FROM CHARLIE CHAN: “Cornered rat usually full of fight.”

NOTE: PLEASE vote in our SEPTEMBER Poll! The poll can be reached at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/H3BZY6C

GREETINGS: This week our feature film is “Shadows Over Chinatown.” Chan Charlie Chan – with Number Two son, Jimmy and assistant, Birmingham Brown – solve the gruesome “Torso Murders”?

OUR CHAT ROOM is located at: 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: “Shadows Over Chinatown” (1946; 64 minutes)

FEATURE INTRODUCTION: Charlie Chan, Number Two Son, Jimmy, and assistant, Birmingham Brown, are all on a bus heading south to San Francisco to investigate a murder case involving an unidentified armless, legless, headless torso. Chan learns that an elderly woman, Mrs. Conover, is traveling to San Francisco to search for her missing granddaughter, Mary. He tells the concerned woman that he will do what he can to help her find her missing loved one.

FEATURE NOTES: This film's working titles were “Corpus Delecti” and “The Mandarin's Secret.” “Shadows Over Chinatown” featured the return of Sen Yung (Victor Sen Young) as Charlie Chan's Number Two Son, whose previous appearance had been as a member of the U.S. Army Signal Corps on leave in “Castle in the Desert” (1942). Victor Sen Yung's return to the Chan series, now being produced at Monogram Pictures, in a case of art mirroring life in the case of Jimmy Chan, followed his return to civilian life after having served in the Army Air Forces during the war.

CAST (as credited):

Sidney Toler: Charlie Chan
Mantan Moreland: Birmingham Brown
Victor Sen Young: Jimmy Chan
Tanis Chandler: Mary Conover (alias Mary McCoy)
John Gallaudet: Jeff Hay (alias for Craig Winfield)
Paul Bryar: Mike Rogan
Bruce Kellogg: [Corporal] Jack Tilford (alias Joe Thomas; Corporal Joe Thompson)
Alan Bridge: Captain Allen
Mary Gordon: Mrs. Conover
Dorothy Granger: Joan Mercer
Jack Norton: Cosgrove
George Eldredge: Lannigan
Tyra Vaughn: Miss Chalmers
Lyle Latell: Police Clerk
Myra McKinney: Kate Johnson
Harry Depp: Dr. Denby
Gladys Blake: Myrtle

UNCREDITED CAST (alphabetical):

Kit Carson: Hotel Clerk
George Chan
Jimmy Dugan: Police Driver
Louise Franklin: Maid
Doris Fulton: Angie
Jack Hamilton: Pronnet
Charlie Jordan: Jenkins
James B. Leong: Chinese Curio Shop Owner
Frank Mayo: Police Lieutenant
Jack Mower: Hobart
Bob Reeves: Man Leaving Bus Terminal
Brick Sullivan: Police Officer

THIS WEEK’S IMAGE: (Attached) At the Mayfair Coffee Shop, Charlie Chan and number Two Son, Jimmy, are, by chance, waited on by the missing Mary Cononer.



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 "Shadows Over Chinatown"

“Shadows Over Chinatown” is the nineth Charlie Chan film made with Sidney Toler at Monogram Pictures. It was released on June 27, 1946 in the USA.

Shadows Over Chinatown - Wikipedia

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadows_Over_Chinatown)

OPENING FILM CREDITS from Monogram Pictures

The film print, on DVD, is from Monogram Pictures, as stated in the opening titles in the film.

FILMING LOCATION/FICTITIOUS SETTING

Los Angeles "pretending" to be San Francisco, California.

LOS ANGELES LOCATION NOTES

As the greyhound bus arrives in San Francisco, please note the following businesses as the bus pulls into the depot: Cloister Press - Lawrence Young, Hollywood C.S.C., and Hollywood Camera Exchange.

STORYLINE OF FILM: As a good deed, Charlie Chan attempts to find the missing granddaughter of Mrs. Conover.

THEME OF FILM: The Case of the Missing Grand-Daughter.

CURTURAL AND HISTORIC CONNECTION between Feature Film and Short Extras

Please see below.

==============

Charlie Chan in "Shadows Over Chinatown" (1946)

One of the exciting elements about this film is the return of two principal Chan players from past Charlie Chan films. They are Mary Gordon, the famous Scottish actress, and Victor Sen Yung, the Asian-American actor who created the role of Number Two Son, Jimmy Chan for 20th Century-For.

In the Charlie Chan film series, Ms. Gordon (1882 - 1963) first appeared as Mrs. MacMasters in the early Fox Film mystery The Black Camel (1931). Along with other cast members, she was in Honolulu for making of the film. In Shadows Over Chinatown, Ms. Gordon played the part of Mrs. Conover, the grandmother of a missing young woman.

Mr. Yung (1915 - 1980) was first cast in the role of Jimmy Chan in the 20th Century-Fox production Charlie Chan in Honolulu (1938). He continued with the Chan series, as a Chan son, until 1948.

EXTRA #1: Whatever Happened to Victor Sen Yung?

Whatever Happened to Victor Sen Yung - Hop Sing from TV's Bonanza? - YouTube

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgiE1JZU01E)

Running Time: 5:31 American Legends Tribune, 2022.

EXTRA #2: The World Parade #214: Golden Gate City (1940)

This vintage travelogue features classic footage of the city of San Francisco, 1939. Distributed by Castle Films for home-movie viewings (1940-1942).

Golden Gate City: San Francisco (1939) Castle Films - YouTube

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afcNi3DkulA)

Running Time: 9:40 Prelinger Archives, 2020.

EXTRA #3: Character Actor Jack Norton (1940) a very brief film clip

Another exciting part of this Chan film is the appearance of character actor Jack Norton (1889 - 1958). A confirmed teetotaler, Mr. Norton earned cinematic immortality for innumerable film appearances as a comic drunk. Here is a brief example of his work in The Bank Dick (1940 Universal Pictures).

Jack Norton - YouTube

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrIiN0xIxSQ)

Running Time: 0:12 Captain Comedia, 2009.

==============

OUR MONTHLY POLL: Please take a moment to cast your vote in our SEPTEMBER 2022 POLL, right here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/H3BZY6C

LAST MONTH’S POLL RESULT: To see our AUGUST 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 (September 19): Please join us in the tropics as we continue our Charlie Chan Film Tour 2022 with a shared viewing of “Dangerous Money.”

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, September 12 for this week’s feature, “Shadows Over Chinatown.”

AS ALWAYS: THANK YOU SO MUCH…

Sincerely,

Rush Glick