1935
Written by Robert Ellis and Helen Logan
Directed by Louis King
Starring Warner Oland, Rita Hayworth and "Stepin Fetchit"
Let's dispense with the formalities: there's not a lot going on in this movie that will be very surprising. As per usual, the mysterious murder Chan is trying to solve will end up being resolved in the final moments with the unmasking of a villain that, of course, has been around since the beginning of the movie. The only way one can see the guilty party coming is to guess--which negates the audience involvement, but helps maintain an otherwise absent desire to pay attention. Chan does some stuff that is vaguely Asiatic and the subplot involving the two young lovers ends happily. While Rita Hayworth shows up, a few years prior to her explosive popularity, Charlie Chan in Egypt is, for the most part, less entertaining than when the aforementioned character went to London.
But that's not why you'll be watching this: no, you'll be watching this film for one reason, and that reason is a young black actor who goes by the name "Stepin Fetchit," a name that can make the viewer think of only one thing--although Mr. Fetchit claims to have pulled the name from a racehorse. Wandering throughout scenes, speaking in a slow, completely bizarre high-pitched drawl while peering at all the characters through half-closed eyes, the character is without comparison in any film of the last fifty years. Too racist to be funny, but too interesting to ignore, Stepin plays the role of the lazy and cowardly "Snowshoes" as if the movie were actually about him and his desire to both get laid and do nothing. It's a weird thing to see: in every scene that he appears in, he mumbles quietly, and is acknowledged by his co-stars only when given an order. On top of that, there's a totally unfinished subplot involving Snowshoes and a local con artist that is, to be absolutely honest, more interesting then the murders Chan is investigating.
Although it's somewhat hyperbolic, there's an interesting article regarding Stepin Fetchit here. The history of black film actors hasn't ever been a proud one, but it's still a surprise how unsettling Charlie Chan in Egypt is--an apology is far too little, and far too late.
-Tucker Stone, 2007
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