OUR FEATURE PRESENTATIONS FOR THE NEXT THREE MONDAYS will be: “Dead Men Tell” (Monday, July 2), “Charlie Chan in Rio” (Monday, July 9), and “Castle in the Desert” (Monday, July 16). These films are all available on YouTube if you happen to lack a personal copy for any or all of our movies, and links are provided at our Chat Room!

Preceding each Charlie Chan feature, will be a weekly “extra,” another chapter, episodes 36, 37, and 38) 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. These radio dramas are also available via links at our Chat Room!

OUR PRESENTATIONS: “Dead Men Tell” (1941, 61 minutes), “Charlie Chan in Rio” (1941, 62 minutes), and “Castle in the Desert” (1942, 63 minutes) …AND “The Landini Murder Case,” Episodes 35, 36, 37, and 38, (Radio Dramas: 1936; 15 minutes).

FILM SUMMARIES:

“Dead Men Tell”: The lure of millions of dollars in lost pirate treasure brings together an unusual and diverse group of fortune hunters aboard an old sailing ship, including Jimmy Chan, who sneaks aboard. Patience Nodbury, who holds the treasure map, torn in four pieces, dies suddenly, the apparent victim of the ghost of a long-dead pirate. Charlie Chan, on board the docked ship to locate his wayward son now finds himself in the midst of a case of what he believes to be murder.

“Charlie Chan in Rio”: Charlie Chan and son Jimmy visit the exotic city of Rio de Janeiro in order to arrest nightclub singer Lola Dean for a murder committed a year earlier in Honolulu. Later, they find the singer has been stabbed to death in her home. Her jewels have been stolen and a number of clues have been seemingly planted at the crime scene. The suspects are numerous, and Chan must sift through the evidence to unmask the killer.

“Castle in the Desert”: A guest is murdered at Manderley Castle, a medieval reconstruction located in the middle of the Mojave Desert, which is owned by wealthy historian Paul Manderley and his wife, Lucy, who is a descendent of the notorious Borgia family. Charlie Chan, who was summoned to the castle earlier, and Number Two Son, Jimmy, away on leave from the U.S. Army, quickly get to work trying to unravel the mystery.

FILM NOTES:

“Dead Men Tell”: According to ‘Hollywood Reporter’ news items, Jean Rogers was to have appeared in this film as Laura Thursday, but was replaced after shooting began by Katherine Aldridge when she became ill with the flu. ‘Hollywood Reporter’ production charts include Faye Helm in the cast, but her participation in the completed film has not been confirmed.

“Charlie Chan in Rio”: Although Ted North's character is called "Carlos Dantas" in the film's onscreen credits and in reviews, in the picture he is called "Clark Denton." According to ‘Hollywood Review’ news items, Virgil Miller was originally assigned as the photographer on this film, but was replaced by Joseph P. MacDonald, who was promoted after serving as an operative cameraman with Twentieth Century-Fox for eight years. An April 30, 1941 ‘Hollywood Reporter’ news item noted that Jeanne Kelly had been loaned by Universal to appear in the next Charlie Chan film, and, while it was presumably this picture, her participation has not been confirmed. “Charlie Chan in Rio” bears a “striking resemblance” to “The Black Camel,” directed ten years earlier by Hamilton MacFadden, who appears in the cast of “Rio.” It is perhaps of interest to note that MacFadden also appeared briefly in “The Black Camel,” and he also had a minor role in “Charlie Chan in Reno” (1939).

“Castle in the Desert”: Although an August 15, 1941 ‘Hollywood Reporter’ news item stated that John Larkin would write the screenplay for this film based on an original story by producer Ralph Dietrich, no other contemporary source confirms Dietrich's contributions to the picture as a writer. According to a studio press release and another ‘Hollywood Reporter’ news item, Janis Carter was originally cast as Brenda Hartford. The ‘Variety’ review erroneously lists the film's running time as 51 minutes. “Castle in the Desert” was the last Charlie Chan film produced by Twentieth Century-Fox. After Sidney Toler obtained the film rights to the character from the widow of Earl Derr Biggers, he continued to make Chan films at Monogram Pictures.

TIME: Each Monday evening 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 weekly feature.

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

IF YOU LACK A COPY OF OUR FILMS: Often our features can be found available online. Once again, are in luck as all THREE of our upcoming features ARE available online! Please access each film using the links provided at our Chat Room!

Similarly, each of our Charlie Chan radio dramas, can be accessed through the links offered at our Chat Room!

THIS WEEK’S IMAGE: Sorry, I am pained to state that no images are offered this month…

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

Sincerely,

Rush Glick