Return to Website

The Charlie Chan Family Message Board

Welcome to our Message Board. Please feel free to post your thoughts, questions, or information.

The Charlie Chan Family Message Board
Start a New Topic 
Author
Comment
Happy Birthday WARNER OLAND: "Charlie Chan in London"

OUR CCF MONDAY EVENING CHAT AND FILM VIEWING FOR OCTOBER 7, 2019

Happy Birthday, Warner Oland!

FROM CHARLIE CHAN: “When death enters window, no time for life to go by door.”

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

THIS WEEK’S PRESENTATIONS: “Charlie Chan in London” (1934; 79 minutes), AND we have as our “extra” presentation, Chapter 12 of the movie serial, “Secret Agent X-9“ (1945; 20 minutes), which features our Number One Son, Keye Luke, as well as our Number Three Son, Benson Fong.

“CHARLIE CHAN IN LONDON” CAST:
Warner Oland: Inspector Charlie Chan
Drue Leyton: Pamela Gray
Raymond Milland: Neil Howard
Mona Barrie: Lady Mary Bristol
Alan Mowbray: Geoffrey Richmond
Murray Kinnell: Phillips (alias Captain Seton)
Douglas Walton: Paul Gray (incorrectly billed as Hugh Gray)
Walter Johnson: Jerry Garton
E. E. Clive: Detective Sergeant Thacker
George Barraud: Major Jardine
Madge Bellamy: Mrs.[Betty] Fothergill
David Torrence: Sir Lionel Bashford
John Rogers: Lake
Paul England: Bunny Fothergill
Elsa Buchanan: Alice Perkins
Perry Ivans: Kemp
Claude King: RAF Commandant (not credited)
Reginald Sheffield: Commander King (not credited)
Helena Grant: Miss Judson (not credited)
Montague Shaw: Doctor (not credited)
Phillis Coghlan: Nurse (not credited)
Margarett Mann: Housemaid (not credited)
Carlie Taylor: Manor Guest (not credited)
Doris Stone: Manor Guest (not credited)
Harold Miller: Manor Guest (not credited)
Arthur Clayton: Warden (not credited)
Mary Gordon: Prison Matron (not credited)
J.C. Fowler: Fox Hunter (not credited)

FEATURE SUMMARY: When a young Englishman, Paul Gray, is convicted of murder and sentenced to hang, his sister, convinced of his innocence, asks Charlie Chan, who is visiting London, to investigate and find the real murderer. To that end, Chan visits a large country manor house in England where the killing occurred. There are a number of suspects among the large group of fox hunters who are staying at the manor, and it soon becomes clear that the killer is still actively trying to avoid capture. Charlie Chan must work fast to discover the real murderer's identity and save Paul Gray from the gallows.

FEATURE NOTES: This was the first film in the Charlie Chan series that was not based on a particular novel by Chan's creator, Earl Derr Biggers. The ‘New York Times’ commented that this film, written by Philip MacDonald, a noted detective novelist himself, "maintains the Chan tradition." “Charlie Chan in London” is the second-oldest film in the Charlie Chan series that we have available to us today for viewing as the intervening three following “The Black Camel” (at his time the oldest existing title in the Charlie Chan series, as the initial picture in the series, “Charlie Chan Carries On” is considered lost as are “Charlie Chan’s Chance” (1932), “Charlie Chan’s Greatest Case” (1933), and “Charlie Chan’s Courage” (1934).

TRIVIA: “Charlie Chan in London” is referenced in the 2001 mystery film “Gosford Park.” It is mentioned because a fictional Hollywood producer named Morris Weissman travels to Gosford Park to do research on British customs. Actor Alan Mowbray, a cast member in “Charlie Chan in London,” is also mentioned.

WORD OF THE WEEK FROM OUR FILM:
nappy - (Mainly British) Of a horse that is jumpy or irritable; nervy.
Geoffrey Richmond: "She's [the horse Hellcat] nappy."

TIME: We begin with arrivals and greetings at 7:30 EASTERN TIME. Then, we share our “extra” presentation, “Secret Agent X-9,” which will be followed at exactly 8:15 when we roll our feature for our Monday evening, “Charlie Chan in London.”

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 MONTHLY POLL: Please take a moment to cast your vote in our OCTOBER 2019 POLL, found as you scroll down our Entrance Page (http://www.charliechan.info/index.html)! This month’s question: “Which would you most likely participate in to celebrate the Charlie Chan family Home’s platinum 20th anniversary, Sunday, October 3, 2021?”

LAST MONTH’S POLL RESULT:
To which son does Charlie Chan give the hardest time?
Lee 0%
Jimmy 57%
Tommy 43%

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, October 14, with a viewing of two episodes from “The New Adventures of Charlie Chan,” starring J. Carroll Naish as Charlie Chan and James Hong as his Number One Son…Barry!

DON’T MISS THIS GREAT CHARLIE CHAN BLOG!: A great 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.com/

DO YOU HAVE A POLL QUESTION? Please feel free to suggest a Monthly Poll question! Send your ideas to: charliechanfamily@lyahoo.com!

SO, PLEASE JOIN US for this week’s Monday Evening Chat and Film Viewing as we share “Charlie Chan in London.”

Sincerely,
Rush Glick