Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise is a 1940 murder mystery film starring Sidney Toler in his fifth of many performances as Charlie Chan. It is based on the Earl Derr Biggers novel "Charlie Chan Carries On". The famed detective seeks to unmask a killer on a voyage across the Pacific Ocean. As has been mentioned elsewhere, this story is primarily a remake of the (now) lost movie, "Charlie Chan Carries On," (1931) starring Warner Oland. The story has been updated to include more Charlie, but it would be nice to have the missing movie to compare against.
Charlie Chan more gentle and self-effacing than he had been in the books, perhaps in "a deliberate attempt by the studio to downplay an uppity attitude in a Chinese detective." Oland starred in sixteen Chan films for Fox, often with Keye Luke, who played Chan's "", Lee Chan. Oland's "warmth and gentle humor" helped make the character and films popular; the Oland Chan films were among Fox's most successful. By attracting "major audiences and box-office grosses on a par with A's" they "kept Fox afloat" during the Great Depression. Oland died in 1938, and the Chan film, "Charlie Chan at the Ringside",