The Black Camel

The Black Camel(1931)

06/21/1931 (US)Crime, Mystery1h 11m
6.1

"The unsolved secrets of Hollywood disclosed under the romantic spell of Hawaiian moonlight"

Overview

Movie star Shelah Fane is seeing wealthy Alan Jaynes while filming in Honolulu, Hawaii, but won't marry him without consulting famed psychic Tarneverro first. Enter inspector Charlie Chan of the Honolulu Police, investigating the unsolved murder, three years earlier, of a Hollywood actor.

Hamilton MacFadden

Director

Philip Klein

Screenplay

Barry Conners

Screenplay

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Part of the Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) Collection

Charlie Chan Chanthology

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C
A review by CinemaSerf
7.0

Written on June 13, 2022

Warner Oland is "Charlie Chan" in this engaging marriage of the occult with the vanities of Hollywood stardom. "Sheila Fayne" (Dorothy Revier) is an actress being pursued by the wealthy "Alan Jaynes" (William Post). Before she will commit to his ardour, she consults her psychic medium "Tarneverro" (Bela Lugosi). Instead of a simple yeah or nay, though, he raises the spectre of the death of her erstwhile co-star "Danny Mayo" and next thing we know "Chan" is investigating a far more recent murder. Loads of possible culprits; some eerily lit settings, a bit of gently cerebral humour and the sight of his assembled family at a dinner table that would have made even the "Walton's" blush all helps the mystery develop nicely. Lugosi is effective as the clearly dubious mystic, and there's an early turn from the handsome Robert Young to look out for, too. It's well directed, written and the suspense builds nicely. Oland presents a "rotundness" of spirit with his performance; his frequent adages delivered with his tongue in his cheek - and I enjoyed this.