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Our Monday Evening Chat/Film Viewing for this week: "Charlie Chan in Honolulu"

FROM CHARLIE CHAN: “Making bedfellow of serpent no guarantee against snakebite.”

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” but reliable Chat Room is not as “fun” as our old Parachat room that was discontinued earlier this year (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: We begin the Sidney Toler era of the Charlie Chan film series with an adventure centered in Charlie Chan’s home, Honolulu. Can the detective, with the assistance of his Number Two and Three Sons find the identity of a killer who has stopped at nothing to carry out a dastardly scheme?

OUR PRESENTATIONS: “Charlie Chan in Honolulu” (1939; 72 minutes) AND we have as our “extra” presentation, the THIRD chapter of the well-produced movie serial, “The Green Hornet Strikes Again!“ (1940; 19 minutes), which features our Number One Son, Keye Luke, as the Green Hornet’s assistant, Kato!

FILM SUMMARY: A murder is committed on the passenger freighter ‘Susan B Jennings,’ as it reaches Honolulu. After a circuitous route to the docked ship, Charlie Chan learns that the murdered man's identity is a mystery and that secretary Judy Hayes is the only eyewitness to the fatal shooting. The rest of the freighter’s passengers include animal keeper Al Hogan, Mrs. Carol Wayne, psychiatrist Dr. Cardigan, criminal Johnny McCoy, and police detective Joe Arnold, who is taking McCoy back to the U.S. from Shanghai. Another person is murdered and $300,000 has gone missing.

FILM NOTES: This film was the first in which Sidney Toler appeared as Charlie Chan. According to a ‘Hollywood Reporter’ news item, associate producer John Stone had chosen Toler to be the successor to Warner Oland, who had played Chan from 1931 until his death in 1938, after seeing him play a Chinese character in the Paramount film King of Chinatown. Toler was the thirty-fifth actor tested for the role, with ‘Hollywood Reporter’ noting that others considered for the role included Leo Carrillo, Cy Kendall, and J. Edward Blomberg who appeared in “Charlie Chan on Broadway” (1937). Toler continued to play Chan until his death in 1947. This was also the first film in which Sen Yung played Jimmy Chan. Yung had replaced Keye Luke, who had portrayed Lee Chan in earlier entries in the series. Luke left the series after Oland's death, when he and Twentieth Century-Fox disagreed on his new contract. According to ‘Hollywood Reporter’ news items, the search for Luke's replacement was "frantic," and led to casting director James Ryan seeking applicants among the Los Angeles university students and Chinatown residents. The ‘New York Times’ had speculated that “Charlie Chan in Honolulu” would cost $300,000 to produce, and that Toler would receive $15,000 per Chan film. Many reviewers applauded Toler's and Yung's performances and noted that followers of the series would be satisfied with the new actors. The ‘Motion Picture Herald’ review remarked on the novelty of a Chan film being previewed at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, and stated that the December 16, 1938 showing was very well received by the "top ranking executives, the most sought after reviewers and commentators and invited guests" who attended. According to a ‘Hollywood Reporter’ news item, Richard Lane was originally signed to play the "romantic lead" opposite Phyllis Brooks. A tribute to Warner Oland appears in the film “Mr. Moto's Last Warning,” starring Peter Lorre. During that picture's production in August 1938, cast and crew learned of Oland's passing in his native Sweden while on the final leg of a tour of Europe. Oland was set to resume his role as Charlie Chan upon his return in a film that was to have been “Charlie Chan in Honolulu.” In one scene during a quick passing shot over the title "Charlie Chan in Honolulu," starring Warner Oland, on the bill of the Sultana Theatre of Variety, they placed the banner "Last Day."

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 in Honolulu.”

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 APRIL MONTHLY POLL: Please take a moment to cast your vote in our APRIL 2019 POLL, found as you scroll down 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 previous years and this year: http://www.charliechan.info/id630.html

NEXT WEEK: Please join us on Monday, May 6, as we move along on our Charlie Chan Film Tour with “Charlie Chan in Reno” (1938).

A NEW CHARLIE CHAN BLOG!: A NEW blog site, The Postman on Holiday, offered by our own Lou Armagno which is: "A place to explore all things surrounding Detective Charlie Chan, his creator Earl Derr Biggers, and their connection with Hawaii, Cleveland, and mystery fiction." It can be found at this address: https://thepostmanonholiday.home.blog/

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 in Honolulu.”

Sincerely,

Rush Glick