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Our Weekly Chat: "Charlie Chan at the Race Track"

FROM CHARLIE CHAN: “Long road sometime shortest way to end of journey.”

OUR CHAT ROOM: Our Chat Room can be accessed the same way that we accessed By going 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 Parachat room (sadly, no sound effects!), still, it is proving to be quite functional as far as the “basics” are concerned, and it seems to be working well for the most part.

THIS WEEK: Charlie Chan is called on to investigate the death of the owner of a champion race horse, a trail that leads him and his number one son, Lee, on a dangerous trail gambling fraud and murder!

OUR PRESENTATIONS: “Charlie Chan at the Race Track” (1936; 70 minutes) AND we have as our “extra” presentation, the ELEVENTH chapter of the World War II movie serial, “The Adventures of Smilin’ Jack“ (1943; 20 minutes), which features our Number One Son, Keye Luke AND “Pop,” Sidney Toler in supporting roles!

FILM SUMMARY: Following the suspicious disqualification of his horse, Avalanche, in the Melbourne Cup, Major Kent, a friend of Charlie Chan, returning to the United States with the thoroughbred via steamship, is found kicked to death in the horse's stall. Chan investigates when the liner stops off in Honolulu. He discovers evidence of foul play, and when the detective uncovers fraud involving another race in Los Angeles, he, along with Number One Son, Lee, seeks to expose an international gambling ring as well as the murderer.

FILM NOTES: The Roxy Theatre in New York billed this film as “At the Race Track with Charlie Chan.” ‘Variety’ reviewed the movie as “Chan at the Race Track.” According to ‘Motion Picture Herald’ and ‘Liberty,’ some scenes in the film were shot at Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia, California, and the film contained footage of "some of the most spectacular events of the recent racing season." ‘Motion Picture Herald’ also notes that the film "has a semi-topical significance in as much as a great antipodean horse, Pharlap, brought to this country a few years ago [from Australia], died under circumstances that have never been fully explained." ‘Liberty’ notes that Technical Director Monroe Liebergold had been a jockey for the well-known horse breeder H. P. Whitney. Although ‘Hollywood Reporter’ production charts list Neil Fitzgerald and John Mooney as additional actors, and only Neil Fitzgerald's participation in the final film has been confirmed.

Horses are, by their nature, not loners. It has long been a common practice for thoroughbred racehorses to be paired with a horse known as a companion pony which provides both a source of friendship and support. However, as we see in the case in Charlie Chan at the Race Track of Streamline’s pet monkey, Lollipop, these companion animals are not limited to horses. Other animals, such as dogs, goats, sheep, and, yes, monkeys, have been known to provide companionship to racehorses. In her article What is a Companion Pony? Jill Pellettieri notes that the famous horse Seabiscuit had a number of different companion animals and a horse named Pumpkin enjoyed the company of a dog named Pocatell and a spider monkey named Jo-Jo.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: For detailed information on our feature, “Charlie Chan at the Race Track,” please go to: http://www.charliechan.info/id30.html

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, “Charlie Chan at the Race Track.”

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, both our feature as well as our extra are available online. Please use the links provided at our Chat Room.

OUR MARCH MONTHLY POLL: Please take a moment to cast your vote in our new MARCH 2019 POLL, located at our Entrance Page (http://www.charliechan.info/index.html)!

OUR CCF CHAT ARCHIVE: Please take a look at our growing collection of CCF Chat Texts from 2018 and this year: http://www.charliechan.info/id630.html

NEXT WEEK: Please join us on Monday, March 25, as we move on with our Charlie Chan Film Tour with “Charlie Chan at the Opera” (1936).

SO, PLEASE JOIN US for this week’s Monday Evening Chat and Film Viewing as we continue our group tour through the entire Charlie Chan film series…and more…with our feature, “Charlie Chan at the Race Track.”

DOWNLOAD OUR CHARLIE CHAN FAMILY NEWSLETTER: If anyone has yet to access it, Included is a link where you will 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.

Sincerely,

Rush Glick