Based on your accounts, as well as by other online accounts, the English versions of the Warner Oland Charlie Chan films ‘Charlie Chan Carries On’ and ‘Charlie Chan’s Greatest Case’ are lost. I have a copy of ‘Movies on TV and Videocassette 1990’ of which M. Faust is managing editor (New York: Bantam Books, 1989). The entry for Charlie Chan Carries On (1931) makes no mention of any Spanish-language version (Eran Trece), only the English version starring Warner Oland is mentioned, so this version must have been available on film and/or videotape was still available in 1989.

Also, an entry for ‘Charlie Chan’s Greatest Case (1933) is there, so it was also available, on film and/or videotape in 1989. This book was intended for the US market, so copies may still be available in the United States. The films may not really be lost. Perhaps they are still available, and the public might still be able to enjoy if we only we look at the inventories of the last remaining videotape rental shops, or if they have all closed down, their warehouses.

Time is of the essence. We may still find them.

Jeronimo

J.C., Aloha. Here's an excerpt from an article Mr. Glick wrote for the 2019 Charlie Chan Family Home Newsletter:

By Webmaster Rush Glick
In the early morning hours of July 9, 1937, a major fire broke out and swept through a 20th Century-Fox film storage facility in Little Ferry, New Jersey. Little Ferry firefighters first arrived at 2:26 a.m., followed by companies from several other neighboring towns, but the fire was not fully extinguished until three hours later. More than 40,000 reels of negatives and prints were destroyed including the highest-quality examples of every Fox film produced prior to 1935. Sadly, this included the four Fox films that are today missing from the Charlie Chan film series: Charlie Chan Carries On (1931), Charlie Chan’s Chance (1932), Charlie Chan’s Greatest Case (1933), and Charlie Chan’s Courage (1934).

The first VHS tapes came out in Japan in 1976 and in the U.S. 1977, so... Rush's entire article can be found at: https://thepostmanonholidayhome.files.wordpress.com/2019/12/2019-newsletter-master1-dec-28.pdf.

It would indeed be a wonderful discovery to find one of the lost Chan films, and many have searched far and wide. However, they would be on 8mm film if discovered unless I'm mistaken. Lou

Thank you for the enlightening reply. The best way to check on the availability of the particular Charlie Chan films at the time of publication (1989) would be to get in touch with the authors or editors of the book.

I made an online search for Steven H. Scheuer, who is listed as the person who conceived and edited Movies on TV and Videocassette. Unfortunately, an online search revealed that he passed away in 2014. Perhaps M. Faust, who is listed as managing editor, or John Goudas, associate editor, can provide answers.

It is significant that 'The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu,' another Warner Oland starrer, is not listed in the volume, perhaps because it was unavailable at the time of publication.

Jeronimo

How do I attach a pdf document here? The book "Movies on TV and Videocassette 1990," published in 1989, in which the Charlie Chan films now regarded as lost were still not considered so, I would have wanted to attach for the perusal of members.

Thank you.

J.C. I don't believe you can. Only webmaster Rush Flick can. You can send to him though at: Rush Glick

Lou

J.C. I don't believe you can. Only webmaster Rush Glick can. You can send to him though at: Rush Glick

Lou

The subject of the "lost" Charlie Chan films has been a topic of discussion, on this website, for the past 20 years. Your posting raises some interesting questions. Are the films really lost? Are researchers not looking in the right places?

STEVEN H. SCHEUER, AUTHOR

As you mentioned, Steven H. Scheuer passed away in 2014. Mr. Scheuer was the first author to write books about movies being shown on television. His people, the publisher, etc., will not have the answers to your questions. Like you, I owned paperback editions of Mr. Scheuer's Movies on TV books. My earliest edition was from 1969. Wikipedia has an interesting article about him.

Steven H. Scheuer - Wikipedia
[Wikipedia]

QUESTION #1: Where did Mr. Scheuer get his movie information? I suspect the information about the films came from the distributors of the films (i.e. FOX Television, Paramount TV, RKO Pictures, Screen Gems, MCA/Universal, etc.).

QUESTION #2: Who compiled the listings of the films available for television showings? For years, the studios kept annual business records related to profits anf losses of the films that they distributed. Lists were compiled from other lists. There was room for error.

FILM VAULT FIRES AT LITTLE FERRY, NEW JERSEY

Recently, I read the newspaper articles about the film vault fire at Little Ferry. There is no indication that the four "lost" Chan films were stored at the Little Ferry film vault. Besides California and New York, the movie studios had, and still have, film vaults all across the country. The four films could have been stored elsewhere.

QUESTION #3: If the four "lost" Chan films (1931-1934) were destroyed in the Little Ferry fire, why do prints of "The Black Camel" (1931) and "Charlie Chan in London" (1934) survive today? How did "The Black Camel" and "London" survive the Little Ferry fire? Answer: Because the films were not store there. So where were the film prints stored?

THE BLACK CAMEL (1931 film)

Today, we are lucky to have a print of "The Black Camel" (1931) with Warner Oland. The original interest in preserving this film was due to Bela Lugosi's appearance in the film. When "The Black Camel" was released to television, in 1953, Mr. Lugosi was still alive and known for his role as Dracula. By having a surviving print of "The Black Camel" indicates to me that the print was not stored in the Little Ferry film vault. But where was it store? I suspect that it was stored some place "out west," perhaps in California. Just a guess.

CHECKING THE FACTS

There is one surefire way to check on Steven Scheuer's claim about the "lost" Charlie Chan films being available in 1989. Check the TV listings of the newspapers. If Mr. Scheuer states that the films were shown on television in 1989, try checking the TV listings in the 1989 newspapers. I would begin by selecting the top five TV markets (i.e. New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas). Easy to do, but time consuming.

The best of luck in your research.

Hawaii_Steve

A key element of preparing a research paper is outlining your paper The assess data offers a wide range of concepts that might relate to your issue The outline joins these concepts into a logical whole enabling you to expand your argument and identify the areas that need more research visit here https://www.asienkurier.com/ The points in your outline should be connected to one another and support your argument's main idea.

All,

Henry (number one son in books) posting here for the first time. Without going into minute details (contacted author, and publisher). I ran this thought to ground back in 1989-90 (when I purchased this book and read the same thing as Jeronimo) and the conclusion is: statements about the lost films being on television as stated in Steve Scheuer’s book were a misstatement.

Thank you very much.

Henry, then, that's that! But didn't you mean "Thank you [so] much." (haha.)

Lou
P.S. How did you fare in that chess game with honorable father in Chapter 19 of H.W.A.K.?

Lou,

So sorry that I am just replying to you now (three months later) as to my closing, see below for this reply where I’ve corrected it. As to the chess game. Pop outsmarted me again but I’m a fast learner so hope to beat him next time. It has been a very long time since I’ve posted regularly on a Chan site. Was one of the originals on Curt Schmidt’s Charlie Chan Message Board. There used to be so much interest in Chan in those days as we were all exploring and discovering Chan topics that are considered “old hat” now. Anyway, I’ll try to check in here more frequently. Thank you and Rush for keep ing this site alive and well.

Thank you so much,
Henry

Henry, thanks for the reply and settling my interest on that chess match (I always wondered about that, HAHA.) Unlike you, Rush, Hawaii Steve and others, I wasn't a participant on Curt Schmidt's Message Board. My interest (like most others these days) started with the films I watched in my youth. However, I'm more of a bookworm and truly enjoyed the novels best.

Amazingly though, while living in Hawaii for 16 years, my grandkids loved watching a Chan film every Saturday, which is what we did; often with Hawaii Steve there to accompany our dinner and a movie weekends. You probably know Steve gave a Charlie Chan walking tour, and when not "on duty" he and I walked the streets looking for spots in the films and books.

If you are interested I blog about Chan, Biggers, Hawaii & Ohio once a month at:
https://thepostmanonholiday.com/

I'll be entering my 5th year with the blog this January. Happy Thanksgiving. Lou