Charlie Chan in Rio (1941)

By CinemaSerf

For a man so respectful of the old ways, he does find himself in some unlikely places - like a dance hall in Rio de Janeiro! And personally, if I saw him anywhere I'd leave quickly because you just know that someone is about to drop dead, too. He's there with No.2 son "Jimmy" (Victor Sen Yung) and local policeman "Suoto" (Harold Huber) on the trail of the dodgy singer "Lola" whom our sleuth believes killed her lover back in Hawaii. Sparing her blushes, he hopes to follow her to her apartment and arrest her there - but some sinister forces are afoot and by the time they arrive, she's a goner. There are no shortage of clues as he must try to filter through the evidence and the red herrings to get to the truth. Whilst pop is doing his detecting, the young "Jimmy" is falling in love with the maid "Lili" (Iris Wong) - that is, when he's not accusing just about everyone and coming up with a constant stream of prognostications that are all as daft as the other. The theme of this story includes some quite enjoyable hypnotising, with a sip of coffee and a suitably laced cigarette exposing the victim to a slew of truths that might elicit a confession - but to everything from murder to dodging maths class! The "Rio" aspect really just allows for some different costumes and a few Hispanic accents, otherwise it's all standard fayre - but I did enjoy it.