CHARLIE CHAN AT THE RACE TRACK

Keye Luke and Warner Oland

CHARLIE CHAN AT THE RACE TRACK (1936). Director: H. Bruce Humberstone.

Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) uncovers skulduggery surrounding a race horse when its jockey (Frankie Darro of Burn 'Em Up Barnes) throws a race, and that's only the beginning. On shipboard, the horse's owner is found trampled to death but Chan quickly deduces that it was not an accident and the horse is not to blame. Suspects and other characters include Lee Chan (Keye Luke) who pretends to be a steward to help/hinder his father; Alice Fenton (Helen Wood), Bruce Rogers (Thomas Beck), jockey Eddie Brill (Junior Coghlan of The Adventures of Captain Marvel); horse owner George Chester (Alan Dinehart of Seven Days Ashore); and his daughter, Catherine (Gloria Roy). There's also a mischievous monkey called Lollipop; a groom named Streamline (John Henry Allen, who seems to be doing a Stepin Fetchit imitation); and when offered refreshment, Chan asks not for spirits but sarsaparilla. Charlie actually discusses blood spatter evidence at one point, proving such matters were invoked decades before CSI and Henry Lee.

Verdict: Fun, as usual, if not topnotch Chan. **1/2.

LOVE ON A BUDGET

Wise Women: Spring Byington and Florence Roberts

LOVE ON A BUDGET (1938). Director: Herbert I. Leeds.

"Somewhere in that deep, dark breast of yours lies the spirit of Carnivale."

Bonnie Jones (Shirley Deane) and her new husband Herbert (Russell Gleason) are having trouble making ends meet and have little furniture in their attractive new home. Along comes Bonnie's free-loading Uncle Charlie (Alan Dinehart), who has Herbert cashing in his bonds not to buy furniture but to invest in a scheme that ultimately leaves him deeper in debt. Shirley wants to move back in with her parents, or file for divorce, and things aren't helped when Herbert and Charlie go out dancing with the former's employee, Millie (Joyce Compton of Dark Alibi), who looks sensational without her glasses. Love on a Budget is an amusing trifle with Granny Jones (Florence Roberts), in particular, in top form, dispensing wisdom and put-downs to Uncle Charlie in equal measure. The scene when Bonnie prepares her first dinner for the whole family is also quite funny. Mayor Jones (Jed Prouty), Mrs. Jones (Spring Byington), Jack (Kenneth Howell), Roger (George Ernest) and sister Lucy (June Carlson) are also along for the ride, as is a much more subdued Dixie Dunbar as Jack's date, apparently a different character from the crazy gal she played in previous Jones Family movies. Leeds also directed Bunco Squad. Shirley Deane was Princess Aura in Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe. Florence Roberts was the Widow Peep in Babes in Toyland. This is the eighth movie in the series.

Verdict: Pleasant minor comedy. **1/2.