FROM CHARLIE CHAN: “There is old saying: ‘Death is a black camel that kneels unbidden at every gate.’"
OUR “NEW” CHAT ROOM: Our NEW Chat Room can be accessed the same way that we accessed our previous version. Just go to our “Chat Room” link at charliechan.info, or use this direct link: http://www.charliechan.info/id17.html
While our “new” Chat Room is not as “fun” as our old, now defunct, Parachat room (sadly, no sound effects!), still, it is proving to be quite functional as far as the “basics” are concerned.
THIS WEEK: We will be sharing the oldest surviving entry in the Fox Charlie Chan series, “The Black Camel,” from 1931, starring Warner Oland and featuring Bela Lugosi (plus Dwight Frye, rounding out the "Dracula" connection). In this adventure, taken from the story with the same title by Earl Derr Biggers, Charlie Chan is called on to solve the murder of a noted Hollywood actress in Waikiki!
OUR PRESENTATIONS: “The Black Camel” (1931; 71 minutes) AND we have as our “extra” presentation, the fourth chapter of the 1943 movie serial, The Adventures of Smilin’ Jack (1943; 20 minutes), which features our Number One Son, Keye Luke AND Sidney Toler in supporting roles!
FILM SUMMARY: Hollywood star Shelah Fane, who is in Hawaii shooting a film on location, is murdered in her beach house in Waikiki. Detective Charlie Chan of the Honolulu Police Department is called on to investigate. "Death is a black camel that kneels unbidden at every gate. Tonight black camel has knelt here," Chan tells the assembled suspects.
FILM NOTES: The novel “The Black Camel,” by Earl Derr Biggers, was originally published serial
ly in The Saturday Evening Post between May 18 and June 22, 1929. Sources conflict concerning the release date of the film. According to information in the Twentieth Century-Fox Records of the Legal Department at the UCLA Theater Arts Library, some scenes were shot in Honolulu, where some of the of the film's music was also recorded. Look for Ivy Ling who plays the Chan's Number One Daughter in the family breakfast scene. She also turns up in "Charlie Chan in Shanghai," and, she happens to be the daughter of E.L. Park, Charlie Chan in "Behind That Curtain."
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 Black Camel.”
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. Happily, our feature is available on the Internet as is our “extra.” Please use the links provided at our Chat Room.
OUR MONTHLY POLL: Please take a moment to cast your last-minute vote in our January 2019 Poll, located at our Entrance Page (http://www.charliechan.info/index.html)!
NEXT WEEK: Please join us on Monday, February 4 as we move into the second month of the year, continuing our Charlie Chan Film Tour for 2019 with “Charlie Chan in London” (1934), which was the first “non-Biggers” Chan mystery.
SO, PLEASE JOIN US for this week’s Monday Soiree as we continue our 2019 tour through the entire Charlie Chan film series…and more…with “The Black Camel.”
CHARLIE CHAN FAMILY NEWSLETTER: Included as an attachment, please find a copy of “The Charlie Chan Family 2018 Newsletter” (Issue No. 1), edited by Lou Armagno, whom we know as HonoluLou. Mr. Armagno, as you will see, put together the contributions of a number of CCF members, creating a masterpiece that will be a shining star in Charlie Chan family lore! If, for any reason, you are unable to access the links provided, please view the copy that was placed into our Study at our Charlie Chan family Home: http://www.charliechan.info/id632.html. You may also access “The Charlie Chan family 2018 Newsletter” at this address online: https://thepostmanonholidayhome.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/2018-newsletter-master.1.pdf.
