FROM CHARLIE CHAN: “Ideas planted too soon often like seeds on winter ground - quickly die.”

As we make the final stops of our Charlie Chan Film Tour for 2017 we will be watching the final film in the Charlie Chan series, “The Sky Dragon,” starring Roland Winters, and featuring Keye Luke as Number one Son, Lee, along with Mantan Moreland as Birmingham Brown.

Also, as our weekly “extra,” we will be sharing another of the cartoons from the 16-episode cartoon series from 1972 which featured KEYE LUKE as the voice of Charlie Chan, “The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan.” The episode we will be sharing is “The Greek Caper.”

OUR PRESENTATIONS: “The Sky Dragon” (1949; 64 minutes) …AND “The Greek Caper” (1972; 22 minutes).

FILM SUMMARY: Charlie Chan and Number One Son, Lee, are passengers aboard a commercial airliner. There are also two insurance couriers who are carrying a shipment of $250,000. Minutes after drinking coffee that was served, everyone on board the plane falls asleep, including the crew. Lee is the first to awaken and he notices a limp hand protruding from the cockpit door. Upon closer inspection, discovers that one of the couriers has been stabbed to death and that the insurance money has been stolen.

FILM NOTES: The working title of this film was “Murder in the Air.” The film's title card reads: “Charlie Chan in ‘The Sky Dragon.’" Although Roy Livingston is credited onscreen as editor, ‘Hollywood Reporter’ production charts credit Ace Herman as editor. Keye Luke: "Sky Dragon was the best thing we made down at Monogram. I finished up the series - the forty-sixth, which is The Feathered Serpent, and the forty-seventh, which is Sky Dragon. They liked them so well - especially ‘Sky Dragon’ - that they planned to make three more Chans over in London with frozen funds. I was in New York waiting to go over the Atlantic and got a call from them that said, 'Gee, we're sorry but Her Majesty's government devaluated the pound and our frozen funds have taken a dive.' So we never made them. ‘Sky Dragon’ was a good story. It worked out very well and the response to it was so strong that they decided to make three more – ‘Charlie Chan in London,’ ‘Charlie Chan in Paris,’ and ‘Charlie Chan in Rome,’ I think were the titles. Of course, we never did." (Adapted from: Hanke, Ken, Charlie Chan at the Movies: History, Filmography, and Criticism, p. 251).

TIME: We begin with arrivals and greetings at 7:30 EASTERN TIME. Then, we share our special short “extra” which will be followed at exactly 8:15 when we roll our feature for this Monday evening, “The Sky Dragon.”

LOCATION: Our Charlie Chan Family Chat Room, which is accessed at http://www.charliechan.info/id17.html.

IF YOU LACK A COPY OF OUR FILM: Often our features can be found available online. SADLY, good fortune hides her face, as our featured film is NOT available online.

However, for our Chan cartoon, you may use this link: https://watchcartoonsonline.to/watch/the-amazing-chan-and-the-chan-clan-episode-14-the-greek-caper/

OUR MONTHLY POLL: Please take a moment to cast your vote in our December 2017 Poll, located at our Entrance Page (www.charliechan.info)!

NEXT WEEK: Join us …on TUESDAY, December 26, as we wrap-up our Charlie Chan Film Tour 2017 with a shared viewing of “The Return of Charlie Chan”!

SO, please join us for “The Sky Dragon” as we reach our second-to-last stop on this year’s Charlie Chan Film Tour!

Sincerely,

Rush Glick

Rush, I'm curious. Reference what Key Luke said. Were they planning to remake or do follow-ups to "Charlie Chan in London (1934)," and "Charlie Chan in Paris (1935)," as well as a new title, "Charlie Chan in Rome?" I realize Key Luke is quoted as "I believe were the titles", but that would have been pretty awesome. It's nice to know the intention was for Charlie Chan to Carry on sleuth_or_spy: !

Hi, Lou!

Yes, too bad it was not to be. I believe that the titles in question would have only indicated where the plots were to take place. I doubt that these would have been full-on remakes of the Fox Chan movies of the same titles, in two of the cases.

Sincerely,
Rush