Charlie Chan at the Opera

A man judged dangerous, who has lost his memory, escapes from an asylum. He was once a famous opera singer, presumed to have died in a fire thirteen years ago. He hides in the city's opera house. That same night someone from the opera company is killed and suspicion falls straight on him. Charlie Chan takes over the investigation. It is the most cited entry in the series, largely because of Boris Karloff. Karloff plays the escaped man and barely speaks throughout the part; his background in horror settles here inside a detective story. An opera was composed specially for the film and the staged sections were shot like a real production. Warner Oland is Chan again; Keye Luke plays his son Lee. Sixty-eight minutes, and the darkest atmosphere in the series.