Shhh! It's Chan Secret....

CHARLIE CHAN’S SECRET-1936-Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) searches for a guy named Alan Colby who may have perished in the sinking of a ship but since his body was never found he could still be alive. This could pose a problem to people like Mrs. Lowell’s daughter Janice (Astrid Allwyn) and her grouchy husband Fred (Edward Trevor) who have been living off the fortune for years.   Mrs. Lowell (Henrietta Crosman) has hired Chan because Colby is the rightful heir to her husband's estate. It turns out Colby is alive but he's killed before he makes his presence known. Mrs. Lowell believes in psychic phenomena and plans to hold a seance in “the old house” with her other daughter Alice (Rosina Lawrence) and her beau reporter Dick (Charles Quigley). The professor (Arthur Edmund Carewe) and Carotta (Gloria Roy) perform a seance where Colby's corpse shows up. The family lawyer (Jonathan Hale) hangs around suspiciously. Without any son, comedy relief is provided by the family butler (Herbert Mundin). Later after the killer strikes again but unsuccessfully Charlie is nearly electrocuted by the professor. Even though he was almost killed, the police blame Chan for letting the murderer get away! Later while Mrs. Lowell and the butler use a Ouija board she is shot! Charlie uses another seance to expose the guilty party.

 Director Gordon Wiles was also an art director. Of the eleven films he directed only this Charlie Chan entry stands out. It was also the last role for Arthur Edmund Carwe who committed suicide in 1937 after suffering a stroke.

Followed by CHARLIE CHAN AT THE CIRCUS...

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