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OUR CCF MONDAY EVENING CHAT AND FILM VIEWING FOR December 6 “The Feathered Serpent”

FROM CHARLIE CHAN: “Very difficult to estimate depth of well by size of bucket.”

GREETINGS! An interrupted drive to Mexico City lands Charlie Chan, sons Lee and Tommy, and Birmingham Brown in a case of murder surrounding the discovery of an ancient Aztec tomb!

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: “The Feathered Serpent” (1948; 60 minutes); along with our “extra,” a Charlie Chan radio drama: “The Romantic Engineer” (25 minutes).

FEATURE INTRODUCTION: In San Pablo, Mexico, an expedition prepares to look for two missing archeologists, Professors Scott and Farnsworth, who had been searching for the lost Aztec Temple of the Sun. The two men have now been missing for two months. Charlie Chan, who is on his way to Mexico City for a vacation with two of his sons, Number One Son, Lee and Number Two Son, Tommy plus chauffeur and associate, Birmingham Brown, finds Professor Scott delirious as he collapses in a field near the road to San Pablo. Later, in San Pablo, Scott explains that after he and Farnsworth had found the temple, they were held as hostages and were forced to unearth a fortune in Aztec jade and gold. However, before Scott can name his captor, the lights go out and he is murdered with a knife. A search party, including Chan, his sons, and Birmingham, is organized out to look for Farnsworth and the lost temple.

FEATURE NOTES: The opening title card of this film reads: “Charlie Chan in ‘The Feathered Serpent’.” This is the only film in which Charlie Chan's number one and number two sons actively work together with their father on a case. It is also the final appearance in a Charlie Chan film by Victor Sen Yung (Sen Yung). The plot of this film was based on that of the 1937 movie, “The Riders of the Whistling Skull” (which, interestingly, featured Robert Livingston who later appeared as John Stanley in the Charlie Chan version).

The feathered serpent appeared in the art of all Mesoamerican cultures, including the Aztec. Many meanings were probably attached to the feathered serpent, although it does not mean that serpents were worshipped. The temple on which it appears was named the Temple of Quetzalcoatl when these figures were first found in the early twentieth century. Quetzalcoatl is an Aztec word that means "feathered serpent." The word is also associated with the planet Venus, the wind, and to a mythological Toltec ruler.

The Mayan word for the feathered serpent, Kukulcan (or Kukutan), was used in reference to a carved figure that was found in the Aztec Temple of the Sun in “The Feathered Serpent.”

CAST (as credited):

Roland Winters: Charlie Chan
Keye Luke: Lee Chan
Mantan Moreland: Birmingham Brown
Victor Sen Yung: Tommy Chan
Carol Forman: Sonia Cabot
Robert Livingston: [Professor] John Stanley
Nils Asther: Professor Paul Evans
Beverly Jons: Joan Farnsworth
Martin Garralaga: Pedro [Francisco Lopez]
George J. Lewis: Captain Juan Gonzalez
Leslie Dennison: Professor [Henry] Farnsworth

UNCREDITED CAST (alphabetical):

Erville Alderson: Professor Scott
Fred Cordova: Felipe
Juan Duval: Dr. Castelar
Frank Leyva: Jose
Jay Silverheels: Diego
Charles Stevens: Manuel

THIS WEEK’S IMAGE: Birmingham Brown is captured outside of the Aztec temple!



FOR COMPLETE INFORMATION ON OUR FEATURE: Please go to http://www.charliechan.info/id62.html

IF YOU LACK A COPY OF OUR FEATURE: Often our features can be found online. GOOD NEWS! “The Feathered Serpent” is available through the link provided at our Chat Room.

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

OUR NOVEMBER POLL RESULT:

QUESTION: As Disney now holds the rights to all 20th Century-Fox material past and present, how do you think this will affect the future of the Charlie Chan movies under their control?

Positively 20%

Negatively 60%

Neither positively nor negatively 20%

NEXT WEEK (December 13): Please join us for "The Sky Dragon.”

AND, AS ALWAYS… 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

AND, FINALLY, REMEMBER, PLEASE JOIN US for this week’s feature, “The Feathered Serpent.”

THANK YOU SO MUCH…

Sincerely,

Rush Glick