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OUR CCF MONDAY EVENING CHAT AND FILM VIEWING FOR AUGUST 22 “The Shanghai Cobra”

FROM CHARLIE CHAN: “In my business, always expect to find something wrong.”

NOTE: PLEASE vote in our August Poll! The poll can be reached at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HFSDBKR

GREETINGS: This week our feature film is “Charlie Chan in Shanghai.” This is arguably the best of the Monogram Pictures’ Charlie Chan series, and it is sometimes considered as an influence visually of the film noir genre. From The New Adventures of Charlie Chan:

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

We Begin our evening at 7:30 Eastern Time with a 45-minute time for arrivals and greetings. During this time, we also have the opportunity to engage in open dialogue along with one or more “extras” (Thank you so much, Hawaii Steve!) that relate in some way to our feature presentation. Then, at precisely 8:15 ET, we begin our feature film simultaneously starting our personal or online copies of this week’s feature!

THIS WEEK’S PRESENTATION: “The Shanghai Cobra” (1945; 64 minutes)

FEATURE INTRODUCTION: Charlie Chan is sent by the government to investigate several murders connected with a bank where a vital store of radium is kept. A number of employees of the bank have been killed by an injection of cobra venom. Chan remembers a similar case back in Shanghai in 1937, but the suspect in those murders, his face disfigured in an explosion, escaped. Number Three Son, Tommy, and assistant Birmingham Brown help the detective as the trio places themselves in mortal danger as they track down the illusive "Cobra Killer."

FEATURE NOTES: The title card for this film reads: “Charlie Chan in The Shanghai Cobra.” In “The Shanghai Cobra, we see an odd one-way video jukebox operated from a distant location. This is very probably an adaptation of the idea of "Soundies," which were popular during the early to mid-1940s. Soundies, precursors of today's music videos, were viewed on special 16 mm rear-projected machines called Panorams. These machines were located in bars, restaurants, nightclubs, etc.

CAST (as credited):

Sidney Toler: Charlie Chan
Mantan Moreland: Birmingham Brown
Benson Fong: Tommy Chan
James Cardwell: Ned Stewart
Joan Barclay: Paula Webb (alias Pauline Webster and Paula van Horn)
Addison Richards: John Adams (alias Jan van Horn)
Arthur Loft: Bradford Harris (alias Special Agent Hume)
Janet Warren: Lorraine
Gene Stutenroth: Morgan
Joe Devlin: Taylor
James Flavin: H.R. Jarvis
Roy Gordon: Walter Fletcher
Walter Fenner: Inspector Harry Davis

UNCREDITED CAST (alphabetical):

Andy Andrews: Police Officer Outside Joe's Coffee Shop
Bob Blair: Corning
George Chandler: Joe Nelson
Cyril Delevanti: Larkin
John Goldsworthy: Manwaring
Stephan Gregory: Samuel Black
Karen Knight: Telephone Switchboard Supervisor
Mary Moore: Rita
Tiny Newlin: Guard
Dianne Quillan: Telephone Operator
Bob Reeves: Police Officer
Jack Richardson: Mailman
Bill Ruhl: Gregory

THIS WEEK’S IMAGE: (Attached) Tommy translates to his Pop what Joe, the coffee shop owner, meant by "peacherino," stating, in broken French, "Chez chez la peacherino!"



IF YOU LACK A COPY OF OUR FEATURE: Often our features can be found online, and happily, the good news continues! Our feature IS available through the link provided at our Chat Room.

FROM HAWAII STEVE’S DESK…THIS WEEK’S EXTRAS & INFO:

FEATURE FILM: Charlie Chan in "The Shanghi Cobra"

The Shanghai Cobra is the sixth Charlie Chan film made with Sidney Toler at Monogram Pictures. It was released on September 29, 1945 in the USA.

The Shanghai Cobra - Wikipedia

From YouTube, here is the film.

Charlie Chan and the Shanghai Cobra, Sidney Toler, Benson Fong, Matan Moreland,1945 Full Movie - YouTube

Running Time: 1:04:24 Vantage Films.

FILMING LOCATION/FICTITIOUS SETTING: old Los Angeles buildings "posing" as New York City.

==========

OPENING FILM CREDITS from Pathe Pictures, Ltd.

The opening credits by Monogram Pictures are replaced by Great Britain's Pathe Pictures' opening titles.

STORYLINE OF FILM: The attempt to steal radium stored in a New York City bank.

THEME OF FILM: U.S. Government Agent Charlie Chan Supporting the U. S. War Effort (1942-1945).

CULTURAL AND HISTORIC CONNECTION between Feature Film and Short Extras

Please see below.

==========

1945: A YEAR IN REVIEW

While “The Shanghai Cobra” was in production, and post-production, World War II was coming to an end.

January 1945

The film “The Shanghai Cobra” was in production at Monogram Studios, Hollywood.

May 11, 1945

The film “The Scarlet Clue” was released in the USA.

August 14, 1945, in Hawaii

Victory Over Japan Day was the day on which Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect, ending World War II.

August 15, 1945, Mainland USA

The surrender of the Empire of Japan was announced by Japanese Emperor Hirohito.

September 2, 1945

Japan signed the Instrument of Surrender on the deck of the USS Battleship ‘Missouri’ in Tokyo Bay, Japan.

Japanese Instrument of Surrender - Wikipedia

The signing brought closure to World War II.

September 29, 1945

The film “The Shanghai Cobra” was released in the USA.

==========

EXTRA #1: "VJ Day in Honolulu" (August 14, 1945)

A Richard Sullivan film. This home-movie film was shot in the heart of Waikiki. In this movie, we see many two-story buildings (i.e. the Moana Hotel, the old Waikiki movie theater, etc.) that used to stand along Kalakaua Avenue, in Waikiki. Most of these buildings are gone today.

2020 Marks The 75th Anniversary of VJ Day, August 14, 1945. World War II Ends. Honolulu Celebrates. - YouTube

RUNNING TIME: 3:38 (c) 2012 by the Sullivan Family Trust.

EXTRA #2: JAPAN'S SURRENDER (1945)

RELEASED by Castle Films for the home entertainment market.

News Parade - Japan's Surrender - Castle Films - YouTube

RUNNING TIME: 9:30 Tubbs and Twings, 2019.

EXTRA #3: A Tour of the USS Battleship Missouri at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

A brief video about the end of World War II onboard the Battleship Missouri, currently stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The host is Colleen Fujioka, a local Honolulu actress. She is shown around the World War II era battleship by yours truly, as the tour guide.

TITLE: Have Aloha Will Travel

A tour of the Battleship Missouri Memorial at Pearl Harbor, Oahu - YouTube

PUBLISHED: Friday, October 8, 2018 at YouTube.com.

RUNNING TIME: 2:34.

OUR MONTHLY POLL: Please take a moment to cast your vote in our AUGUST 2022 POLL, right here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HFSDBKR

LAST MONTH’S POLL RESULT: To see our JULY 2022 Poll result as well as ALL of our polls going back to 2003, please use this link: http://www.charliechan.info/id93.html

NEXT WEEK (AUGUST 29): Please join us as we continue our Charlie Chan Film Tour 2022 with a shared viewing of “Dark Alibi.”

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 2022 CHARLIE CHAN FAMILY NEWSLETTER!

This year’s Charlie Chan Family Newsletter, chronicling the year 2021, is now available! Thank you so much, Lou, for your continued, masterfully hard work and dedication! It can be accessed at the following link:

https://thepostmanonholidayhome.files.wordpress.com/2021/12/2021-newsletter-lou-final.pdf

AND, FINALLY, REMEMBER: PLEASE JOIN US on Monday, August 22 for this week’s feature, “The Shanghai Cobra.”

AS ALWAYS: THANK YOU SO MUCH…

Sincerely,

Rush Glick

Re: OUR CCF MONDAY EVENING CHAT AND FILM VIEWING FOR AUGUST 22 “The Shanghai Cobra”

From his book Charlie Chan at the Movies (1989 McFarland), the late author Ken Hanke wrote the following about this film:

"With 'The Shanghai Cobra' Monogram came within an inch of creating a Charlie Chan picture to rival Fox. The reason for this is not hard to fathom. Phil Karlson, a filmmaker of promise at the start of his career, was here on the first of his two series efforts. Even working within the limitations of format and budget, Karlson was able to achieve some extraordinary effects and generate an atmosphere almost equal to the best of any 1940s example of film noir, turning the "cheesiness" of the production values in on themselves, a la Edgar G. Ulmer, to create an attitude of doom and foreboding in which to set the film. The typically fanciful, yet wholly serviceable, screenplay posed no problem at all. Phil Rosen would have made a competent and enjoyable thriller from it, but Karlson makes it remarkable."

"The Shanghai Cobra" is the sixth of the wartime-themed films featuring U. S. Government Agent Charlie Chan supporting the war effort. I can't wait to watch this film.

Hawaii_Steve