Charlie Chan at the Race Track (1936) Review - A Sleepy Detective and a Very Mad Horse

If you can look past the obvious, glaring issue of a Swedish actor in yellowface makeup, Charlie Chan at the Race Track is actually a lot of fun. It is the perfect movie for a lazy Sunday afternoon when you want a mystery that moves fast and doesn't make you think too hard.

But if you cannot stand old-school studio stagey-ness, you will probably want to skip this one entirely.

The story starts on a cruise ship, which is always the best place for a murder. A wealthy guy gets kicked to death by his prize-winning horse, Avalanche. Except, we all know the horse didn't do it. 🐎

Warner Oland plays Chan with his usual sleepy, polite vibe. But the real star here is Keye Luke as his "Number One Son," Lee.

Lee has this amazing, bouncy energy that makes the movie feel alive. He tries to help his dad by going undercover as a cabin boy, and it goes hilariously wrong almost immediately.

The pacing is incredibly quick, much like other cheap B-movies of the era, such as The Silver Bullet. It is a world away from the breezy, romantic fluff of Tanned Legs, focusing instead on dirty money and weird gadgets.

Speaking of gadgets, there is a hilarious scene where they explain a "high-tech" photo-finish camera. The movie stops dead for two minutes to show us how a camera works, which is just beautiful to watch today.

"Alibi is a very beautiful word, but sometimes it has a dirty face."

Also, the horse playing Avalanche deserves some kind of award. The poor animal looks genuinely annoyed in every single close-up shot.

I noticed a weird thing during the ship scenes. The sound of the wind on the deck sounds exactly like a crew member blowing directly into a cheap microphone. It is these little cheap details that make me love old cinema.

The mystery itself is not that hard to figure out. If a character seems to have absolutely no reason to be on screen, they are probably the killer.

But the final race scene has some great tension, even if they obviously recycled the same five seconds of horse footage over and over.

Look out for a guy in the crowd wearing an absurdly tall top hat. He is in the background of a shot near the end, and I could not stop staring at him.

Overall, it is just a solid, cozy hour of detective work. Just turn off the critical part of your brain regarding 1930s racial casting and enjoy the ride.