The Black Camel 1931
Set in Honolulu big time Hollywood actress Shelah Fane is on location shooting her latest film. After a whirlwind romance and a marriage proposal Shelah confides in her close friend and fortune teller Tarneverro ( Lugosi ) about if she should accept or not. Tarneverro discovers something unsettling from Shelahs past during a reading forcing her to turn down the marriage proposal. Later that night Shelah is found stabbed to death in her hotel room. Enter Inspector Charlie Chan to try solve the murder.
Clocking in at 70 minutes the time flew by. Its is quite and enjoyable murder mystery there are many suspects and my mind changed several times as to who i suspected of the murder. The acting is solid and Charlie Chan constantly dishes out wild quotes like this "Kashimo, I despair trying to make you smart man. Soap and water never can change perfume of billy goat." Its well worth a watch if you have an hour or so to spare i may even watch other Charlie Chan films to see if they are all as enjoyable.
Bela Lugosi plays second fiddle to Warner Oland as Charlie Chan but still stand out when he is on screen. Early in the film he has a big part as he teams up with Chan to help with the investigation where there are some good exchanges between them both. Lugosi takes a step back towards the middle but he comes to the fore in the films finale.
The first time we see Lugosi on screen he is playing it straight but when he is in fortune telling mode he was crazed and wild eyed which i was hoping would not continue because after all im trying to prove that he was capable of playing a variety of role. My concerns were short lived because for the rest of the film he return to playing it straight and showing early on in his film career that he was a versatile actor sadly it was overlooked.
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