A variety troupe arrives at a beach house in Malibu for a small vacation. Chrous member Adelaide is blackmailing various members of the group, and the troupe's star Marcia has Lois (a member of the group who Marcia knows is underage and can get her fired) steal letters from Adelaide's trunk, but Lois is strangled while going through the trunk. Charlie Chan (with #2 son Jimmy and Birmingham) are called to investigate by finding Marcia who everyone believes is the murderess, but the case is further periled when Marcia's body is found washed up on the shore. Chan finds out that many members of the troupe had reasons to get the incriminating evidence back and also murder Marcia. He decides to set a trap to catch the killer, but Jimmy inadvertently interferes to solve the case, putting himself, Charlie, and the rest of the troupe at the mercy of the killer. This was Sidney Toler's final film and its obvious that he was ill during the make of the film considering he was not introduced into the film until the 20 minute mark and has few scenes where he seems to be involved with the rest of the characters actions. The suspects don't have any qualities that make any stand out from each other. The mystery angle seems to be non existent. One of the worst Chan films from the series. Rating, 2.
