The Wax Museum is a classic murder mystery setting, so it's no surprise that Charlie Chan eventually ended up in one. The ominous lighting on the faces provides high-quality atmospherics, but the acting gets in the way in this one. Son Jimmy 'sneaks' around the Wax Museum - opening doors wide, and somehow not being seen or heard by the people within plain sight, and within spitting distance. While B movies always require that we stretch our suspension of disbelief, Jimmy folds, spindles and mutilates our credulity to the point of breaking. While the sons were a popular part of the Chan series, I find that all to often, any camera time given to the sons just subtracts from our Charlie time, with negative consequences. The live radio show setting is another classic - think Poirot. I can't help but think that with more time and money, this could have been a much better movie in the Chan series. As it is, I put it in the bottom 20% of Chan episodes.
Review of Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum
