This Monday's Chat/ Shared Film viewing: The Sky Dragon"
FROM CHARLIE CHAN: “Ideas planted too soon often like seeds on winter ground - quickly die.”
THIS WEEK: As we reach the culmination of the Charlie Chan film series, it’s murder in the skies as Charlie Chan, Number One Son, Lee, and Birmingham Brown…with help from Lt. Mike Ruark, take on a killer who lurks in their midst!
OUR PRESENTATIONS: “The Sky Dragon” (1949; 64 minutes) AND we continue an “extra” presentation consisting this week of four movie trailers: three Chans and one Chan parody!
FILM SUMMARY:
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 [sic] 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).
FILM NOTES: 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.
TIME: We begin with arrivals and greetings at 7:30 EASTERN TIME. Then, we share our “extra” presentation which will be followed at exactly 8:15 when we roll our feature for our 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 online, but, sadly, there is NO online version of this week’s movie available. (Personal copies only for viewing this week.)
For our “extra,” please use the links provided at our Chat Room.
OUR MONTHLY POLL: Please take a moment to cast your vote in our December 2018 Poll, located at our Entrance Page (http://www.charliechan.info/index.html)!
NEXT WEEK: Please join us on Monday, December 24 for a viewing of TWO episodes from “The New Adventures of Charlie Chan”: “Voodoo Death,” and “A Hamlet in Flames.”
SO, PLEASE JOIN US as we share “The Sky Dragon," the final movie in the Charlie Chan film series...
CALLING ALL WRITERS: Use those creative writing talents that I know you ALL have to write an article for a year-end Charlie Chan Family special publication! You can pen anything that you would like to share! It can be about your favorite aspects of our Weekly Chats, or it can be about your experience as a Charlie Chan fan over the years (how you "discovered" Charlie Chan, how you watched Chan movies over the years, how you have shared the detective with others - family and friends, etc!). You may wish to share a description of your personal Charlie Chan collection of memorabilia, or you might wish to share some film trivia....ANYTHING Chan-related! So, please consider this invitation to contribute to our first attempt at a Charlie Chan Family publication. You can email your contribution to: charliechanfamily@lycos.com. Happy writing and THANK YOU SO MUCH, and a special thanks to those who have already contributed!
