FROM CHARLIE CHAN: “Spirits always have very long way to come.”

GREETINGS! Another spooky house and séance cession and another murder are on the menu for our Monday evening feast as we share a night of “Black Magic” at a “Meeting at Midnight”!

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 PRESENTATION: “Black Magic/Meeting at Midnight” (1944; 65 minutes); along with our “extra,” a Charlie Chan radio mystery, (1936; 15 minutes).

FEATURE INTRODUCTION: A murder occurs during a séance conducted by a fraudulent medium. Birmingham Brown, who happens to be on the premises when the killing occurs as is Charlie Chan's daughter, Frances. Chan finds himself entangled in a dangerous web as he follows the killer's trail of death in a case that has its origins a decade in the past.

FEATURE NOTES: The working titles of this film were “Murder Chamber” and “Charlie Chan in the Murder Chamber.” It was also reviewed as “Charlie Chan in Black Magic.” The film was later reissued as “Meeting at Midnight,” probably so as to avoid confusion following the 1949 release of the Orson Wells film also titled “Black Magic.” Although a ‘Hollywood Reporter’ news item lists Trevor Bardette in the cast, his participation in the completed film has not been confirmed.

CAST (as credited):

Sidney Toler: Charlie Chan
Mantan Moreland: Birmingham Brown
Frances Chan: Frances Chan
Joseph Crehan: Sergeant Matthews
Helen Beverley: Norma Duncan (alias Nancy Woods)
Jacqueline deWit: Justine Bonner
Geraldine Wall: Harriett Green
Ralph Peters: Rafferty
Frank Jaquet: Paul Hamlin
Edward Earle: Dawson
Claudia Dell: Vera Starkey
Harry Depp: Charles Edwards
Charles Jordan: Tom Starkey
Richard Gordon: William Bonner

UNCREDITED CAST (alphabetical):

Darby Jones: Mr. Johnson
George Morrell: Man at Elevator
Dick Rush: Police Officer
Crane Whitley: Dr. [William] Bonner

FOR COMPLETE INFORMATION ON OUR FEATURE: Please go to http://www.charliechan.info/id47.html

THIS WEEK’S TERM: Shattuck Hotel - A landmark hotel located in Berkeley, California, that opened in 1910.

Frances Chan (answering Sgt. Matthews at to where her father is staying): "At the Shattuck Hotel."

THIS WEEK’S IMAGE: Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan in “Black Magic.”



For a viewing of more than 500 images from ALL films in the Charlie Chan series and MORE, please visit our Gallery: http://www.charliechan.info/id448.html

IF YOU LACK A COPY OF OUR FILM: Often our features can be found online, and this week once again we are the beneficiaries of good fortune as “Black Magic/Meeting at Midnight” IS AVAILABLE online! You may access it above at “THIS WEEK’S PRESENTATION” and also at our Chat Room as a link.

OUR MONTHLY POLL: Please take a moment to cast your vote in our AUGUST 2021 POLL, right here: August 2021 Poll

OUR JULY POLL RESULT:

QUESTION: Which film do you think has the best scene(s) with the Chan family?

“The Black Camel” 11%

“Charlie Chan at the Circus” 72%

“Charlie Chan in Honolulu” 17%

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/id830.html

NEXT WEEK (August 9): We will be sharing a viewing of “The Jade Mask.”

OUR CHARLIE CHAN FAMILY NEWSLETTER for this year!

This is our third annual Charlie Chan Family Newsletter! It contains the work of a number of Charlie Chan Family members and friends. Thank you so much to Lou Armagno, aka HonoluLou, who has put together and published yet another masterpiece! Please use this link to access this year's newsletter which covers the year 2020. Please enjoy!

AND… DON’T MISS THIS GREAT CHARLIE CHAN BLOG!: AND… DON’T MISS THIS GREAT CHARLIE CHAN BLOG!: A great blog site, The Postman on Holiday, is 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: www.thepostmanonholiday.com

SO, REMEMBER, PLEASE JOIN US for this week’s feature, “Black Magic"...also known as "Meeting at Midnight."

THANK YOU SO MUCH…

Sincerely,

Rush Glick

Hey, does anybody know where I can find a good copy of MEETING AT MIDNIGHT on DVD? I have the old BLACK MAGIC copy from the CHANTHOLOGY set. Despite what the information for the release of this film in the set says, MEETING AT MIDNIGHT was the re-issue title that AAP made around 1949 for TV release. I don't know if the film was ever shown in theaters with the new title, but some small towns DID apparently get prints from AAP of certain films for theatrical showings. (Cartoons and I believe, some of the SHERLOCK HOLMES series films). I'd like to get a copy on DVD of the retitled version as AAP did a nice job of creating a new title card - with the illustration of Sidney Toler as "Chan" - and I'd like t have it for the "novelty" value!

Leonard, Aloha. That's quite interesting. I too have the Chanthology and the cover says Meeting at Midnight. However, when the film credits start it's say:

Monogram Pictures Corporation presents: Charlie Chan in "Black Magic." Then underneath reads, "Originally released as Meeting at Midnight.

So Your saying they have it backwards and what we're actually watching is "Meeting at Midnight?" Crazy.

That's right, Lou, they got it backwards! It was originally titled "Black Magic," and, certainly due to the release of the Orson Wells film of the same name in 1949, the title was changed. Can one imaging the possible confusion that might have arisen with showings of the Chan film on or after that date? Also, it was possible that the Chan "Black Magic" could have been shown on early television, and without the name change, even more confusion could have resulted, perhaps even legal action, though the Monogram predated the Wells movie by four years.

I think that I had a VHS copy of "Black Magic" that was titled "Meeting at Midnight" on the title card, but I am not really sure. It did have that title on the cover of the box. Here is an image of that video (captured on the Internet):



The only way I can think of to get the "new" title on a copy would be through what we once called the "grey market." Possibly on eBay, and it would not be very expensive, probably!

Interesting topic, thank you, Leonard!

Sincerely,
Rush Glick

Lou, just to clarify, the DVD of BLACK MAGIC is from the original source. The explanation the MGM-UA people - or whoever it was that put the information superimposed over the image - got it backwards - which Rush explained. The AAP people retitled the film for TV - and possible theatrical showings (generally in smaller towns) - as MEETING AT MIDNIGHT. Over the years, film and VHS dealers released the film under its newer title, believing that as MEETING AT MIDNIGHT, the film lost its copyright protection. I don't think this is technically true, not being a lawyer or versed in copyright law. I just wanted to get a nice DVD copy of the film with the re-issued title from AAP for the novelty of it.