The black camel 1931 - The earliest surviving film of the Charlie Chan series

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021668/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 7,3

Director: Hamilton MacFadden
Main Cast: Warner Oland, Sally Eilers, Bela Lugosi, Dorothy Revier, Robert Young

"The Black Camel is one of the more watchable mystery films from the early 1930s, despite the fact that it suffers from many of the usual difficulties that one encounters in movies of this vintage. It is the earliest circulating (and perhaps existing) of Fox's Charlie Chan films and only the second movie to star Warner Oland as Chan. It does offer the treat of seeing Chan operating on his home turf, where he is a highly respected member of the police department rather than an interloper, and also of taking in Warner Oland's fresh, lively self-effacing performance as the police inspector - even the aphorisms, including the one referred to obliquely in the title ('Death is a black camel that kneels unbidden at every gate'), sound fresh, and in place of his Number One and Number Two sons, the comic relief is provided by a well-meaning but overly enthusiastic assistant (Otto Yamaoka) from the police force. It does have the drawbacks of many movies made in the early sound era, including a relatively immobile camera and shots that linger just a little too long for their own good, some stretches of dialogue (not involving the leads) that is enunciated just a little too carefully to let a scene flow smoothly, and a complete absence of background music except for source music (in this case, all Hawaiian). The main reason for the movie's lingering appeal today lies in the quality of the acting on the part of Oland and Bela Lugosi, and supporting players Murray Kinnell, Victor Varconi, and Sally Eilers - they're animated and interesting enough to keep the film moving, and it's fascinating to see Oland and Lugosi in such relatively youthful and unmannered performances, early in their careers. Because of the combination of the mystery - which is rooted in an unsolved Hollywood murder of the late '20s, and resounds with then-contemporary sensationalism about the dark side of the movie capital - and the extensive location shooting in Hawaii, this is a fun film to watch for a lot of reasons beyond what one would expect from a basic Charlie Chan movie. It also includes a very important scene depicting Chan's unofficial side, as an exasperated but loving family man, which distinguished the screen character from other sleuths of the period, and helped to make Chan a much more fully drawn character than critics usually acknowledge." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-black-camel-v85166/

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(Sorry, this time I couldn't embed the video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn-VkUp18Dw