Our Chat/Film Viewing for this Monday: "Charlie Chan in Egypt"
FROM CHARLIE CHAN: “Impossible to prepare defense until direction of attack is known.”
FIRST my appreciation to everyone last week for the great patience with my computer issues which caused my bowing out of our gathering. Things have hopefully been corrected for this week!
THIS WEEK, Charlie Chan’s continuing overseas travels which began in London and took him to Paris, now brings the detective to that land of ancient wonders, Egypt. On the trail of illegally sold artifacts, the trail soon turns to a case of murder amidst the backdrop of ancient curses!
Preceding our Charlie Chan feature, our weekly “extra,” will be another chapter of the 1936 radio dramatization of “The Landini Murder Case,” an adaptation, of Earl Derr Biggers’ “Keeper of the Keys,” the only Biggers Chan Story never to have been made into a film, starring Walter Connolly. We continue the adventure with Episode 16 (as episode 15 is unavailable).
FILM SUMMARY: Charlie Chan travels to Egypt on behalf of the French Archeological Society to investigate Professor Arnold's excavation of Ahmeti's tomb, as artifacts from the tomb have been found in other museums, contrary to the agreement that Arnold had made with the Society. When the archaeologist disappears during the excavation of other ancient art treasures, Chan must sort out the stories of the archaeological team to find out why priceless treasures are ending up in the hands of private collectors, while confronting a series of seemingly supernatural events.
FILM NOTES: The American Film Institute Catalog correctly lists the running time for Charlie Chan in Egypt as 72 minutes. However, recent sources have stated that it is actually 65 minutes in length. The larger figure certainly relates to the original running time, while the smaller running time may indicate that some surviving prints of this film have been shortened. The music and the appearance of the opening title and credits lend further credence to this probability, as the music and accompanying sound of water splashing can be traced to a scene that occurs 51 minutes into the film. It is likely that the original opening title sequence has been lost and the current version was a reconstruction, possibly owing the film having been shortened in length at some point in its existence.
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, “Charlie Chan in Egypt.”
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. Good fortune smiles as our feature IS available online at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY7O1RXmLEA
However, for our Charlie Chan radio drama, you may use this link: https://www.oldtimeradiodownloads.com/crime/charlie-chan/charlie-chan-16-landini
OUR MONTHLY POLL: Please take a moment to cast your vote in our February 2018 Poll, located at our Entrance Page (http://www.charliechan.info/index.html)!
NEXT WEEK: Join us on Monday, February 19, Presidents Day, for TWO EPISODES from “The New Adventures of Charlie Chan” (“The Counterfeiters” and “The Death of a Don”) as we celebrate the birthday of James Hong, Charlie Chan’s Number One Son on TV!
PLEASE JOIN US as we share “Charlie Chan in Egypt”!
