Thanks again for your incredible help--you're definitely THE authority on all things Chan!
I checked out the Spanish version of Charlie Chan Carries On. The son in that film could almost be my grandfather, but I don't think so. I have his headshot from 1931 and they're both the same body type and have similar faces, but I'm not a 100% certain. My grandfather is 10-15 years older in all the other films where I've seen him and I definitely recognize him.
I'll pursue that lost film, or what's left of it at UCLA and USC. (Oddly enough, I'm a novelist and wrote a book where one of the characters is on the set of Eyes of the Totem, a lost film shot in Tacoma, Washington. And a year later someone found a copy in the archives at MOMA in NY. They re-released it at the same Rialto Theater where it premiered 87 years earlier).
And that photo with Oland is definitely on the set of Shanghai Express. It's a shot of a group of actors and they're all in costume, plus I have some other behind the scenes photos. None of Dietrich or Anna May Wong, unfortunately.
Thank you, Jamie! I received the emails and those shots of your grandfather with Warner Oland on the set of "Shanghai Express" are wonderful! I'll continue my reply via a response to your email.
