You have brought up a unique and interesting topic! I checked both Wikipedia and IMDb and came up with the following:
Born: January 18, 1892 in Melitopol, Taurida Governorate, Russian Empire [now Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine]
Died: July 7, 1983 (age 91) in Bakersfield, Kern County, California, USA.
Samuel Kaylin was a film composer who scored Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto movies for Fox Film and 20th Century Fox. Kaylin was born in the Ukraine and immigrated to the US on January 16, 1907 aboard the Norddeutscher Lloyd steamship Neckar. He worked as a musician at the Chinese Theater in Los Angeles.
Kaylin joined Fox Film in 1930 and composed more than 80 film scores. Among them were the scores for Shirley Temple's "Bright Eyes" and John Ford's "Judge Priest." He left 20th Century Fox, Fox Film's successor, in 1940.
As noted, Kaylin worked as Musical Director on many Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto films. His Chan film credits include:
1931 - "Charlie Chan Carries On" (composer: title music - uncredited)
1931 - "The Black Camel" (composer: title music - uncredited)
1933 - "Charlie Chan's Greatest Case" (musical director)
1934 - "Charlie Chan's Courage" (composer: stock music - uncredited) / (musical director)
1934 - "Charlie Chan in London" (composer: stock music - uncredited) / (musical director)
1935 - "Charlie Chan in Paris" (musical director)
1935 - "Charlie Chan in Egypt" (composer: stock music - uncredited) / (musical director)
1935 - "Charlie Chan in Shanghai" (musical director)
1936 - "Charlie Chan's Secret" (composer: stock music - uncredited) / (musical director)
1936 - "Charlie Chan at the Circus" (composer: stock music - uncredited) / (musical director)
1936 - "Charlie Chan at the Race Track" (musical director)
1936 - "Charlie Chan at the Opera" (musical director)
1937 - "Charlie Chan at the Olympics" (musical director)
1937 - "Charlie Chan on Broadway" (musical director)
1937 - "Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo" (musical director)
*1938 - "Mr. Moto's Gamble" (composer: stock music - uncredited) / (musical director) (This was the "almost" Chan film, "Charlie Chan at the Ringside")
1938 - "Charlie Chan in Honolulu" (musical director)
1939 - "Charlie Chan in Reno" (musical director)
1939 - "Charlie Chan at Treasure Island (musical director)"
1939 - "Charlie Chan in City in Darkness" (composer: stock music - uncredited) / (musical director)
1940 - "Charlie Chan in Panama" (musical director)
1940 - "Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise" (musical director)
(That's a total of 19 Charlie Chan films! That has to be the record for participation in the Charlie Chan film series for any production personnel!)
Samuel Kaylin's final film credit was for 1944's "Mystery man" (United Artists), a western adventure starring William Boyd as Hopalong Cassidy.
If anyone else has any further information on Samual Kaylin, please add your "two-yuan" (两元) worth...
Again, thank you, Michael, for bringing Samuel Kaylin to our attention!
It's so neat how many different ways we can still go and find interesting things to figure out on these wonderful films. One always thinks (then finds out)that these individuals who helped create the films we hold to heart, lived out doing the great things like music forever. I always see many of the people named in different films down the road from the Chan films. And it puts a smile on my face.
