Absolutely brilliant

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) is in Rio de Janeiro to arrest a woman suspected of killing a man in Honolulu. When the woman is murdered, Charlie must investigate along with "Number Two Son" Jimmy (Victor Sen Yung). Pretty much a remake of The Black Camel. Adorable Iris Wong is fun as the murdered woman's maid. Her scenes with Jimmy are the movie's highlights. Harold Huber makes his last Charlie Chan appearance. Toler and Sen Yung are good as usual. Rest of the cast includes Victor Jory, Kay Linaker, and Hamilton MacFadden (who directed The Black Camel, interestingly enough). It's a pleasant and enjoyable entry in the series. Not one of the best or worst. This is the second-to-last Chan film at Fox before the dreadful Monogram series begins.

With performers like Carmen Miranda and Cesar Romero on its roster, and with Don Ameche, Linda Darnell, and Tyrone Power looking as if they could be from South America, Cuba, Mexico, Spain, etc., Fox did lots of films purportedly set in these exotic locales. "Charlie Chan in Rio" from 1941 is one of these, though a lot of stock footage is used to give the illusion of actually being in Rio.Charlie and son Jimmy are in Rio and go to a nightclub with the police chief to arrest a nightclub singer, Lola Dean. Dean is suspected of killing her married lover in Honolulu. Charlie decides it would be better to arrest her at home. However, she is found dead, and her jewels have been stolen.As usual, there are too many suspects, among them a man (Victor Jory) who does prognostics, a sort of mystical mind-reading, Lola's wealthy fiancée, a woman in love with said fiancée, a no-nonsense friend (Mary Beth Hughes) and her boyfriend, Lola's ex-husband, and a butler.It falls to Charlie to sort all this out, but along the way he and the police chief have a little fun with Jimmy, questioning under the mystic's potion, which puts his subject under hypnosis. Why did he fail math? It was too early to get up in the morning for class.It seems not only Lola had a secret in her past -- there's plenty else to be learned.Good fun, with a cute ending.

Despite my summary, I DID like this film. It's just that despite its title, the film looked like they stuck in some stock footage and everyone in the film spoke English. Plus, oddly, the Brazilian police inspector spoke MUCH better English than Charlie--he remembered to use all his definite articles (such as 'the')! This isn't a major problem about the film, but it is kind of funny.The plot involves the murder of a woman who is already wanted for murder. The rest of the film is just about what you'd expect from a Charlie Chan film made by FOX--Charlie's son (in this case #2) is a bumbling and obnoxious assistant, there are twists and turns and many different suspects, and in the end, Chan catches the murderer. No major surprises, but it was a bit odd seeing the wonderful magic potion developed by the psychic--just smoke one of his special cigarettes, drink a bit of coffee and you almost instantly fall asleep and tell the truth! If only this were true--imagine the fun you could have with your friends! This is a completely average outing for the series--not bad, nor especially compelling. For fans, it is pretty much what they'd expect and for the non-Chan fans out there, probably not enough to make them love the series.

Charlie and son Jimmy arrive in Rio de Janerio to arrest singer Lola Dean in connection with a murder in Honolulu. Lola, who is engaged to Clark Denton, plans to elope with her lover after confessing to a mystic, in a drug induced state, the murder of Manuel Cardosa. Charlie (along with Jimmy and Inspector Souto) arrives at Lola's house to arrest the murderess, but is found dead by her secretary Helen Ashby. Soon every person connected with Lola (who happen to be invited to the engagement party that night) is suspected of her murder. Its up to Charlie to uncover the clues of a broken pin, missing broach, and coffee and cigarettes to reveal the killer. A remake of the Black Camel, and this version is only slightly better due to some more interesting characters and better camera advancements, but really only worth viewing so you can just say you have seen every Chan film. Has the same plot holes and corniness as the previous version. Rating, 5.