City in Darkness (1939)

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Charlie Chan in City in Darkness (1939) certainly ranks as one of the oddest movies in the series. Although it was palmed off on the public as "Charlie Chan in City in Darkness" and sold as a mystery thriller, this entry is actually a knockabout comedy. Chan is a subsidiary character whose principle job is to feed lines and bits of business to Harold Huber, who not only has more lines than Toler (and more than twice as many words) but more scenes including that delightful episode in which Harry Fleischmann picks him up and then throws his double down the stairs, not once but twice! Chan is not only forced to stand on the sidelines while Huber runs rings around him, but is up-staged by three comic thieves as well. True, Chan has a few timely words, does a bit of detecting and even foolishly dispenses with Huber's assistance for a scene in which he is nearly killed by Leo G. Carroll and Lon Chaney. All the same, Charlie Chan in City in Darkness will certainly disappoint Chan fans.

I really like Harold Huber, I really do. He was one of the best character actors of the 1930s until his passing in the 1950s. He was even really good and great in his previous Chan roles and also in the Mr. Moto films in supporting roles. But here...WOW. Director Herbert I. Leeds also previously helmed the Mr. Moto entry "Danger Island" the same year. The buddy relationship in that film with Peter Lorre and Warren Hymer worked there perfectly because the movie never lost focus that MOTO was the main character and the chemistry between Lorre and Hymer clicked beautifully. It seems like Leeds was attempting the same for Sidney Toler and Harold Huber but Huber's comedy is overbearing, really unfunny and completely out of place. Huber is basically the main character of the film and is given free rein to go wild while Toler is left to clean up the mess (bless you for being a trooper with this, Mr. Toler). And the absence of Victor Sen-Yung in favor of Huber's bumbling annoyance is another mark against this one. Another problem is that the murder victim isn't that interesting, nor are a good amount of the suspects who have their own sneaky self- interests to hide. Whenever the Chan films emphasized espionage rather than the basic murder mystery, the results were a largely mixed bag but here, it's a real slog to sit through. Not even Lon Chaney Jr's brief presence was enough to enjoy. The historical aspect of the rising European tensions on the eve of World War Two make this film interesting from that perspective but the potential to make the usual fun popcorn Chan movie went down the drain with Huber being pushed to the forefront. Avoid this one.

Although not the best of the Charlie Chan series, this is a cut above the later Sidney Toler Chan films. However, what really makes it worth seeing is that the story takes place during the 1938 Munich Crisis (September 1938), yet was produced before WW-II began (September 1939). The setting is Paris, which is blacked out due to the threat of war, and while the French armed forces are busy mobilizing. The city-wide blackout explains the title, as "The City of Light" had been transformed into a "City in Darkness".There are plenty of lame gags involving the distribution of gas masks, and people panicking due to false air raid alarms. Within a few months of this film's production none of those things would be laughing matters anymore. In fact, although produced prior to the outbreak of WW-II, the movie was not actually released until December 1939, by which time the war had actually begun. In a sense, therefore, "City in Darkness" represents a significant moment in history that, one might say, has been preserved in a drop of amber. It was the moment when one world crisis was averted, leading to the preservation of world peace for a last few happy months before the final unleashing of Armageddon. For that alone, if for no other reason, "City in Darkness" is still worth a look.

Always loved Charlie Chan movies, especially with Sidney Toler. He was the first CC I ever saw, as they were always on TV in the 50's. As I got older I appreciated Warner Oland, but Sidney was first. I also realized that the CC films with Oland were better than the later ones."City In Darkness", however, was a disappointment, and, as several reviewers mentioned, Harold Huber spoiled the whole show for me. He chewed the scenery and was a grating presence whenever he was on screen. He had a pretty big part, so you couldn't get away from his outrageous overacting and using a poor imitation of a French accent. That, and the final scene was confusing - you had to remember when all the suspects were in the room with the murdered man, which was supposed to be before (or after?) midnight. Too bad, but with a long-lived series like CC's they were bound to come up with a clinker.