secret Service, Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat, Black Magic, The Jade Mask, The Scarlet Clue, The Red Dragon, The Shanghai Cobra, Dark Alibi, Shadows Over Chinatown, Dangerous Money, The Trap

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

June 23, 20226/10

This outing for our sleuth finds him working undercover - appropriately in a Panama hat shop - on a mission to help the US Government combat the activities of some spies bent on disrupting the movement of US Naval vessels though the Panama Canal. When a man is murdered in his shop, "Chan" is detained by the unwitting authorities who take him to a local jail where he, coincidentally, encounters no. 2 son "Jimmy" (Victor Sen Yung), who was working on a cruise liner and who is also stranded in Panama. Together, they must identify and thwart the would be saboteur amidst a plethora of suspects led by the always reliable Lionel Atwill ("Compton"). I enjoyed the dynamic between father and son - it works well, and the story is actually quite exciting to watch for the most part with a rather better ending than I was expecting. The constant dialogue in contrived proverbs is a little bit annoying, but then it wouldn't be "Charlie Chan" if he ever actually called a spade a spade...!