OUR CCF MONDAY EVENING CHAT AND FILM VIEWING FOR December 27 “The Return of Charlie Chan”
FROM CHARLIE CHAN: “Cannot tell where path lead until reach end of road.”
GREETINGS! Charlie Chan returns in the early 1970s to solve a perplexing murder case involving the family of a multimillionaire.
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 Return of Charlie Chan” (1971; 91 minutes); along with our “extra,” a Charlie Chan radio drama: “The Man Who Murdered Santa Claus” (27 minutes).
FEATURE INTRODUCTION: The patriarch of the ultra-wealthy Hadrachi family, Alex Hadrachi, shipping magnate and fifth-richest man in the world, is shot at aboard his luxury boat one evening as he is talking with Richard Lovell, one of his guests. Refusing to report the incident to the nearby Vancouver police, writer Andrew Kidder, a friend of Charlie Chan, suggests that Hadrachi call on the famous detective for assistance.
FEATURE NOTES: “The Return of Charlie Chan,” starring Ross Martin, was a pilot film for a projected Charlie Chan television series. However, the project was shelved due to pressure-group complaints due to the casting of a Caucasian in the lead role. Although the film was released theatrically in Europe in 1973, it was not seen by American audiences until it was finally aired on U.S. television by NBC in 1979.
IF YOU LACK A COPY OF OUR FEATURE: Often our features can be found online. GOOD NEWS! “The Return of Charlie Chan” 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 (January 3): Please join us as we begin our Charlie Chan Film Tour 2022 with a shared viewing of “Behind That Curtain.”
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
OUR 2021 CHARLIE CHAN FAMILY NEWSLETTER!
This year’s Charlie Chan Family Newsletter is now available! Thank you so much, Lou, for your hard work and dedication! It can be accessed at the following link:
Re: OUR CCF MONDAY EVENING CHAT AND FILM VIEWING FOR December 27 “The Return of Charlie Chan”
Watched this movie again last night or early morning... By far IMHO a decent enough film to compare with many a Monogram Picture and plot while a television made movie pretty darn good. Kind of a cross between the films and the cartoon series. I could have seen a resurrection of the series here, but it didn't happen.
Re: OUR CCF MONDAY EVENING CHAT AND FILM VIEWING FOR December 27 “The Return of Charlie Chan”
The "Return of Charlie Chan" could have made it as a great mystery TV series during the 1970s.
Producer Jack Laird has a fine list of writing credits related to the mystery genres, i.e. Night Gallery, Kojak, and Switch. Gene R. Kearney also has a great list of writing and directing credits. Director Daryl Duke was a native of Vancouver, where the film was shot. His credits included: Night Gallery, Circle of Fear, and The Thorn Birds. This film really could have worked as a weekly TV series. All the elements were there. Too bad it wasn't a go.
