FROM CHARLIE CHAN: “Any powder that kills flea is good powder.”

GREETINGS… This week we visit a VERY unusual museum with Charlie Chan and Number Two son, Jimmy, as we join “Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum,” where seemingly lifeless figures can become a threatening reality!

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 at the Wax Museum” (1940; 63 minutes) along with our “extra,” the TENTH episode of “Lost City of the Jungle” with Keye Luke! (1946; 14 minutes [Begin viewing at the 16:58 mark, finishing at the 31:29 mark!]).

“Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum” CAST:

CAST (as credited):

Sidney Toler: Charlie Chan
Sen Yung: Jimmy Chan
C. Henry Gordon: Dr. Cream
Marc Lawrence: Steve McBirney (also called "Mac")
Joan Valerie: Lily Latimer
Marguerite Chapman: Mary Bolton
Ted Osborn: Tom Agnew
Michael Visaroff: Dr. Otto von Brom
Hilda Vaughn: Mrs. [Joe] Rocke
Charles Wagenheim: Willie Fern
Archie Twitchell: Carter Lane
Edward Marr: Grenock
Joe King: Inspector O'Matthews
Harold Goodwin: Edwards

UNCREDITED CAST (alphabetical):

Walter Bacon: Sidewalk Passerby
Stanley Blystone: Bailiff
Jimmy Conlin: Tour Guide
David Newell: Courtroom Attorney
Brick Sullivan: Pete
Charles Trowbridge: Judge
Emmett Vogan: Prosecuting Attorney

FEATURE SUMMARY: Escaped killer Steve McBirney vows to get even with Charlie Chan whose testimony was key in his conviction. Recovering from plastic surgery at an eerie wax museum run by Dr. Cream, the killer lies in wait. Chan is lured to the museum through an offer to participate in a live radio broadcast there. Fortuitously escaping a death trap, Chan, along with Number Two Son, Jimmy, investigates the murder of one of the other participants which is connected to a crime that occurred a decade before.

FEATURE NOTES: According to David Robert Cellitti, the wax figure of Charlie Chan (and, perhaps we may assume that the rest of the wax figures used in the film) was made by a studio in Los Angeles called The Stubergh's, which was run by Katherine Stubergh. "The late Katherine Stubergh was my mentor. She supplied wax figures for such films as ‘House of Wax,’ ‘Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein,” “The Frozen Ghost” and many other pictures...including ‘Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum.’"

TRIVIA: The round mummy case that Jimmy hides in was also used in “Charlie Chan at Treasure Island” as a main prop in Rhadini's stage show.

THIS WEEK’S TERM: Dyak headhunters - The Dyak, once a fierce and feared people, were among the original inhabitants of the island of Borneo, located in the western Pacific north of Java. In 1927, forensic doctor William Krohn set off for Borneo to collect ethnological specimens for Chicago’s Field Museum, living among the Dyak people, learning everything he could about their beliefs and way of life. The results of his work were published in his book “Among the Dyak Headhunters.”

Charlie Chan: "Tonga poison used by Dyak headhunters in Borneo."

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. Fortunately, OUR FEATURE IS AVAILABLE ONLINE, so please use the link provided at our Chat Room.

OUR MONTHLY POLL: Please take a moment to cast your vote in our JUNE 2020 POLL, found as you scroll down our Entrance Page (http://www.charliechan.info/index.html)! To paraphrase this month’s poll question: “Do you picture yourself as more like Charlie Chan or Birmingham Brown?” Be sure to cast your vote in this month’s poll!

OUR MAY POLL RESULT:

QUESTION: Has the viewing of Charlie Chan's adventures helped you to ease some of the realities of isolation brought on by the current virus situation?

Yes 100%

No 0%

(NOTE: Rarely do we have such a one-sided result!)

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

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, June 15 as we celebrate our Number One Son’s birthday with a viewing of “Phantom of Chinatown”!

AND… DON’T MISS THIS GREAT CHARLIE CHAN BLOG!: Continuing strongly in 2020, great blog site, The Postman on Holiday, offered by our own Charlie Chan and Earl Derr Biggers expert, 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." Updated each month, it can be found at this address: https://thepostmanonholiday.com/

THE CHARLIE CHAN FAMILY NEWSLETTER FOR THE YEAR 2019 REMAINS AVAILABLE! HonoluLou has edited and produced this year's recap of the past year, 2019, for all things Charlie Chan. This tour de force issue can be accessed at: https://thepostmanonholidayhome.files.wordpress.com/2019/12/2019-newsletter-master1-dec-28.pdf ENJOY!

SO, PLEASE JOIN US for this week’s Monday Evening Chat and Film Viewing as we join “Charlie Chan at the Wax Museum.”

THANK YOU SO MUCH…

Sincerely,

Rush Glick

There is a nice little story about Toler buying his wax double and sending it to a hawaiian cinema.
Can this be confirmed? Are there newspaper clips or photos?

I always thought how unlikly this is.
How comes the hawaiian cinema owner asked Toler? Anyone in mainland USA may have asked doing him a favor.
And how did the man knew about the wax double before seeing the movie?
Because after that it would've taken too much time sending it by ship (plane!?) for the viewing in his cinema.
Okay, possibly for the next chan movie.

And at last: Is the wax double still there or what happended to it?
Would be nice to find it in an old attic in a house without a key ;-)