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Our Monday Evening CCF Chat/Film Viewing: "Charlie Chan in Honolulu"

FROM CHARLIE CHAN: “When money talk, few are deaf.”

FIRST, some wonderful news! I am overjoyed and relieved to announce that our “Old Movie Maven” Virginia, is fine and doing well! Yesterday I received a long-hoped-for letter response to the note I sent to her some weeks ago. I called and left her a message at her new telephone number, and when she checks her messages, she will hopefully return my call. If you would like to contact Virginia at her new phone number, Please email to charliechanfamily@tycos.com.

THIS WEEK, we begin the Sidney Toler era of the Charlie Chan film series with a shared viewing of “Charlie Chan in Honolulu.” We also see the first appearance of Victor Sen Yung as the Chans’ Number Two Son, Jimmy, along with the second of three appearances of Layne Tom, Jr. as a Chan son, this son being Tommy. Can Chan and his Second Son crack a case of murder aboard a passenger freighter moored at the port of Honolulu?

Preceding our Charlie Chan feature, our weekly “extra,” will be another chapter, episode 26) 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.

OUR PRESENTATIONS: “Charlie Chan in Honolulu” (1939; 68 minutes) …AND “The Landini Murder Case,” Episode 27 (Radio Drama: 1936; 15 minutes).

FILM SUMMARY: A murder is committed on the passenger freighter ‘Susan B Jennings,’ as it reaches Honolulu. After a circuitous route to the docked ship, Charlie Chan learns that the murdered man's identity is a mystery and that secretary Judy Hayes is the only eyewitness to the fatal shooting. The rest of the freighters' passengers include animal keeper Al Hogan, Mrs. Carol Wayne, psychiatrist Dr. Cardigan, criminal Johnny McCoy, and police detective Joe Arnold, who is taking McCoy back to the U.S. from Shanghai. Another person is murdered and $300,000 has gone missing.

FILM NOTES: This film was the first in which Sidney Toler appeared as Charlie Chan. According to a ‘Hollywood Reporter’ news item, associate producer John Stone had chosen Toler to be the successor to Warner Oland, who had played Chan from 1931 until his death in 1938, after seeing him play a Chinese character in the Paramount film “King of Chinatown.” Toler was the thirty-fifth actor tested for the role, with ‘Hollywood Reporter’ noting that others considered for the role included Leo Carrillo, Cy Kendall, and J. Edward Blomberg who appeared in “Charlie Chan on Broadway” (1937). Toler continued to play Chan until his death in 1947. This was also the first film in which Sen Yung played Jimmy Chan. Yung had replaced Keye Luke, who had portrayed Lee Chan in earlier entries in the series. Luke left the series after Oland's death, when he and Twentieth Century-Fox disagreed on his new contract. According to ‘Hollywood Reporter’ news items, the search for Luke's replacement was "frantic," and led to casting director James Ryan seeking applicants among the Los Angeles university students and Chinatown residents. The ‘New York Times’ had speculated that “Charlie Chan in Honolulu” would cost $300,000 to produce, and that Toler would receive $15,000 per Chan film. Many reviewers applauded Toler's and Yung's performances and noted that followers of the series would be satisfied with the new actors. ‘The Motion Picture Herald’ review remarked on the novelty of a Chan film being previewed at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, and stated that the December 16, 1938 showing was very well received by the "top ranking executives, the most sought after reviewers and commentators and invited guests" who attended. According to a ‘Hollywood Reporter’ news item, Richard Lane was originally signed to play the "romantic lead" opposite Phyllis Brooks. A tribute to Warner Oland appears in the film “Mr. Moto's Last Warning,” starring Peter Lorre. During that picture's production in August 1938, cast and crew learned of Oland's passing in his native Sweden while on the final leg of a tour of Europe. Oland was set to resume his role as Charlie Chan upon his return in a film that was to have been “Charlie Chan in Honolulu.” In one scene during a quick passing shot over the title "Charlie Chan in Honolulu," starring Warner Oland, on the bill of the Sultana Theatre of Variety, they placed the banner "Last Day."

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 Honolulu.”

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. Once again, good fortune beams her bright smile as our feature IS available online at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8okV9a0clY&t=1474s

And, for our Charlie Chan radio drama, you may use this link: https://www.oldtimeradiodownloads.com/crime/charlie-chan/charlie-chan-27-landini

OUR MONTHLY POLL: Please take a moment to cast your vote in our soon-to-conclude April 2018 Poll, located at our Entrance Page (http://www.charliechan.info/index.html)!

NEW BOOK RELEASE! Here is the link at amazon.com to pre-order James Neibaur’s new Charlie Chan book:

https://www.amazon.com/Charlie-Chan-Films-James-Neibaur/dp/162933314X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1523727689&sr=1-2&keywords=charlie+chan+film

This is the link to the softcover version. It is also available in hardcover for an additional $10.

NEXT WEEK: Join us on May 7 when we join Charlie Chan and Number Two Son, Jimmy in “Charlie Chan in Reno.”

SO, PLEASE JOIN US this week as we have fun viewing and sharing “Charlie Chan in Honolulu.”

Sincerely,

Rush Glick