Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

One of the better early Charlie Chan entries, with some spooky atmospherics (even if you know immediately that the psychics are fakes), some twists, and an outcome that may be surprising precisely because it names as the guilty party one of the most suspicious characters! Major debit: the butler's unsuccessful comic relief. My favorite Chan line: "Best place for skeleton is in family closet". **1/2 out of 4.

Warner Oland is Charlie Chan in "Charlie Chan's Secret" from 1936.Charlie is attempting to ascertain whether a man named Allen Colby is dead or alive. After seven years of being away, he's announced to his family that he is on his way home to claim the family fortune. However, the ship that he is on sinks near Honolulu, and he is presumed drowned. But is he? Charlie sees in the journal Colby left behind that there have been attempts on his life. He heads for the family mansion.There he sees the matriarch of the family (Henrietta Crosman) and other family members. Henrietta is involved with a psychic and has séances at her home to connect with her late husband. During one séance, the body of Allen appears - dead. It's the actual body -- he arrived home, was murdered, and then hidden until the séance. Charlie has to find the killer.It's not hard to figure out the killer, but that doesn't make the film any less entertaining. Warner Oland was a delightful Chan, cheerful and funny, with more energy than the older Sidney Toler. The rest of the acting, with the exception of Crosman, isn't very good - in fact, it's bad -- but Oland keeps it going.Some nice spooky elements, some sinister-looking people, and a fun mystery.

The good thing with this Charlie Chan entry is that the usual obvious comedy element isn't that overexited as usual. OK, its given by the butler, but it ain't that obvious as with sons no. 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.You know, attached fun is just not needed in movies, as it is unreal. For example, the German Edgar Wallace series uses the same method, mostly personalized by Eddie Aren't. Thats so militant, so unnecessary. Nobody in real life acts like that, just couldn't do, even if he tried very hard.But besides these script failures, the Charlie Chan series has a lot of atmosphere, a lot of pulpy aspects, so its very enjoyable in spite of the obvious comedy elements.This flick: 9/10

Filmed in 1935 and released in 1936, CHARLIE CHAN'S SECRET is the 10th film in the Fox series. It is also a film about which I have changed my opinion over several viewings. I originally felt it was among the weaker Chan films starring Warner Oland; today, however, I would describe it as a truly solid entry.Several years earlier Alan Colby, heir to a major fortune, disappeared and was presumed dead--and elderly aunt Alice Lowell (Rosina Lawrence) inherited the estate. Now, however, it seems that Colby may be alive, and although his resurrection will cost her the family fortune Mrs. Lowell dutifully enlists Chan to investigate the matter. But with a great fortune at stake, murder cannot be far behind.Such earlier Chan films as THE BLACK CAMEL and CHARLIE CHAN IN Egypt introduced an occult edge to the Chan films, and CHARLIE CHAN'S SECRET plays upon this theme to a degree not previously seen in any other Chan film: Mrs. Lowell is a spiritualist who is given to everything from séances to nightly sessions with the Ouija board, and both elements play into the story in a significant way. Although the plot itself is nonsense, the "spooky" elements fill the holes, and the cast--most particularly Rosina Lawrence as Mrs. Lowell and Herbert Mundin as the bumbling butler Baxter--deliver solid and quite often charming performances.Chan films are often accused of being racist, and critics often complain that the actors playing Chan wore "yellowface" make up. The films, however, must be seen within the context of their era. In the 1930s, Hollywood presented most Asian characters as either servile or as Fu Manchu-like entities; Chan was actually just about the only positive Asian character going, and as such the films were tremendously popular with Asian-American audiences of the era.True enough, Chan is inevitably played by an occidental actor, but this was typical of the era, in which star status was considered more important than racial accuracy. Whatever the case, neither Warner Oland or the later Sidney Toler wore significant make-up for the role, and Oland--although a Swede by birth--actually had a strong strain of Asian ancestry in his family tree. But most significantly, while Chan often allows his suspects to dismiss him through their own prejudices, as a character he is always presented in a positive light--and this is particularly true of CHARLIE CHAN'S SECRET, in which Chan is the only Asian character in the film.While I would not rank it along such knock-out Chan films as CHARLIE CHAN AT THE OPERA or CHARLIE CHAN AT TREASURE ISLAND, CHARLIE CHAN'S SECRET grows upon you with each viewing. As noted the plot is weak, but the film is long on charm. It is also one of the few Chan films available to the home market. Most Chan fans should enjoy it.Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer